Thursday 20th July 2017

9.30-12pm

Harlands Primary School, Haywards Heath.

For parents and carers - FREE to attend.

Register via www.thebookactivist.com

The Bookchat Roadshow is is a non-profit event aimed at helping parents and carers encourage their children’s reading and writing for pleasure. Organised by the Book Activist, the Bookchat Roadshow brings together fantastic authors, industry experts, relevant education organisations and publishers to share their ideas and experience with parents and carers. All participants have the same passion to promote and encourage reading and writing for pleasure. The ultimate aim is to ensure children can discover and sustain a lifelong love of reading and writing for pleasure, with the support of their family.

"I'm thrilled to be participating in the Roadshow and meeting parents and carers to talk about the wonderful world of reading. A love of reading is one of the greatest gifts you can give a child which is why I'm so excited

to be taking part in the Bookchat Roadshow." Jenny McLachlan, author

“I'm so excited to be taking part in the Bookchat Roadshow. As a reader, writer and story mentor with Little Green Pig, I'm very aware of the miracles that can happen when you allow children to take ownership of their reading and writing. There's nothing better than the look on a child's face when they realise that there really

are no limits to the worlds they can explore and create.” Nikki Sheehan, author

‘I’m very pleased to be taking part in the Roadshow, because I like to read and I liked to read when I was younger too, and sometimes it’s nice to share those things that make you happy. In this day and age the

empathy and other-person’s-shoe-ness that reading, both fiction and non-fiction, can help nurture and grow inside a human heart cannot be a bad thing to encourage, so let’s encourage it.’ A.F. Harrold, author

"Looking forward to receiving the oaths of allegiance on pain of death from all my minions at... no, wait,

wrong speech. Umm.... Looking forward to helping parents getting kids reading and writing at the Bookchat Roadshow! Well, my books at any rate. Forget the other authors, pah!!’ Jamie Thomson, author

Participants include a range of organisations who support children’s creativity, education and development in areas such as phonics, early literacy, forest schools, dyslexia and learning support needs. The Schools and Local Library Service will be on hand to talk about the Summer Reading Challenge and the services they offer. Presentations will be given by Book Activist Founder, Victoria Dilly; author Nikki Sheehan; and the team at Scoop Magazine; all of whom will be sharing their ideas and experience to help encourage children to discover a lifelong love of reading and creative writing for pleasure. It is a unique event not to be missed!

"All the speakers were so interesting, funny & passionate about their subject. I certainly came away feeling inspired!"

"Fantastic presentations with very useful information and guidance!"

"I could have spent all day listening to the fantastic speakers and authors. It was absolutely

brilliant!" Parent feedback on the inaugural event which took place in October 2016

For more information about this event, please contact Victoria Dilly on 07715 346883 / thebookactivist@gmail.com / www.thebookactivist.com / @bookactivist1

