The Chatterbooks Reading Group involved 10 weekly themed sessions with up to 20 children from participating schools. The sessions gave them the chance to discuss books they had read and to develop their love of literature through discovering new authors and new stories.
Sunderland Library Services have been taking part in a new national project funded through the Department of Education to establish Chatterbooks Reading Groups across the city.
Sunderland City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Public Health, Wellness and Culture, Councillor John Kelly, said: “Book clubs are an excellent way of encouraging pupils to read a wide range of books and perhaps read more often than they usually would. They help to keep young people interested in books inside as well as outside of school and are also a fantastic way of developing and improving both reading and spoken language skills for everyone taking part.
“The Chatterbooks programme is a fantastic way of introducing as many young people as possible to the world of literature. Our libraries play an important role in children’s reading habits and as part of the programme the children visited their local library, became members and borrowed books. I encourage everyone to make the most of our fantastic library facilities and find out more about the amazing world of reading.”
Eight schools in Sunderland took part in the Chatterbooks Reading Group programme: Barmston Primary, Rickleton Primary, Bernard Gilpin Primary, Gillas Lane Primary, Hetton Primary, Southwick Primary, New Silksworth Primary & Thorney Close Primary.
Award winning children’s author Gareth P Jones will visit Sunderland to hold a workshop and present participants in the Chatterbooks Reading Groups project from Thorney Close Primary School with their well-earned certificates.
Gareth added:”Chatterbooks is an excellent scheme because it encourages reading for fun and gets children reading a wider – more stimulating – selection of books than is usually on offer to them. I believe we need more schemes like this to keep the market vibrant and remind children, teachers and parents that there is so much more to children’s literature than the classics and their celebrity-penned imitators.”