Zoe Underwood

• BSc (Hons) Speech and Language Sciences
• Hooks into Books: How do children engage in reading for pleasure?

Hooks into Books are a collection of books and activities curated by Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books, to encourage reading for pleasure within schools. Two local schools received packs and were observed delivering a session on a chosen book to Key Stage 1 children. Questionnaires evaluated the children’s views on reading: what they liked to read, how often, where and whom helped them to choose texts. Teachers were asked which texts children read in class and how often. The schools took different approaches to delivery, one focussing more around creative writing, following the curriculum, the other taking a wholly ‘reading for pleasure’ approach. Children suggested they enjoyed the story-time from Hooks into Books more than their regular story-times, offering an accessible way into reading for pleasure. One teacher commented ‘Hooks into books are good for hooking teachers in, inspiring the children and are modern and current literature’.

Funding source: Newcastle University

Supervisor: Prof James Law