Information about the Reading for Pleasure Book Club now lives on the Book Squad website. Take a look here.
If you would like to catch up on previous book clubs (academic years 23/24 and earlier) then see below!
Get ready to use your imaginations — and your bodies! — as we enter Michelle Robinson’s wonderful world of make believe. How does a writer know so much about where unicorns live, and how they feel? Find out in this fun-packed session, including story-telling, inspiring tips, Q&A, and the beginnings of our very own story.
Beano’s Directors of Mischief and Mayhem, Mike Stirling and Craig Graham, reveal their top tips for creating laugh-out-loud stories and pictures, share jokes from their latest Beano Boomic, Minnie and the Camp of Chaos, AND call on you for your wildest and wacky ideas for a new comic.
Join author Sarah Coyle for a unique Pick A Story event where the audience decides what happens every step of the way! Do you want to fight the pirates? Bake with unicorns? Treasure-hunt with dragons? The choice is all yours. In this immersive adventure, we create magical soundscapes to bring different worlds to life.
Join bestselling creator Laura Ellen Anderson for a journey to the magical world of Miniopolis, a fun-filled land of minibeasts and moon magic. Discover how Laura takes inspiration from the real world around us, create your own weird and wonderful Minibeast character and learn how to draw one of Marnie’s adorable friends! Laura is the creator of the bestselling Amelia Fang and Rainbow Grey series, and Marnie Midnight is her brand-new series launching in 2024.
Have you ever wondered what your shadow gets up to? Join Tom Percival, as he introduces his illustrated picture book Jack’s Amazing Shadow. With themes of friendship, difference and the power of saying ‘sorry’, this lively story is perfect for anyone who’s ever wondered what their shadow gets up to when they’re not looking!
Join the author of Monster Hunting for Beginners and Monsters Bite Back, as he introduces pupils to this hilarious and silly series which will turn everything you think about monsters upside down!
Are you ready to say hello to Summer? Join Jo Lindley, author and illustrator of the Best Friends with Big Feelings series, as she introduces the little season, Summer. Hello Summer is part of a picture book series which aims to open up conversations around emotions and wellbeing for even the youngest of readers.
Join Jenny McLachlan, the author of The Land of Roar series and Dead Good Detectives for a highly engaging event as she introduces her new book Stink!
Are you ready for a lifesize adventure? Join Sophy and this interactive non-fiction series which features lifesize illustrations of some of the world’s smallest and largest deadly animals and invites children to think about how they compare with these amazing creatures.
Join author-illustrator Alex Willmore to enjoy this hilarious picture book about a dancing, swimming and skateboarding mammoth and learn some pretty cool facts about penguins and Antarctica!
Join writer and educator J. T. Williams for a highly engaging event as she introduces her thrilling mystery series, The Lizzie and Belle Mysteries: Drama and Danger which is inspired by real Black British historical figures.
Enjoy a special story time and draw-along with Naomi and James Jones, as well as top tips for caring for our planet.
Join writer, director and performer Annabelle Sami for a highly engaging event as she introduces her Waterstones Children’s Book Award shortlisted series Llama Out Loud about ten-year-old Yasmin’s adventures with her sassy llama friend Levi. You’ll hear side-splitting storytelling from the latest book Llama on Holiday and create your own guardian llama holiday adventure!
Jennifer Killick, author of Crater Lake, introduces her new comedy-horror series Dread Wood, perfect for fans of Goosebumps! Jennifer explores why we love stories and how to make our imaginations grow, before sharing her top tips for combining comedy and horror in stories.
Award-winning author and former BookTrust Writer in Residence Smriti Halls leads a storytelling event all about YOU! Her new picture book Who Are You? celebrates the pieces, places and people that make us who we are. Hear about Smriti’s inspiration and draw a picture that represents you.
Reading for Pleasure Matters
At Farshore, our mission is to make every child a proud reader, because there is a wealth of research to show that children that read for pleasure simply do better in life. Here’s just some of the benefits taking part in the book club will bring to your school:
Be on the pulse of book trends and easily discover inclusive books for every reader
Support parents to extend your school’s reading culture into the home
Inspire a love of reading in the classroom, improving your students’ educational performance and life chances because:
Reading for pleasure is more important to a child’s academic success than the parents’ socio- economic status. (OECD)
Pupils who report liking reading the most perform, on average, 45-points above those pupils who indicate that they do not like reading. (Source: Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS): National Report for England December 2017)
Children who read for pleasure daily, or nearly every day, are a year ahead in reading performance vs those who never do OECD (2010)
Reading for Pleasure trends and insights on the link between reading and wellbeing. At Farshore and HarperCollins Children’s Books, our purpose is to make every child a proud reader. We are determined to encourage more children and young people to read for pleasure and have been researching the barriers… Read More
By Jon Biddle Even after more than two decades of teaching, I still genuinely look forward to our class storytime, or read-aloud time. School timetables across the country are under increasing pressure but I believe it is the one part of the day that cannot be forgotten or ignored. It… Read More
Chosen by Chris Soul Engaging reluctant readers is a difficult task as a teacher, especially with other curriculum priorities. Storytime, though, can really inspire the most reluctant readers to find pleasure and purpose in reading. In my school (Watford St John’s) the impact of storytime has been extraordinary, simply by… Read More
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