Five days of stories!
A fun new event to celebrate the power of reading aloud and storytelling
“Our kids don’t get storytime at home, they don’t read with their parent, so it was so important to give them this experience to learn to love to read.”
“It should be made mandatory. It’s been good for the teachers’ well-being as much as the children’s. It’s not just another curriculum area. Its benefits are bigger than the time it takes”
Feedback from the Farshore Storytime in School report (2023)
This year the Schools Library Services is introducing a new book award for Key Stage 1 that’ll run during the summer term.
Importantly, the purpose of the Picture Book Award is reading aloud for fun – with no need to have to link to a lesson or curriculum topic! It’s about inspiring a love of stories and being read to. We will be suggesting some fun activities to accompany each book – but these activities will be optional!
The Winners!
The votes have all come in and your pupils voted for…
Best story : My brother is an Avocado : Written by Tracy Darnton, illustrated by Yasmeen Ismail
Best Illustrations : My brother is an Avocado : Written by Tracy Darnton, illustrated by Yasmeen Ismail
We’ll be in touch with Tracy and Yasmeen and we hope you all enjoyed these great books!
Is this event free?
Participating in the reading and voting is free to any school that subscribes to our service. There is a small charge for anyone wishing to attend one of the accompanying workshops.
Non-subscribing schools may take part and borrow the 5 books, however they must book at least 1 place on one of the workshops.
Event timeline
- From 6th June : We can provide you with a selection of the 5 book award picture books (loaned from the Schools Library Services) to read with pupils in either year 1 or year 2. You choose any week as your reading week in which you read one book each day to the class or group (if you’re planning on attending one of our workshops, you may wish to choose a week after this date)
- 19th June : Storytelling and story reading workshop with Alastair K Daniel
- 26th June : Bag Books: multi-sensory stories workshop with Nina Martinez
- At the end of your reading week! : Having been read all of the books, children will choose their favourite book of the five, we will tally the votes and announce the winner!
The books
These are all new picture books published within the last year and have been chosen to demonstrate the range of language styles, illustration and storytelling possible in the medium – we hope that your children (and teachers) will find each book an exciting new journey!
- My brother is an Avocado : Written by Tracy Darnton, illustrated by Yasmeen Ismail
- Doris : Written and Illustrated by Lo Cole
- The planet in a pickle jar : Written and Illustrated by Martin Stanev
- The perfect sushi : Written by Emily Satoko Seo, illustrated by Mique Moriuchi
- I want a dog : Written and Illustrated by Jon Agee
Storytelling and story reading workshop with Alastair K Daniel
Wednesday 19th June : 16:30 to 18:00
Alastair is a performance storyteller, researcher, writer and consultant in storytelling. The workshop will cover:
- the commonalities between story reading and storytelling – not only the role of expression when reading or telling, but also the need for a dialogic approach to sharing story with children
- exploring, through practical activities, how using texts as a prompt for storytelling can deepen children’s understanding of those texts, as well as helping to develop general language comprehension and confidence in oracy.
Cost is £25 per person for subscribers to the SLS, £30 pp for non-subscribers).
Bag Books: multi-sensory stories with Nina Martinez
Wednesday 26th June : 16:30 to 18:00
Nina is the Storytelling Manager and Trainer at Bag Books. Bag Books is a charity supporting people with learning disabilities through the provision of multi-sensory books and storytelling. Founded in 1993, Bag Books is the only charity in the world publishing multi-sensory books for people with severe or profound and multiple learning disabilities.
This workshop will cover using multi-sensory stories in your classroom
Cost is £25 per person for subscribers to the SLS, £30 pp for non-subscribers).
Why take part?
- Encourage the reading of picture books for fun.
- Bring the work of new writers and illustrators into the classroom
- Training provided will build the confidence of educators and develop their skills in story reading.
Register
Registration for taking part and for the workshops closes 20th May
Cancelation policy
We will not be able to offer refunds for the workshops after 24th May. Cancellations and non-attendees will be invoiced for the full amount after this date.