I was very pleased to be able to take part in the speak up for libraries lobby yesterday. The day started in the illustrious surroundings of Central Hall, Westminster with that most English of traditions, a cup of tea. Various organisations had attended to support and they had tables around the perimeter of the room, I was very happy to see old friends such as the School Library Association there as well as getting information about others. Fantastic (brief!) talks had been arranged and these were stirringly started off by author Kate Mosse . Many children's authors were present in the hall, including Fiona Dunbar, Gillian Cross, Philip Ardagh, Lucy Coats, Chris Priestley, Candy Gourlay and of course master of ceremonies Alan Gibbons (apologies to anyone I have missed). The speakers were all wonderful - eloquent, passionate and committed to helping ensure we do not ever lose our libraries. We were treated to two musical interludes too, from Doyle (from Doyle & the Four Fathers) and One Man & His Beard (who bore a striking ressemblance to Mr Ardagh , as evidenced in this photo by Candy Gourlay. Comments from all of the speakers can be found on the Twitter hashtag #LibrariesLobby , my own fingers were sore from tweeting - Storify of my tweets here . 

A friend sent me a link to a blog post about apps for your ........cat today (thanks Fiona!) so I downloaded a free one, GameForCats . She didn't try to paw the screen, which I was quite happy about to be honest, but she did enjoy watching the pinpoint of light , swivelling her head around like a human at Wimbledon! 

When it comes to story books for younger readers there are so many on the app store that it's hard to know when to stop downloading. These are my personal favourites:

1. Hairy Maclary - One of my children's favourite series many years ago so I was already prepared to fall in love with it and luckily it more than met my expectation. Read by David Tennant (a bonus!) the book features colouring pages, you can record your own narration and clicking on individual words will cause them to be repeated. All of the dogs have different barks too, which is a nice touch.
2. Elmer's Special Day - Another old favourite, the colourful patchwork elephant translates beautifully onto the ipad screen. Tapping on the pictures brings up additional vocabulary and you can opt to have the story read to you or read it yourself.
3. Winken, Blinken and Nod  - A twist on a classic storybook this one won't advance until you read the words on the screen aloud. Wonderful for early reading practice and speaking and listening. 
4. Wheels on the Bus - One for every parent that's ever been exhorted to 'read/sing it again!' Interactive element on every page, but I warn you the singing will become.....irritating and unfortunately with this one you can't just 'lose' the batteries!
5. The Monster at the End of This Book - How could you not love an app that stars Sesame Street's Grover? Very cleverly done, Grover's character comes across strongly, and if you don't turn the pages quickly enough he reminds you to do so. 
6. The Lettermen go to the Seaside - This series of books have always been popular and the app is bright, colourful and fun to read. There's a spelling task on each page and you can choose to have the narration on or off as with most titles.

It was hard to choose just 6 but these are a good starting point for little ones I think.

So how was Book Giving Day for you? Such a great idea this, really enjoyed it. I gave the book on the left to the small son of a friend, his name is Carlos and he was absolutely thrilled with the book....especially when he recognised his name (almost) on the front cover! Hopefully he thinks that the 'really nice librarian' might be a reference to me......lol! I also donated some books to my local library that I hope their younger patrons will enjoy (pic below). Unfortunately as the library is only open 2 afternoons and 1 morning a week I had to drop off the books through their letterbox but I did pop in later in the week to check they had been safely received, and the librarian was very happy with them. Lastly I also took a book down to my mum as I was visiting her on the day - yes she's a little ...mature to be a book recipient but she is very young at heart! My husband was happy that I gifted my own books (although there doesn't seem to be a space on my over stuffed book shelves) and I didn't mind letting them go as it was such a great idea to share my enjoyment of them with young people. It's got me in the mood for World Book Night, I have been lucky enough to have been chosen as a book giver and will be distributing copies of one of my favourite books, the Book Thief on April 23rd.( www.worldbooknight.org) Excellent day, looking forward to next year - share the book love!

Tomorrow being the 14th February it's  going to be a day that's all about luuuurve! Yep ok classically it is a day for sweethearts and couples but it will also be a day for lovers of a different kind - book lovers. It is International Book Giving Day, a day designed to get new, well loved or borrowed books into the hands of as many children as possible. You are asked to give a book to a child you know, maybe leave one in a waiting room somewhere or to find some other way to surprise a young person with something new to read. 

When I was a child my dad worked in London Bridge train station and every now and then he would pop into Smith's on the way home and buy me a new book, often on the subject of animals. Wonderful books he bought, full of bright pictures and information and they meant even more to me because they were presents from my beloved parent. We would look through the books together and I still have most of them, and will never part with them. When my own children were small my husband and I didn't have much money and toys were usually kept as birthday/Christmas treats but both of the kids knew that their chances of getting mum to buy them a new book or comic whilst out shopping were very good! Sweets - often no, reading matter - always yes! 

