The message of the medium

Another interesting and important study from the National Literacy Trust about children who read on e-readers compared to those who read printed books. The study shows that for the first time there are more children now who read on e-readers than in print, that most children have access to computers at home, and that those who read on e-readers are less adept at reading and also enjoy it less.
Think on this, read the study and then please return to Give a Book to give a book to someone who really needs one.

The Power of Books

We've had a lovely message from Mandrem in Goa from Helen at Helping Elsewhere. This is the only place outside the UK we give books to and we are delighted to do so. Helen writes:

"Once again we are offering huge, huge thanks to Give a Book for donating another wonderful selection of children’s reference books!! This is the second year running that our friends Claudia and Andy have foregone a good part of their flight luggage allowance to bring these valuable resources out and Jacinta, our Mandrem headmistress, was lost for words when trying to express her gratitude to people from so far away. As before, we are dividing the books between Mandrem and Sirsi (who haven’t quite got theirs yet!).

Please do take a look at what Give a Book does – it really is extraordinary – and if you believe in the power of books to address needs and spread pleasure across society then do please think about helping out where and when you can.

Back to Mandrem, and we were also privileged to meet two of Claudia’s and Andy’s friends, Henry and Sue Dixon. They are also long term Goa fans and had come loaded with all sorts of reading and arts materials for Mandrem school. We were very touched to learn that Henry had taken quite a lot of time out from a very busy year as High Sheriff of Clwyd in order to source a lot of donated books.

And let us not forget Filomena and Jorge Borba’s continued support in America – this year they have sent an appreciable amount of money to be spent on the library and sports equipment. They fell in love with our little bit of Goa when they visited a few years back, and have continued to support us from Boston ever since. And don’t forget they are sponsoring two more Sirsi schoolkids!

It was a really great ‘feel good’ experience when Henry, Sue and I visited Mandrem a few days back to give the teachers and kids an amazing range of books, to give Jacinta the money, and to show Henry and Sue the quality of our little village school now!

Thank you to everybody again for making this work!"

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The importance of instilling a need to read

