HM Queen Camilla spoke with Chip Colquhoun, whose latest book has helped parents and educators across the country encourage their children to read for pleasure.
Cambridge children’s author Chip Colquhoun was invited to meet Her Majesty during her visit to the Meadows Community Centre last month. Camilla and Chip share a passion for encouraging children to read, and Camilla had heard how Chip’s book was receiving high praise from parents and educators across the country.
Chip began storytelling in 2007 and has been frequently thanked by teachers who noticed children’s reading increase after his school visits. This led to the Dept for Education making Chip’s company Epic Tales a preferred supplier for their English Hub and asking Chip to share his techniques in a book.
The book, ‘All the Better to Read You With’, was released at the end of January with illustrations by Winnie the Witch’s Korky Paul and has already led Chip and Epic Tales into talks with the National Literacy Trust about ways to raise reading for pleasure among young people. As the Trust’s patron, Camilla had seen a preview copy of the book.
The book is now available in all good bookshops and will be of value to all educators and parents who struggle to interest their children in reading. Ian Whybrow, best-selling author of the Harry and the Dinosaurs series, called the book “A fresh, accessible guide to storytelling encouraging young people to read for the joy of it. It should be part of every teacher’s toolkit.”
Meanwhile, Brighton-based primary school teacher and educational author Toria Bono said, “Too many children see nothing pleasurable about reading. This book hopefully will reverse this trend. The stories, lessons, and skills provide us with a way to ’teach’ reading for pleasure that works.”
Chip plans to continue sharing the joy of stories through teacher training and a series of short stories entitled ‘Fables & Fairy Tales’ also illustrated by Korky Paul.
Story by Zee Dinally at Epic Tales
