Staff

My first memories of really enjoying reading are from when I was about 8 years old and I discovered the 'Fighting Fantasy' books which were a series of stories where you got to decide what happened next by turning to different pages when you made a decision. You also got to fight monsters so it was utterly brilliant! Nowadays I read every single day and love a mixture of fiction and non-fiction, written stories and graphic novels. My favourite author has always been Stephen King who used to write scary stories but in recent years has changed to writing about lots of different subjects. I love how he makes you feel that you have entered a new world for a while and are really invested in new characters.

My favourite book is Matilda by Roald Dahl. I must've read it dozens of times, sometimes finishing it, then starting it all over again straight away! I always wanted to be like the kind teacher, Miss Honey who saw the best in all children and valued each individual's characteristics and qualities. This book is why I became a teacher really. I do love most Roald Dahl books as the stories are all great as well as the illustrations by Quentin Blake-but in my opinion Matilda is the best!

I have always been, and still am, an absolute 'bookworm'. I love reading and it is never a good idea to let me loose in a book store (especially the children's department).

As a child, I devoured books by Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew) and Elinor M. Brent-Dyer (The Chalet School series). As a teenager and young adult, I discovered a love of fantasy books and I currently enjoy a range of fantasy/crime/mystery stories. My favourite authors are Faye Kellerman, Linwood Barclay and Terry Brooks.

I also love reading children's books aloud to my class and take great delight in putting on all the different character voices. Among my favourites are the Oi Frog series and Supertato series.

I have always been, and still am, an absolute 'bookworm'. I love reading and it is never a good idea to let me loose in a book store (especially the children's department).

As a child, I devoured books by Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew) and Elinor M. Brent-Dyer (The Chalet School series). As a teenager and young adult, I discovered a love of fantasy books and I currently enjoy a range of fantasy/crime/mystery stories. My favourite authors are Faye Kellerman, Linwood Barclay and Terry Brooks.

I also love reading children's books aloud to my class and take great delight in putting on all the different character voices. Among my favourites are the Oi Frog series and Supertato series.

As a young child, I can still remember the excitement when a copy of The Jolly Postman arrived in my class. You could read the story and open the letters from different fairy tale characters and I recall a time when I thought it was the best book ever. I can still recite the words of Janet and Allan Ahlbeg in other stories they wrote, like Funnybones and Each Peach Pear Plum. As I grew up, I was usually lost in books by Judy Blume or Jacqueline Wilson and friends and I would often swap and recommend books to each other! Nowadays, I enjoy listening to audiobooks on mindfulness and simple living and I am keen to share a love of reading with my own children, too. Our repertoire ranges from Dear Zoo, to Kes Grey’s ‘Daisy’ stories, to The Magic Faraway Tree and everything in between! Getting ‘lost’ in stories, both at home and at school, is one of the ways I like to find focus, calm and peace amongst the busy world we live in.

As a Mum of young children, most of my reading concerns calamitous orange dragons and foolish beasts with poisonous warts and purple prickles. Yes- we are big fans of Julia Donaldson in my house! I love sharing stories which stir the imagination, evoke a sense of adventure and conjure vivid images, both at home and at school.

When I was a child, I enjoyed reading ‘The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe’ as it transported me to a mythical land where anything could happen. As a teenager, my love of fantasy grew and I devoured ‘The Lord of Rings’ trilogy within weeks of getting them for my birthday. Although it takes me a lot longer to journey to Mordor these days, I still love diving into these stories!

During my childhood I remember my year 1 teacher Mrs Harrison reading many stories that influenced the books I chose to read. We would walk through the magical doors of the wardrobe and end up in Narnia, explore Willy Wonka's chocolate factory and meet the Oompa Loompas. But my personal favourite was imagining I was flying on a magic carpet with Mr Majeka. Mr Majeka was a teacher but no ordinary teacher he knew magic.

As a Mum I have shared these books and many more with my children. You can go on many adventures and the stories we read uplift us and can create a happy place.

But as an adult If I can’t find a story that can take me on an adventure, I enjoy reading books about mindfulness and well being.

I love to read and have always read to my children. Jacqueline Wilson and the Mr Men/Little Miss series are firm favourites at home.

As a child I found reading to be difficult and I never found a book I liked. However, when I was in year 5 I had an authour called Dick King Smith come to my class to talk about the joys of reading stories and how infact we all have a story writer within us. This inspired me to try and find some books I hadn't read. This lead me to an amazing author called Roald Dahl who had written so many books (my favourite being George's Marvellous Medicine or Fantastic Mr Fox). This then lead me to JK Rowling the author of Harry Potter. I found so much joy reading the book, watching the film and then reading the book again. I also fell in love with the story Holes and often dreamt of being Stanley Yelnats finding ... ( I won't spoil it for year 5/6)

However my favourite book of all time is into the wild by John Krakauer. It follows the story of a man aged 18 who goes travelling all across the USA on foot and meets some amazing people on the way.