A characteristically trenchant and excellent article in The Telegraph the other day by Jonathan Douglas  Director of the National Literacy Trust , a charity that transforms lives through literacy. We quote it here in full.
Teens who choose to pick up a book for pleasure are more likely to succeed in life, research shows. But getting them to do so isn’t easy, says Jonathan Douglas.
Reading for pleasure at the age of 15 is a strong factor in determining future social mobility. Indeed, it has been revealed as the most important indicator of the future success of the child. That was the startling finding of research carried out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on education and reading, and their role in promoting social mobility. It highlights why getting teenagers to read for pleasure is more than a sepia-tinted ambition for frustrated parents. It is a fundamental social issue.
The research findings need unpicking. A distinction is being drawn between different motivations for reading – whether it is done for its own sake, or whether it is the result of being cajoled by carrots and sticks. Research suggests those who read for pleasure demonstrate an intrinsic desire to engage with stories, texts and learning. Reading for pleasure therefore reveals a predisposition not just to literature, but to the sort of lifelong learning that explains increased social mobility.
There is a simple conclusion to draw from all this. We must encourage our children to read for pleasure. But that is easy to say and hard to achieve, particularly in the culture in which many young people grow up today in Britain. They have plenty of other leisure activities to choose from.
They can, of course, read on a screen, but we read in different ways when reading different formats. The language of emails, for example, is not the same as the language we would use in a letter. Analysis so far of the impact of digital literature is that it can play an important role in building core literacy skills, but there is an ongoing debate about whether it conveys the same benefits as reading a physical book. Initial research in the United States would appear to suggest that it doesn’t.
There are also differences between boys and girls in terms of reading for pleasure. In Britain, girls read more and have more positive attitudes to reading than boys. This is not a universal phenomenon. In India, by contrast, it is the other way around, though that may have more to do with questions of gender and access in that society.
In Britain, it is about gender and attitude. The reluctance of boys to read for pleasure seems more social than biological. A recent commission led by National Literacy Trust (NLT), of which I am the director, with the All Party Parliamentary Literacy Group found that, for many boys, reading for pleasure was just not something they wanted to be seen doing.
We can dig beneath this headline assertion and identify other potential reasons for the reluctance of many boys to read in their own time. Does the predominance of women in the primary school workforce, where reading is encouraged, make it seem a largely female activity? And what about research that shows that girls from an early age are more likely than boys to be given books, that girls are more likely to be taken to libraries and bookshops, and that mothers, rather than fathers, are more likely to read to children?
I would also argue that a youth culture that shuns reading for pleasure must also be related to the way literacy has been taught in our schools. In 1998, the Labour government introduced a National Literacy Strategy. It produced an improvement in reading standards in primary schools, but it also seems to have reduced levels of reading for pleasure. We need to address this urgently.
The reading for pleasure habit, I firmly believe, can only be built by giving youngsters the sort of books that interest them. So school libraries, for instance, should not only stock books that support the curriculum, but also books that match pupils’ own interests, sparking their enthusiasm for reading and books. If that means car manuals or books about football for boys, then so be it.
As well as chiming with their interests, books that hook young people into reading need to resonate with who they are. The teenage novels of the past four decades are an extraordinary development in literature, and explore the teenage identity.
This has not always been the case. When I was a teenager, once I had outgrown Rosemary Sutcliff, C S Lewis and J R R Tolkien, the standard literary journey moved on to Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie – a strange hinterland of innocent experiences of adulthood. Meanwhile, in the classroom, the emphasis was on building our knowledge of the canon of classics of English literature. That often felt far removed from anything I was actually going through as a teenager.
It was only in the Seventies that writers such as Aidan Chambers, with his “Dance” sequence of novels, and Robert Cormier, with The Chocolate War and others, came along with literature specifically for teenagers, which chimed with what they wanted to read in the same way that pop music resonated with what they wanted to hear.
And that transformation continues apace today in the hands of the likes of Melvin Burgess and Malorie Blackman. They write extraordinary, psychologically acute books for teenagers that give them access to truths that adults are sometimes too scared to tell them. Burgess’s Junk is about a group of teenage tearaways in Bristol who fall into anarchism and heroin addiction. It deals with issues that teenagers may be experiencing in life for the first time, but deals with them in the safe environment of the pages of a book. Or his Nicholas Dane, loosely based on Oliver Twist but set in care homes in Manchester. Just as Dickens dealt with the reality of his times, this book exposes its readers to present-day reality, and therefore has a greater resonance for them.
I’m not saying that teenage readers shouldn’t tackle Dickens. It is not an either/or. But if we only give them Dickens, or other books that adults think are “good” or “appropriate” for them, then we are potentially missing an opportunity to instill in them that vital habit of reading for pleasure.
There is a balance to be struck, and this goes to the heart of the current debate about whether a canon of classics needs to be imposed on teenage students in our schools. Some say that this proposal is wrong, that the way to get them reading for pleasure is to give them complete freedom to choose. Others say that without a knowledge of the classics, they are being failed by the education system because they will miss out not only on great literature, but also on a vital part of their own cultural identity and heritage.
Perhaps the way forward is to remove the barriers between teenage fiction and the classics, to acknowledge that both have their role in encouraging reading for pleasure, and that those roles may overlap. The national curriculum today gives great leeway in choosing the books that are to be studied, but what that tends to mean is that the selection now falls not to examiners or ministers, nor to pupils, but to their teachers.
To make the most of these freedoms, teachers need to know about teenage writing. They must seize on the work of a new generation of writers for teenagers as a priceless teaching resource. Sadly, the Times Education Supplement’s recent survey of teachers’ top 100 books suggests that their knowledge of new writing is patchy. To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men remain the unimaginative staple diet for many.
This is where school librarians need to come to the curriculum’s rescue. As schools’ resident book experts, school librarians have never been so important as they will be in the next 18 months, as teachers look for support in finding the books that will teach the new curriculum.
The resources we have to inspire young people’s reading are greater and more profound than ever before. If we make the most of them, the results will be extraordinary for individuals and for society. And for the disadvantaged young people the NLT works with, reading is no less than a lifeline.

