Related Links and Websites

INFORMATION: Support Resources for Reading and Creative Writing

Fingal County Council Public Libraries development plan –  includes three brochures for 0 – 18 months, 1 – 3yrs and 2.5 – 6 yrs

South Dublin County Council Public Libraries – brochure and video for Ready to Read, description of e.g. Bedtime Reading Club

Aistear, the early childhood curriculum for children aged1 – 6 – includes reading lists and tips for parents.

Centre for Effective Services – evaluations of cross sectoral, disadvantaged children community based interventions.

Department of Education and Science, Junior Cycle English Literature course materials – Start with the known and challenge their imaginations from there!

Children's Books Ireland -- Information, resources, supports and activities to encourage children's reading.

 

The Reading Agency [UK] is a charity dedicated to inspiring more people to read more, to share their enjoyment of reading and celebrate the difference that reading makes to their lives.  The Agency offers an extensive range of programmes for various sectors and age-groups.

The Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children’s Book Awards [CILIP] has a shadowing site with a range of resources and supports for activities supporting reading development in libraries.  The longlists are significant in breadth, ideas and materials are useful.

Storybird is a digital writing and reading support resource. US creation. Children are encouraged to write by populating illustrations [great selection] provided, to create books & picture books & poems.  This link brings you straight to the explanatory video. This could be a very attractive product to engage older children where access to library IT suites is a service to children.  Books created can be shared on Facebook.

ABRACADABRA is a Canadian resource which offers supports to [1] teachers, [2] parents and [3] children to help develop reading & writing skills to young children.   A series of digital books can be read and there are exercises and games that develop vocabulary, understand the story and encourage children to write. Printable resources and explanations of the purposes behind various activities.

www.jbrary.com  – tune in for storytime success. Lindsey Krabbenhoft and Dana Horrocks are two children’s librarians in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, who created Jlibrary from a MLIS course project. It has grown into a blog and YouTube channel that participates in the virtual youth services world.  It includes very basic but effective videos of some of the songs and play games they use throughout their sessions.

INFORMATION: Learning to read and write

 

Help My Kid Learn

Woodlands Junior Literacy Zone

FreeRice Vocabulary Games (Every time a question is answered correctly, FreeRice donates ten grains of rice to the World Food Programme)

Reading Rockets

INFORMATION: Listen to stories

Storynory Audio Stories

Kiddie Records Weekly

INFORMATION: Writing stories

The Story Kitchen

Fun English Games

 

INFORMATION: Other Resources

Accelerated Reader Bookfinder: Enables a blank search according to criteria such as Age, Ability (book level from – to), Theme, Sub-topics etc.

Ask about Ireland Learning Zone: Provides a broad range of on-line information, maps, images and games to young students.

Books for Keeps: a UK independent children’s book magazine

National Literacy Trust UK

ENFO Kidzone

Getting boys to read: a community based blog for parents, librarians, and teachers providing information and support through articles, videos, interviews, and a forum.

Guys Lit Wire: Bloggers, writers, and readers helping teenage boys find the books they want to read.

How to Be An Advocate for Teens (by Gretchen of Librarified) is an excellent primer to advocating for teens within your library and community.

Kirkus Reviews: Upcoming pre-publication reviews and thousands of archived reviews oc children’s books that are freely available to non-subscribers.

Lifesteps Guide: Using the Internet for reading for young people and parents: a listing of websites for publishers, readers and authors

New Review of Children’s Literature and Librarianship: published biannually, is multidisciplinary in nature, providing opportunities for the ‘pure’ discussion of children’s literature, and of issues relating to one of the key places in which to find such literature—libraries for young people.

Readergirlz: the cutting-edge literacy and social media project for teens, awarded the National Book Award for Innovations in Reading. It is a nonprofit volunteer organisation. The readergirlz mission is to promote teen literacy and corresponding social service.

Using Blogs for collection development: Abby the Librarian’s handout from her presentation at the Illinois Library Federation Children’s & Young People’s Division conference.

What Kids Need: The Building Blocks for Children and Youth: Providing an insight into the complexity of the physical and mental development of teenagers.

“‘You’ve changed my life’: teenagers, reading and libraries” is an article by Anne Harding about how libraries can support and encourage reading among teens (especially disadvantaged teens).