Charlotte has now started back at school, and inevitably this means she'll start reading "school" books again. We never really have much to stress about when it comes to her reading but sometimes it feels like she's unnecessarily being made to follow a fairly rigid 'track' through school bookwork rather than being allowed to develop her own skills and tastes.

I should emphasise two things though:

1) School is fantastic and we've never, ever had cause to complain about the way they teach literacy and improve reading skills

2) She reads a lot of books. A LOT of books - all the stuff we review here and a whole lot more besides, so should I even worry about school book work at all?

The crux of this editorial is something that cropped up on Twitter (usually Twitter is the inspiration for a lot of these ramblings but this was definitely an eye-catching tweet and a point well made by @joannechocolat).


Joanne Harris  @Joannechocolat

It struck me that the real problem I have with the school bookwork has nothing to do with the material or the level it's aimed at, it's the inference that Charlotte's reading level is purely determined by books she HAS to read rather than books she wants to read.

We have a lot of mums at Charlotte's school who insist that their little darling(s) read at such a highly advanced level for their age that they could happily work through the works of Shakespeare in an evening, or could polish off War and Peace for giggles at the weekend. Proud parenting is fine but it's the veiled inference that one child is somehow 'better' than another purely because they're reading books with a bigger word count, or have moved on swiftly from children's books and are working their way through dusty old classics that you really wouldn't wish on anyone.

Competitive parents aside, and getting back to Joanne's tweet, you can spot the kids who have a genuine love of reading and actually LOVE the books they've brought to school off their own backs to read in the cloakroom or at break times. There's a certain shiny-eyed enthusiasm that is instantly identifiable in kids who actually consider reading in their free time to be a pleasure, not something foisted on them just to bump up their academic reputation amongst their peers and their teachers.

When we receive books for review, sometimes the reaction from Charlotte is utterly priceless and I truly wish I could somehow take a snapshot of that precise moment in time and somehow turn it into a meaningful sentence or two in our reviews (particularly when it comes to "Book of the Week" winners which I'm always worried we don't trumpet loudly enough about - If they've made Book of the Week they're pretty much as close to perfection as you're going to get in a children's book).

I'm always well aware that it could easily be a different story, that the book blog could've dwindled away to nothing purely because Charlotte had only a passing interest in books and reading, or considered reading to be the very opposite of 'leisure time'. If that had happened, I wouldn't be here now typing this and I'm so glad she saw the worth of reading for pleasure early on, because reading purely for bragging rights just seems utterly worthless to me.

Marks and Spencer "Bright Sparks" First Writing

Continuing our #ReadItMD13 theme week of "Back to School" we thought we'd revisit an excellent range of early years teaching books that really don't feel like 'learning' to a child - more like a fun set of activities and puzzles that they can enjoy but at the same time support early years foundation stage / key stage school curriculum programmes.

Phew! That's a tall order, and the range comes from somewhere you probably might not expect. Marks and Spencer have several book ranges but we're huge fans of the "Bright Sparks activity books, covering a diverse range of numeracy, literacy and science subjects but in fun and exciting ways.



"First Writing" mixes wipe-clean pages with stickers and activities for children just learning to write and form letters on their own.

The exercises are probably quite familiar to children who may have encountered similar writing exercises in class, but coupled with reward sticker sheets, wipe clean pages so you can use the book again and again, and some brilliant bold colours and clearly laid out spreads, these really are fantastic - and very reasonably priced (the book pictured is £2.80 which is brilliant value).








Moving on to books for slightly older children in the Bright Sparks range...

For children aged 5-7 there's the "Big English and Maths Workbook" which again uses a combination of exciting puzzles, exercises and reward stickers to make learning fun.

We have recently dug out our own copies of the Bright Sparks books we've bought to get Charlotte back into the swing of things before school starts back up. Though we had school work plans and sheets sent home for the holidays, they're quite often bulk printed in black and white whereas the Bright Sparks range are nice and colourful with less of that "school" feel to them.

We often find it quite tough to get Charlotte in the right mood for tackling exercises and class-set stuff but we have the exact opposite experience with the Bright Sparks books, in fact we often have to try and rein her in a bit as she loves them a bit TOO much and would probably happily stay up till midnight completing them.

M & S also do a fantastic range of early reader storybooks.

"First Readers - Let's Start Reading" books again support the national curriculum and present a series of well-loved fairy tales and fables, with brilliant illustrations and key word panels to encourage children to read on their own and gain reading confidence.

