“The Novice Reader” is in general a child in preschool up to Grade R. “The Decoding Reader” is generally the child in the Foundation Phase that is Grade 1 – 3. The “Fluent Reader” is the Upper Junior or Intermediate child – Grades 4 – 7. Learning to read doesn’t happen on a given day – it is a process that develops well through our lives.
There is robust research out there that reports a high correlation between knowledge of letters and success in learning to read. Many of the reading programs used in our schools today begin with this very premise. Read more

Frankfurt was abuzz this year with a variety of talking points for publishers, booksellers and related stakeholders all facing an exciting new phase in the evolving story of human-kinds finest invention, the book.

The guest of honour this year was the Netherlands and Flanders region. I was most pleased to see the vast array and depth of available content from all genres and variety of forms. The availability of book content has never been more engaging for people to enjoy, from pop-up books to holographic electronic reserves of digital content. Now more than ever, there really is something for everyone to find accessible.
Some of the most interesting topics for me and other trade visitors related to digital were:

Read more

When and how did you start in the book business?
I joined an American company, Collier-Macmillan in late 1970. I was about to finish my National Service in the Air Force and applied to an advert in the newspaper. I hitched from Pretoria to Johannesburg in my blue step-out uniform. Too late to make it home to change into ‘civvies’ I went straight to the interview in my Air Force blues. This turned out to be fortuitous as the person conducting the interview, Rudi Houwert, had been in the Royal Dutch Marines. Lean (having never had a publishing lunch), sun-touched, short haired – Houwert like the ‘cut of my jib’ and took me through for an immediate interview with the boss Ad Donker. Read more

Baroness Gail Rebuck, chair of Penguin Random House UK, delivered an educated and insightful speech on Thursday 13th October as part of a debate in the House of Lords, where Lord Bird moved that the House of Lords take “note of the cultural, civic and educational significance of local libraries and independent bookshops in the United Kingdom.

“My Lords,” she said. “I would like to thank the noble Lord, Lord Bird, for initiating this debate. The big issue for me – if I may borrow a phrase from my noble Lord – is books and their enduring importance to civil society and the extent to which both bookshops and libraries are essential to their continued success. Without both, we will not achieve 100% literacy which is an essential aim in the 21st century and a bedrock of social mobility, social cohesion and a strong economy.

“The publishing industry, as a whole, contributes £10.2bn a year to the UK economy, of which retail sales from books account for £5bn and whether we go for a hard or a soft Brexit – hardcovers, softbacks and digital books – will have a significant role to play in our export market in terms of jobs and growth.

“Since 2010, 343 libraries have shut. Opening hours have been cut, alongside educational programmes and mobile libraries and 8,000 trained library staff have been lost, together with hundreds of thousands of new books.

“But, my Lords, bookshops are under pressure too. The number of independent book shops has halved since 2005 and they continue to be under threat, with expensive rents and business rates while their online competitors trade from warehouses in less expensive out of town locations.

The speech is long and impassioned and well worth the read.

From the Harry Potter series to the Hunger Games trilogy, fiction geared to the tween and teen sets can regularly be found at the top of best-seller lists. But no amount of re-imagining of Hermione Granger as black can erase the reality that youths of color rarely see themselves represented as the main characters of young adult novels—even though they’re the fastest-growing demographic group in the United States. The diversity of the authors writing young adult literature isn’t much better.

In a collaborative effort, the National Education Association Foundation, publishing house Lee & Low Books, and the nonprofit First Book will provide thousands of diverse books to schools and students in low-income communities in the UNited States. The partnership will also fund the creation of companion teacher tip sheets to ensure that students have meaningful learning experiences with the literature, and Lee & Low will publish a book by an author of color. Read more here