National Share a Story Month
The Federation of Children's Book Groups
May is National Share a Story Month!
The National Share a Story Month began in 1974 as National Tell a Story Week and is coordinated by The Federation of Children’s Book Groups. The Month long celebration of reading began in 1998 and numerous events have been held across the UK which promote literacy and learning to children. The Federation of Children’s Book Groups works with 29 different book groups across England, Scotland and Wales. The Oxford group is the Oxford Children’s Book Group. Their mission statement reads “The Group aims to promote a love of books from a young age, and supports reading initiatives in the community, as well as getting books into the hands of those who might not otherwise have them.” Last November, the OCBC held a conference with speakers Philip Pullman and Mary Hoffman.
The Federation’s 2011 Month is supported by Penguin, Macmillan, Random House, Hachette, Walker, Oxford University Press, Simon and Schuster and Bloomsbury. This year’s theme is titled A Box of Delights (you can read about the 2011 Annual Conference).
Each book group will open their own box to find varying treasures which will allow children to create and share their own unique stories using the items they find within.
Scholastic offers some free storytelling downloads for use in or out of the classroom and the HMS Warrior is holding what look like great literary events for kids including a reenactment of Carroll’s Jabberwocky and stepping into the workhouse shoes of Oliver Twist.
BookTrust suggests some great children’s books to share or why not watch stories online together?
There is plenty going on so if you’ve got kids, now is the time to share a story and get their creative little brains running. Why not share a story with me? Send me your stories at worldbookcapital@gmail.com and I’ll post them on the blog – get your kids’ names published!