Nicolette Sheehan Nikki Sheehan is the youngest daughter of a rocket scientist! She achieved a first class degree in Linguistics and worked as a subtitler on Coronation Street and The Simpsons. She later studied Developmental Psychology and Journalism and continues to work as a freelance journalist and copywriter, specialising in parenting features. In addition, Nikki is also one of three organisers of Brighton Rocks Books, the first mini festival of children's writing in the area. Nikki is the author of 'Swan Boy' recently nominated for the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal 2017, and 'Who Framed Klaris Cliff?'. Her latest novel 'Goodnight Boy' is due to be published on 6th July and is already receiving critical acclaim. Nikki has three children and is also a story mentor with Little Green Pig (Ministry of Stories) helping children to access their creativity. She regularly visits schools and inspires children through her workshops. For more information visit www.nikkisheehan.co.uk. Jamie Thomson Jamie Thomson has been a successful writer of books and computer games for many years. His book ‘The Dark Lord, The Teenage Years’, the first in a series, won the Roald Dahl Funny Prize in 2012. The Dark Lord is a comedic fantasy about a Dark Lord trapped in the body of a human boy here in modern day earth and made the top 100 kids books of the last ten years in the Sunday Times – 100 Modern Children’s Classics. Other books include a series of comedy adventures in space, the Wrong Side of the Galaxy and A Galaxy Too Far. The books are about a about a fourteen year old boy called Harry who walked out of his house one day only to be abducted by aliens. Jamie often gives creative writing workshops at festivals and in schools, working with children of all ages. He lives in East Sussex. For more information www.jamiethomson.com. Jenny McLachlan Jenny has written four funny books in the Ladybirds series ('Flirty Dancing', 'Love Bomb', 'Sun Kissed' and 'Starstruck') that are sold in countries all over the world and translated into many different languages. Jenny's latest book, 'Stargazing for Beginners', tells the story of a girl desperate to become an astronaut and she is currently working on another book for teenagers and a book for younger readers. Before she became a writer, Jenny taught in a large secondary school where she was inspired by the teenagers she worked with. She now writes full time and enjoys visiting children in schools all over the country. Find out more at www.jennymclachlan.com. A. F. Harrold A.F. Harrold is a poet and performer who also writes fiction for children. He’s the author of the Fizzlebert Stump series (illustrated by Sarah Horne), The Imaginary (illustrated by Emily Gravett) and The Song From Somewhere Else (illustrated by Levi Pinfold). His children’s poetry collection, Things You Find In A Poet’s Beard is illustrated by Chris Riddell. The first Fizzlebert Stump book was chosen as 2017’s Young City Reads book in Brighton and Hove, and The Imaginary was longlisted for both the Carnegie and the Greenaway in 2016. His new book, Greta Zargo and the Death Robots from Outer Space (illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton) comes out in September. Find out more at www.afharroldkids.com.

We are delighted to have fantastic authors participating in our author panel bookchat sharing their reading & writing experiences.

Background Throughout my career, I have often noted that those children whose parents and carers are more engaged with their child’s reading are more likely to develop a reading habit. I have seen the struggles many children have to enjoy reading, whether this be due to a lack of knowledge of books, a lack of desire to read, a lack of support or a particular learning need. I believe engaging with and supporting parents can have a huge impact on children’s ability to enjoy reading. The National Literacy Trust produced a summary ‘Why Families Matter to Literacy’ which analysed a raft of research on parental involvement in learning and literacy. This demonstrated that parents who are more involved with their children’s literacy activities, including reading and writing, will not only benefit their child’s development, but their own development as a parent (Clark, 2007). The National Literacy Trust’s report Family Matters: The Importance of Family Support for Young People’s Reading found that “encouraging children to read and being seen reading can contribute positively to young people’s reading attitudes and behaviour. Young people encouraged by a family member are twice as likely to read outside of class every day as those who are not.” (Clark and Picton, 2012). New research released in June 2017 highlights the link between enjoyment of reading and attainment, with enjoyment of reading putting children over three years ahead in the classroom (Celebrating Reading for Enjoyment: Annual Literacy Survey 2016). At a time when literacy levels are of huge concern, some children are leaving school without being able to read and write properly, and mental health issues are rife in many schools, reading for pleasure has been shown to have a positive impact on all these areas. The Reading Agency Literature Review: The impact of reading for pleasure and empowerment researched the effects of reading for pleasure on people of a range of ages. Among its conclusions, the Review found that reading for pleasure “improved social capital for children, young people and the general adult population; better parent-child communication and reduction of depression and dementia symptoms among adults.” But the key to all this is reading for pleasure in order for the outcomes to be reached (2015 June). One of my aims through The Book Activist is to engage with parents and carers, highlighting the many amazing books and resources available to them to support their children’s development as a reader. Experience has shown me that families are simply not aware of the support out there for them, have many concerns about their child’s enjoyment of reading and are not sure where to look for help. Inviting parents and carers into school, to hear from experienced people who as parents too know the concerns and worries they may have, is a step towards engaging with parents in a new and positive way about reading and writing. Including a panel of fantastic authors who can share their very real experiences as readers and writers, incorporating stories through illustration, will further emphasise the importance of supporting children’s creativity. Victoria Dilly The Book Activist