Tomorrow I intend to gift some books to my local public library for local children to enjoy and also will send a couple in with my husband for a work colleague's very young daughter. After nearly 25 years of marriage Valentine's day is perhaps not as exciting as in my younger years but the thought of encouraging young people to share my book love is always thrilling!

(Information about International Book Giving Day can be found on the Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/BookGivingDay or you can follow @bookgivingday on Twitter). 

The Guardian has today published a list of 10 books chosen by former librarian Ellen Ainsworth to encourage boys to read. There are some brilliant titles there and yes I agree they have all been popular with boys in recent years but I would have liked to see more new books there. Also I was disappointed to have the list narrowed down to boys - reluctant readers can be boys or girls! The books suggested do seem to be a bit adventure heavy too, I don't think we should generalise about boys reading tastes. This is the list I would have chosen (and note the title mentions young people, not just boys!) 

1. Scream Street, Tommy Donbavand - I would describe these books as comic horror, with plenty of gross out humour for those that like it. The main character is a boy called Luke Watson who much to his dismay begins to transform into a werewolf at very inopportune moments. Luke's adventures with friends Cleo (a mummy) and Rhesus (a vampire) will have kids chuckling out loud. There's a good website for the books too, www.screamstreet.co.uk

2. Young Samurai, Chris Bradford - Full of adventure and battles won and lost these stories , centred on shipwrecked Jack Fletcher and his subsequent samurai training, provide a thrill a minute. There is a strong female character too, Akiko to keep the girls interested. Another great website too , www.youngsamurai.com

3. Bare Bum Gang, Anthony McGowan - the title's a winner straight away - what's not to like about books with the word 'bum' in the title?! One of them even has instructions on how to make fart bombs......yes I know a few boys and girls that would have hysterics at the very idea.

4. Bone, Jeff Smith - graphic novels are one of the easiest ways I've found to turn non readers into bookworms and this series are very popular whilst not giving any worries about inappropriate content. Whether it's a comic, graphic, non fiction title or story they're reading doesn't matter in my opinion, as long as they are enjoying the experience.

5. Invisible Fiends, Barry Hutchison - What if your imaginary friend from childhood suddenly came back ....and wanted to harm you? Scary right from the very first paragraph I love these books but youngsters might want to sleep with the light on whilst reading them!

6. Hero.com/Villain.net, Andy Briggs - these two series run alongside each other giving the differing viewpoints of the same events from the perspective of a superhero and a supervillain. The series starts with children finding a website from which they can download superpowers, and the differing ways they decide to use their powers for good or evil prove very interesting.www.whichsideareyouon.co.uk

7. The Knife That Killed Me,Anthony McGowan - gritty title that deals with bullying, gangs and violence.  Sadly of course a book that is on the subject of knife crime is all too topical, the story is tense from page one until the end. A film is now being made of this one and I can't wait to see it.

8. Wereworld, Curtis Jobling - one for fantasy lovers now, the nobles in Wereworld can transform into animals when riled and our main character here becomes a wolf. This is an interesting take on the werewolf genre, thoroughly enjoyable and with something for everyone - a little romance, battles, shocks etc. Can't wait for the next one!

9. Beast Quest, Adam Blade - when I worked in a school library I couldn't keep up with demand for these, they just flew off the shelves. Encouraged more reluctant boys to read in that school than any other series.

10. Noughts and Crosses, Malorie Blackman - romance but with an edge of class divides, prejudice and subversion. I cried at the end of this book and I have recommended it to so many people since, both young and old. Everything Ms Blackman writes is first class but this series is amazing.

It's hard to keep to 10 but these are my absolute favourites and I think they would keep any young person happily enthralled for hours - what would you have suggested? please let me know in a comment.

Today is the bicentenary of Charles Dickens birth, and I've been celebrating by finding apps for my iPad that will increase my knowledge of the illustrious author. I already had some - Christmas Carol is after all my favourite book of all time - but I've found some other gems to add to my digital jewel box too! 

Christmas Carol, Padworx - already had this and have loved it ever since I first downloaded it. I enjoy all of Padworx' apps (Dracula is also very good) , the sound effects and interactive elements make reading on the iPad a more immersive experience than reading one of my well thumbed paper copies.

A Christmas Carol, Starlight Storybook - This one tells the famous festive story in the form of a poem, written illustrated and animated by John Marr. It would be perfect to introduce younger children to Dickens and the animations are charming. Very happy to have discovered this today!

Dickens Dark London, Museum of London - This app was produced to celebrate the Dickens exhibition at the Museum which runs up until the 10th June. It's extremely dark and atmospheric and follows Dickens on his night walks around London whilst suffering with insomnia which is something I can certainly empathise with. Includes a map than transforms from Dickens' times to the present day and will eventually have 5 walks narrated wonderfully by actor Mark Strong. The first walk , Seven Dials is available to download for free and the following ones will be £1.49 each, or free to download when at the museum or at the location. Very clever, I feel some field trips coming on!

