A BROMSGROVE based online bookstore owner has continued her mission to encourage reading among youngsters with her latest wave of local school visits.
Becky Henman, from Cofton, has had a busy couple of months visiting schools alongside authors to promote the importance and joy of readers for youngsters.
Recent visits to Lickey End First School in Bromsgrove with Stroud based author & illustrator Hannah Shaw, and Crown Meadow First School in Alvechurch with author Serena Patel from Walsall, have helped Becky on her mission and more importantly introduced the magic of reading to countless children.
At Lickey End, Hannah hosted a whole school assembly about her six Unipiggle books featuring her own illustrations. She performed a reading before the children separated into their own year groups to complete workshops on character creation, story design and more. Hannah kindly signs books purchased for children or brought into school.
Lickey End headteacher, Chris Burton said: “Reading is an essential skill for life and it is so important for us to create these hooks and opportunities to engage with books, language and the creative world.
“Our partner work with Becky and authors and illustrators has been instrumental in starting to really raise the profile of reading across the school.
“Events like this one really do bring the whole school community together to share their love of reading.”
Hannah Shaw later spoke of her love for inspiring children to read and write their own stories, particularly encouraging reading for pleasure.
Becky’s second author visit at Crown Meadow in Alvechurch featured Serena Patel’s assembly for years three and four, discussing her book series – Anisha Accidental Detective – which includes seven titles.
Serena shared her vision behind the books and her childhood before reading a chapter and answering childrens’ questions. The school visit also included workshops for the children encouraging then to think about lead characters, how to begin a story, and what content is needed before helping them create their own stories. Children enjoyed sharing their ideas and also had their books signed.
Serena Patel said: “School visits are such an amazing way to celebrate and encourage a love of reading and writing.
“The enthusiasm and ideas the children have in writing workshops never cease to amaze me and I’m pretty sure I have met some brilliant future authors to watch out for in the schools I’ve visited all over the Midlands and the rest of the country.”
Hannah Shaw also visited Crown Meadow to host her own author day with the reception children.
Crown Meadows English lead, Nicki Banks, said: “The children loved the author workshops. We would like to say a huge thank you to Hannah and Serena for visiting and inspiring our children.”
Both authors who supported Becky on her visits are published authors through Usborne Books.
Becky Henman added: “I absolutely love working with schools and nurseries to boost their bookshelves.
“There is nothing more magical than helping children find a book, it’s even more special when you have a reluctant reader and you spend the time with them to find them something they will enjoy.”
Becky was inspired to begin her journey with bookselling and encouraging reading among youngsters after learning shocking statistics about the reality of reading among youngsters.
She highlighted that over 1 million children are without a book of their own and she explained how much of a positive impact author visits can have on the enjoyment children find in reading.
Of those asked in a survey, 10 per cent more children showed an enjoyment in reading in their free time if they had had an author visit their school – 43.2 per cent of those who had a visit enjoyed reading and 32.2 per cent who had not had a visit enjoyed reading.
