World Book Day always generates huge enthusiasm for reading in my children's school. The children love dressing up as a book character and the £1 voucher means they end up owning a new book and so reading more. All the teachers suddenly seem very excited about reading too. Do you have any suggestions as to how schools can keep that excitement about reading going all through the school year?
I quite agree about the stimulation and success of World Book Day, which falls on March 1 this year. Every year it seems to get bigger and better and it means that schools have the chance to concentrate on the pleasure of reading in its widest sense. Knowing different authors, finding out who you like – and who you don't - plays a key role in becoming a confident and enthusiastic reader.
Whether you spend the £1 voucher on a special World Book Day title or on any other book means every child can add a title to their book store. All research shows that owning books plays a key role in encouraging reading and we need to do all we can to make that happen.
But it is not just because children end up owning books that World Book Day inspires. It is also because it concentrates on stories and, as you say with the dressing up, the characters in them. Ensuring children have a whole view of books in terms of the stories and the parts played in them is the surest way to raise enthusiasm for reading.
Schools need more time for reading aloud, book choosing and sharing the pleasure of reading whole books and not just extracts. Just some of those could make reading exciting all through the year.