Picking familiar stories and characters and giving them an early reading 'tweak' without resorting to dry phonics-style exercises, these books have been a massive help in boosting Charlotte's reading. Again we often struggle with class-set texts (as much as we love the Biff, Chip and Kipper range - they're instantly identified as school books and it can be quite tough to get Charlotte to engage with them and complete them for her homework assignments.

These are great as they're fairly short (so attention spans don't wander), perfect for bedtime reading (subjects and content are familiar and 'comfy' for children) and the word pick panels allow children to easily read, pick out and then recognise key words throughout the stories.

Jack and the Beanstalk is a particular favourite but just about all the classic fairy tales are covered, as well as traditional folk tales and stories from around the world.

They're nicely written and illustrated and the price is very reasonable too (these retail for around £2.40 which is ludicrously good value).

So next time you're popping into M & S for a new pair of undies, check out the children's book section and you'll be pleasantly surprised. We really do recommend the Bright Sparks workbooks as they're great to take away on holiday, or to grandparents so that children can settle down and boost their brain power without feeling pressured.


Check out our previous reviews of the Early Readers range

Three words that strike terror into the hearts of children (and joy into their parents!)

For this week's slightly belated #ReadItMD13 Theme Week we're looking at books designed not only to get your children back into something educational, we're also looking at books that can help children who are nervous about "starting big school" - sitting down with a new teacher, new friends and a whole new school.

So let's kick off by diving back into the archives for some of our favourite school-based books.

"I Want A Friend" by Tony Ross (The Little Princess Series) is a fab little book that sees the normally bombastic and quite mischievous Little Princess slightly on the back foot as she starts big school for the first time. Seeing everyone else seemingly happy and carefree and playing with their friends, The Little Princess realises that even being royalty doesn't mean that things are easy. Soon though she meets someone else in the same boat, a child who also doesn't have a special friend, and then another - and another, until there's a whole gaggle of children who come together and realise that searching hard for a friend is tricky, and often the best friends are right under your nose. A very nice little book for helping children through those anxieties about meeting new people and making new pals at school.

Oh how we love Splat the Cat! Rob Scotton's wiry haired little moggy has been on lots of adventures since his first book but in his very first outing we find out that Splat also had a tricky first day at school.

Read and re-read by us, we loved Splat packing Seymour his trusted mousey sidekick into his lunchbox as he (grudgingly) sets out to learn how to be a cat at cat school, and all the things that cats should and shouldn't do. Chase mice? What a terrible thought!

Soon though Splat teaches his teacher and classmates a few lessons too - that mice aren't food, they're friends - and there's really no need to chase Seymour around when he's such an adorable olive-nosed little fellah.

Splat will soon be popping up again in the next book "Scaredy Cat Splat!" which should be hitting shelves in time for Halloween.

In Emma Chichester-Clark's fabulous "Blue Kangaroo" books we meet the lovely Lily and her rather special 'friend' - a blue kangaroo. Again, a book that deals with the anxieties and worries of that first day at school, Lily decides to take Blue Kangaroo with her on her first day. We loved the way Emma 'voices' Lily's concerns as being Blue's (you'll see what we mean when you read this wonderful book). Lily actually ends up enjoying herself so much that she forgets Blue Kangaroo entirely, leaving him at school to have a lot of fun all on his own overnight!

We always expect the very best from Emma and we get it in spades - and it's a timely reminder for me to hunt out the rest of the Blue Kangaroo series as this one was utterly brill!

During the holidays, one of the hardest things to keep going was Charlotte's interest in self-reading.
With the aid of the Oxford Learning Tree Phonics range, it's easy to get back into the swing of things and in particular the "My Phonics Kit" starter pack is fab for taking children away from the books and onto the computer for some enhanced reading, phonics activities and learning.

There's also a whole host of brilliant exercises, stories and activities on the fantastic Oxford Owl website. Like most parents, we really struggle to marry together reading for learning and reading for pleasure (in fact it's a real concern when Charlotte's confronted with a new Biff Chip and Kipper book and can't actually distance herself from the fact that it's a 'school' book and not a 'home' book - despite the stories being pretty good fun in some of the advanced Stage 4 books). These sites and resources really do help though, so they're worth diving in if you're trying to get your children back into a bit of a learning routine to help ease them back into school without a huge jolt.

There'll be more from us on the subject of getting back to school or starting school for the first time as the week progresses so stay tuned!