Jonathan Douglas will appear with authors Malorie Blackman, Melvin Burgess and Hayley Long at the Telegraph Hay Festival on May 30 at 5.30pm in a question time session for young-adult fiction fans.

Now go back to Give a Book.

Thank you

Thanks to our generous supporters we were able to give books this month to some new recipients:  one, a mother and baby refuge where the books ranged from first reading books for children under two to a set of Roald Dahl classics and text books for older children told us that  "The children are over the moon."
There was also much excitement in the Springboard Room  at Harris Academy in Peckham-- the first secondary school that Springboard has worked in-- when their new books arrived from Give a Book. The children are really enjoying them, especially First Greek Myths and the Quentin Blake Collection. So a big thank you to all those who share our belief that to give a book is a transaction of value and enable us to do just that.
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World Book Night

St George's Day, Shakespeare's Birthday and World Book Night are on April 23rd. We're thrilled and honoured that Give a Book has been selected as a recipient for books by one of the WBN Givers, Sage Publications. They have chosen 3 of our partner charities to receive a generous helping of books: Maggie's Centre, First Story and Age UK.  Thank you thank you to all at Sage Pub from all of us at Give a Book for thinking of us. And all power to World Book Night .
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We need a new Language for Mental Health

The wonderful Reader Organisation is calling for a new language to talk about mental health, with senior health professionals, readers and writers discussing the idea in the opening session of the charity’s annual conference, ‘Shared Reading for Healthy Communities’ at the British Library on 16th May 2013.

Unlike the growing number of ‘Books on Prescription’ and ‘Bibliotherapy’ schemes, The Reader Organisation, which is commissioned by health services across the UK, has chosen not to limit the description of its model as ‘therapy’. Literature exists to address the human condition.

Jane Davis, The Reader Organisation’s founder and director, says:

“Those medical words – prescription, therapy – which at first glance carry a medical imprimatur of seriousness, have largely come from the pharmaceutical and psychotherapeutic industries, and actually point to a re-positioning of the inner life as a problem to be solved by experts, by others.”
 Working with health, library, education, adult social care services and other bodies, The Reader Organisation provided 92,400 unique shared reading experiences in 2012. The personalised model, which enables even non-readers to join in as everything is read aloud in the group, is now backed up with strong qualitative and quantitative evidence from researchers.

At the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust in Liverpool, patients are currently taking part in a shared reading group as part of a chronic pain research project, the initial findings of which will be revealed at the conference.
Dr Andrew Jones, consultant in anaesthesia and pain medicine, at the hospital, says:

“Early indications are showing that the reading group is making a difference to people in our hospital but there is something intangible, a deeper impact beyond that, which we can’t measure using existing qualitative research methods.”

The conference will also explore how the benefits of the shared reading model extends beyond the traditional definition of ‘health’, addressing issues of reoffending, isolation, community cohesion, and reading for pleasure with young people.

A group member at HMP Wormwood Scrubs, said:

“The reading group has boosted my self-esteem and given me more self-confidence when I have discussions with staff and in general; it has encouraged me to read more in my spare-time, which has released a lot of stress off my shoulders as I have been suffering from depression.”

“Great literature connects people. There’s nothing more ancient, nor more deeply healing than that”, states Jane Davis.
“But we increasingly feel the pressure to talk about our work in medicalised terms - intervention, service, outcomes – terms which limit the power of what humanly it is that is making the difference. I want to find a new language, so that people don’t have to say, ‘I’m sick’, when they’re suffering the human condition.”

