MENUWe are passionate about the power of books to change lives, and we know that reading for pleasure has a direct correlation to academic achievement and emotional wellbeing.
Our experienced schools team work closely with schools and school libraries, sharing knowledge and providing guidance through a variety of activities:
Top Titles
Each year our school's team of experienced and skilled volunteers read hundreds of books to create our annual set of 24 Top Titles. We select from the best recently published books, including fantasy, humour, adventure and non-fiction to inspire reading for pleasure. We also ensure cultural and gender diversity.
The books on our lists are always...
a really good read
recently published
value for money
We also know some children find reading long books more of a challenge, so we have curated a list of Super Readable titles, shorter books which are still a good read.
World Book Day
Each year (over two weeks) we visit around 3000 children in our local schools to mark World Book Day. We spend half a day in each school, reading extracts from our Top Titles to the children so that they want to find out ‘what happens next’. We sell these books at great discounts. We also run online sessions for isolated and island schools. Last year we hosted 1400 children on World Book Day online!
“I firmly believe our pupils’ love of reading has been influenced by the support of The Bookery.” (Headteacher)
"They visited my son’s school on Friday as part of their World Book Day visits and he came home full of excitement about the books they had talked about!”
‘’I wanted to say a massive thank you for organising yesterday. It was brilliant seeing the children leaving school so excited by their new book. Parents were very grateful too.’’
Author visits
We know that listening to an author and receiving a copy of their book signed by them can inspire reading. Recognising that many children, especially in our more deprived areas, do not own books we strive to take authors into schools ensuring that every child receives a free book signed by the author.
‘’We had a wonderful afternoon. The children came out of the hall inspired to become authors and illustrators! The next day the children came into school full of chatter about their book that they shared at bedtime with their families.’’
We thank The Crediton and District Lions for the support they provide enabling us to take more authors into schools.
Books and Biscuits at The Bookery
Our schools team work with targeted small groups of children to re-engage them with books and reading for pleasure. In partnership with local schools, children come into The Bookery where they are introduced to a range of new books and related activities, fostering ‘book talk’ around books they have chosen.
"Finding books that you like helps you read more."
"I have a computer and tv in my room, now I only play on my computer one day and I have started reading on the other day!"
We thank the Tesco Stronger Starts Helping Children Thrive program for supporting this activity.
Special events
We are always on the lookout for funding to support reading for pleasure in schools. A grant from the Siobhan Dowd Trust enabled us to work with three schools (primary and secondary) to replenish their libraries. But it wasn’t the teachers or the bookshop doing the choosing! A group of children (from under-resourced homes) were chosen from each school and were tasked with selecting the books from The Bookery. They took their role very seriously and selected a complete range: from shorter stories to graphic novels, to more challenging longer reads.
The children presented their choices in assembly:
"They talked about how they had been specially selected to choose new and exciting books to encourage more people to read and they had carefully picked books they thought everyone might enjoy." (class teacher)
"The ongoing support of the Bookery has been a cornerstone of the reading curriculum at Copplestone." (headteacher).
Penguin 90th Anniversary celebrations
We were selected as one of the independent bookshops working with Penguin to celebrate their 90th birthday. We invited the small groups with whom we had worked last year and who are now on the cusp of secondary school, to visit the bookshop for a special afternoon: an Escape Room game with books as the reward.
We also visited our local secondary school to take a bookfair to those targeted children we had worked with two years ago and who are now in year 7. The Penguin monies allowed each child to choose a book for themselves and for a friend. Both events were a great success!
