Reading for pleasure, writing for pleasure

Three opportunities to get kids reading and writing for pleasure:

The Wicked Young Writers' Awards have launched - there are competitions for various age ranges from 5 to 25. Entries should be no more than 750 words and can be in any genre. The awards are supported by former Children's Laureate, Michael Morpurgo, who has provided some writing tips on the site.

Scottish Book Trust's Book of the Month page currently has the chance to win the 12-16 category winner in the Scottish Children's Book Awards. You won't know what that is until 23rd February, but it's one of:

• The Blackhope Enigma by Teresa Flavin
• Prisoner of the Inquisition by Theresa Breslin
• Wasted by Nicola Morgan. 

We have them all in the Library so you could borrow them now.

Richard and Judy's Children's Reads for Spring 2012 have been launched by WH Smith. There are 10 titles, of which the Library has the 3 below. Click the link above to see the rest - they'll be arriving here soon.

Guardian's new site launched on World Book Day

On Saturday, the Guardian published an article about its new online children's book club which launched today, World Book Day. The site has been designed and curated with the help of a dedicated editorial panel of 100 children and teens from around the world, and that's how it will continue to work: by children, for children. The front page is bright and welcoming, with links to news, quizzes, audio and video. Also, running across it is a colourful row of numbers from 1-16 - clicking on one takes you into the section for that age group. Featured today are interviews with several authors, including Philip Pullman and Jacqueline Wilson, and you can also watch a video in which some of the young people who have helped to design and curate the site explain why they love reading and what the site offers young readers. Definitely worth checking out.

Richard and Judy's Children's Bookclub

Richard and Judy have launched their children's book club. The club is made up of three categories - Reading together, Reading by yourself and Fluent reader - with six book titles in each.


Choices include Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder by Jo Nesbo, Horrid Henry and the Football Fiend by Francesca Simon and The Wombles by Elisabeth Beresford.

Read more via the BBC or the Booktrust - the latter link contains a full list of featured titles. Many of the titles are in stock here.