For more information on the ‘Shared Reading for Health Communities’ conference visit:  www.thereader.org.uk/conference

For more information, please contact Lizzie Cain, Communications Assistant: lizziecain@thereader.org.uk / 0151 207 7228

Members of the Give a Book team will be there. Why not join us? Now go back to Give a Book.

More news from inside...

The Prison Reading Groups that we give books to choose their titles. Here are accounts of 3 groups: we’re delighted to get feedback so thank you, PRG for sending them in. Biggest thanks go to everyone who gives to GIVE A BOOK so that this can continue to happen.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
In general this book was a hit, and has tempted our members to read the two sequels.

Is this a serious political satire or pure entertainment?

One member thought the parallels with 'I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!' were striking, especially when prizes or presents are parachuted down to the various 'contestants'.

Another felt that the story had a worryingly serious side to it:
• ‘a sadly apt indictment of the human need for blood sport…the monitoring described in this book is eerily within reach’
On the other hand we all agreed that Katniss was mostly concerned with winning, rather than subverting the system politically – making this book, on the whole, a light read.

The process of meeting challenges and trying to overcome them is a constant theme here. Does the story make it easy for us to relate to this?
• 'the ongoing arrival of challenges and the determination to overcome them is an inspirational element’
• ‘this story could help us to stand up to oppression’
I was concerned that, as readers, we were being asked to accept that the rules could be changed so drastically and purely for dramatic effect. But another member  thought that this was expressly to show the privileges of a draconian regime.

How much do we care about Katniss and Peeta's relationship? Do we want to find out what happens next?

We discussed the conceit of the main characters having to perform in front of millions of viewers and how that affects our perception of them and their 'true' feelings for each other. This didn't seem to deter other members:
• ‘I had to read the other two books very quickly in order to find out’
• ‘I couldn't help but get emotionally involved’

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Like most groups on the out, the men at this HMP are keen to read the books people are talking about. So it was no surprise when they chose Yann Martell’s Life of Pi, the Man Booker winner and now a blockbuster film.

The story recounts the terrifying adventures of an Indian teenager who is trapped on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a 450-lb Bengal tiger.

Our discussion was lively, alert and full of surprises. The first member who spoke put us all on our mettle:
• ‘I thought it was pretty absurd – 227 days on a 26-ft lifeboat: pah! - until I got to the final section and realised what the ‘real story’ was and what the tiger actually meant. It all made sense then and now I think it’s brilliant’
Others were frankly gobsmacked by his explanation:
• ‘This has turned the book upside down for me’
• ‘It’s really blown my mind’
From here, the speculation began. If Pi’s ‘real story’ is the one hinted at the end, is the account of the tiger a lie or a way of getting at the deep meaning of what happened? One member had made a note of something said early on in the book and thought it might be at the heart of what the novel is doing. He gave us the page reference, then read it out:
‘That’s what fiction is about, isn’t it, the selective transforming of reality? The twisting of it to bring out its essence.’
Another member talked about being new to prison and finding it a tough experience. For him the book was a real help:
• ‘When I was reading it, I was in India, on the Pacific Ocean, in Canada – and not in here’
At the same time, he also commented on points of contact:
• ‘Of course they’re different, but I found analogies -  between Pi’s fear of the tiger and what it feels like when you first come into prison’
We finished up the session by reading Blake’s 'Tyger': The verdict:
• ‘What a scorcher!’

If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor:
 a very mixed response. Many hated it, which made for a good discussion. One member was very concerned by the decision of the pregnant girl not to tell the father of her child, and the rest agreed with him (I argued that she was letting the chap off the hook, but they didn’t agree). The highlights were the comparison which one man made with photography, and how it can make the ordinary extraordinary through e.g. juxtaposition: a perfect analogy for this book. Also, the pastiche sent in by absentee member – done with a lovely witty touch.

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