I’ve always loved reading even from a young age. Even before I started school I was desperately trying to read the back of my dad’s newspaper! There is nothing like settling down to a good book which allows me to transport myself to another world and escape from my troubles.

Books have so many fond memories for me too. I still have my original copies of Beatrix Potter stories that I used to love reading to my mum and as I got older we would happily re-read Enid Blyton stories, particularly The Magic Faraway Tree collection.

The book that has a special place in my heart though is Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. I remember when it came out and I read it for the first time at primary school. All I desperately wanted was to receive my own letter from Hogwarts and I still secretly hope it will happen to this very day! From that day on my mum used to pre-order each Harry Potter book as it was released and we would get up early and queue outside the shop to buy it on release day. There was so much excitement and joy in our house and sometimes we would even buy two copies so that two people in our house could read it at the same time without having to wait for someone to finish. Even now both my sister and I make sure we always have a copy of each of the Harry Potter books in the house and regularly go back and re-read them. It is the one book that guarantees to cheer me up and make me feel better due to the fond memories and magical, intricate storytelling.

Reading was not my strong suit in my younger years. Mainly because, I found reading very tricky. However, as soon as my favourite TV shows started to create books based upon their characters, I found the motivation I needed to persevere with something I found difficult. Exploring the lives and worlds of the Transformers, Teenage Mutant Turtles, Spider-man, X-men and many more, I started to notice how exciting reading could be and reading became a way for me to more deeply understand different characters and immerse myself in different worlds.

As a teenager I started to read comics (mainly Spider-man) and manga as I found these stories highlighted the classic hero’s journey which I really enjoyed. Then as an adult I started find pleasure in non-fiction books: discovering a gateway to more knowledge and new interests. These novels and articles were the path towards my teaching career and helped to build and supplement my understanding. It was during this time that I reflected on my reading journey and helped highlight to me the importance of reading for pleasure and acquiring the skills needed to dive right into a great book, whether fact or fiction. These days I enjoy reading books about science, psychology and any hero based. Where will your reading journey take you?

As a child, I was usually found with my head in a 'Famous five' book. I loved their sense of adventure and perpetual youth. I was particularly full of admiration for George's bravery, loyalty and determination. I was also rather envious of her private island...

So I cut my hair very short (like George) and every summer I packed our bags and dragged my somewhat reluctant siblings and Bella (our elderly American cocker spaniel) out looking for adventures of our own - usually imagining that our innocent neighbours were in the midst of some sort of smuggling ring, searching for clues, and leaving codes to each other about them with invisible ink (lemon juice) just like in the stories.

With hindsight, short hair didn't suit me, and poor Bella really didn't have Timmy's energy (nor his intelligence). Futhermore, my mother couldn't find any local islands (with a secret underground tunnel to the mainland) for sale within our price range. However, I will never forget the way those books inspired my imagination and the excitement and the escapism they brought me. They have ignited a love of reading. I find it fascinating that a book can transport you back into the greatest minds in history. Since my famous five days I have been on many other adventures; from exploring the Galapagos islands on the HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin, to travelling to Hogwarts with Harry and all the gang, and everywhere in between!

"If you don't like to read, you haven't found the right book" - JK Rowling

My favourite books to read have always been the Harry Potter books (especially the later books), and these were the books that really made me enjoy reading. Other books I have also really enjoyed reading are the Hunger Games and Noughts and Crosses. Growing up I saw characters such as Hermione Granger and Katniss as really good role models. As I have got older I have enjoyed reading even more so, as I love that it draws you in and creates another world.

My love of reading started, well, as soon as I could read. I love turning the television off, having a cuppa and the odd biscuit, curling up on the sofa and immersing myself into a good book. In fact, any chance I have, I whip out my current book, be it while waiting in the doctors surgery or while I’m eating my breakfast and disappear into whatever world I’m adventuring in (my tastes are eclectic – it could be anything from a Terry Pratchett science fiction book or a Maeve Binchy Irish love/family story.

When I was young I loved Enid Blyton's Malory Towers series and The Hobbit still holds a very dear place in my heart, so much so I named my Jack Russell dog after a character from the Hobbit, Bilbo’s dad - Bungo who had a mother called Laura Grubb – very apt I thought – although most people call him Bongo or Bingo, much to my chagrin.