Promote Reading ed. by Pat Pledger

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Pledger Publishing 2012. ISBN 9781 8766 7827 2.
Highly recommended. This book scored well from the first page: a sub-title such as Activities and strategies to motivate reading is of course an instant hit with teacher librarians. Anticipation was further heightened on opening the next page, a very full and informative Table of Contents covering a wide range of ideas and strategies.
The Contents Page is arranged under various headings, e.g. General ideas to promote reading, Finding the right book for the reader, and under each heading are several articles, some with intriguing headings such as Speed dating, Loo reviews and Shelf talkers. The articles are quite short, most of 1-2 pages, with some a few pages longer.
Straight off I came across a recommendation for a wiki site for summer reading for teachers, which (I probably shouldn't admit) I didn't know about, but proved very useful and easy-to-read.
Next I looked at the Running a Reader's Cup entry, as we are running one this year at Underdale High. This had many good ideas, some of which we incorporated into our Book Cup, some of which we were already doing, and some of which we considered but are doing a little differently. Promote reading is of course a volume of suggestions and ideas, not hard-and-fast rules, so some will be more applicable or relevant than others.
Loo reviews and Pee and reads are definitely outside-the-square, or should I say, inside the [thunder]box, approaches I had not previously heard or thought about. Nevertheless their advocate makes a good case, and may well be worth trying.
Other articles are too numerous to detail, but perhaps two words would suffice: highly recommended.
Peter Helman

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