And three more odds (or ends)
- A great article on reading from the Washington Post, brought to our attention through the OZTLNet listerv (thanks Dianne in Hong Kong)
- Boys’ reading: an initiative from Charlie Higson, creator of the Young Bond series:
Charlie Higson, author of the popular Young Bond series, has launched a computer game set in the world of 007 to help address declining literacy standards in young boys. The initiative comes only a matter of days after time spent at the computer was blamed for a fall in Sats results for English, with one in five 14-year-old boys found to be reading below the level expected for an 11-year-old.
There’s that SATS words again!
- The Queensland Writers’ Centre has sprung to the defence of Requiem: Detractors ask if we really want to read profanity and racist dialogue in our children’s books? But this is an insidious question. What can the reasonable answer be except ‘no’? … But this of course masks the real issue. That ugliness exists. That racism, violence and ignorance are real. And books, especially fiction, are still the best vehicles for exploring confronting ideas.