Dickens Papers, - a series of Dickens works that are going to be published in periodic installments echoing the way much of the author's work was published. Includes video and photos from the present day as the creators walked in the footsteps of Dickens. As a keen amateur photographer, very much enjoying this one.

Charles Dickens Works, PicoJoys Studio 2011 - I have always meant to read more Dickens but hadn't got round to it. This app is basic, just books in the usual swipe to turn the page format but it will stop any excuses I may have been making about not having the books with me. Now which shall I choose first?

Audio Book Shelf, Cross Forward Consulting - I enjoy listening to audio books when travelling and this one although not exclusively Dickens , is great value for £1.49 with 13 classic books to choose from and an in app purchase of 69p getting you a further 6 adventure stories. Nicely presented in the form of a virtual bookshelf , books download to the iPad when you click on them to start reading so would probably be a good idea to do this when using wifi not 3G.

Have a great Dickens day.......off to listen to a story now ;0).

I've had a purge of the apps on my iPad this week and deleted quite a few but still have about 400 so didn't go too mad! I am often asked which apps I think are best (searching on the app store isn't exactly a fun experience - they really need to introduce a decent Boolean search on there!) so I thought I'd write some posts with some suggestions. Starting with Early Years today,I  will have to prepare several lists because there too many to fit on one.

1. The Numberlys - Following on from the immensely successful Morris Lessmore app Moonbot have now released this app which is designed to help kids learn their alphabet. It is of course utterly beautiful, in the style of an old black and white movie and no iPad used by children (or adults in touch with the child within!) should be without it 
2. Sound Touch - hours of fun with 6 different categories of pictures , a simple tap brings up another picture with an associated noise, each main pic having 5 behind it. Keeps young children amused for ages.
3. First Words Deluxe - lets learn some new words! touching each picture triggers the word to be said aloud. Basic, but words said very clearly
4. Mr Thorne's Phonics - couldn't leave out the excellent Mr Thorne and his phonics videos, such an engaging teacher and very good value
5. Sammy Squirrel Battles the Alphabet Robots - like the graphics on this , slightly disconcerted by the American accent ('zee' instead of 'zed') but fun to play and works on upper/lower case recognition
6. Talking Hippo/Talking Tom etc - popular with kids of all ages and good for doing some basic speaking and listening work! 

I will cover books for younger children in a later post. If you want more, there's a great blog focussed on on apps recommendations for kids, called Apps Playground, well worth a look:
http://www.appsplayground.com/apps/

I have just begun my celebrations for National libraries day by pre ordering the Library Book from Amazon. Looks like it will be a genuinely good read and with profits going to the Reading Agency it should provide that glow inside of doing something good at the same time. I was shocked to read on a blog from Ian Clark (http://infoism.co.uk/blog/2012/01/no-national-libraries-day-in-kent/ )that the Kent Libraries will not be celebrating National Libraries Day .....or was I? My local library is in Greenhithe, it's in a small building that is set back from the road and is extremely easy to miss. Once you do realise that it exists a warm welcome greets you when you go in. The staff are friendly and helpful and I always enjoy chatting to them. The stock however wouldn't encourage anyone to pop in - to be honest I often struggle to find anything vaguely current to read and the books are looking tired and uncared for. Their funding in the last few years must have been nearly non existent and the books are sadly out of date. There are always people there when I visit but then as the library is only open for 2 afternoons and 1 morning a week I suppose they are making the most of it. 

The library is just opposite the entrance of Ingress Park estate and I would have thought that it would be overrun with customers. Apparently one of the staff approached the libraries service with a plan to leaflet the area to make people more aware of the resource they have on their doorstep, but this plan was denied as any literature has to be standardised and approved - so nothing was done. The neglect of the library is saddening and a crying shame but as there are plans afoot to close some Kent libraries it's not hard to see why no effort at promotion has been made by the council. 

The fact that there is no mention of a day that has been organised to celebrate the contribution libraries make on the Kent Libraries webpage is an utter disgrace - and seems to be a cynical political decision. Kent County Council you should be very ashamed! 

Only a few days until the big day and I can't wait! I'm well known for being a festive freak and I've been reading themed books for ages to get ready for it. Thought I'd share some of my favourites here;

For children
A Pussycat's Christmas - when my daughter was young she was asked to read this to her whole primary school, with the pictures on overhead projector sheets and I can still see her now, so seriously reading. It's a beautiful book. 
http://tinyurl.com/c9svgeq


Tosca's Christmas - by the same author, illustrations are delightful and Tosca looked similar to Lady, our cat at the time 
http://tinyurl.com/bojcomo


The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey - moving story told without too much sentimentalism and the pictures are quietly wonderful
http://tinyurl.com/cyewk4l


Spot's First Christmas - who can resist Spot? my son certainly couldn't and we read this book so many times, we probably all learnt it off by heart!http://tinyurl.com/bntuehc
 
Santa's Twin & Robot Santa - I read a lot of Dean Koontz when I was younger and was delighted to discover these two picture books written by him about Santa's naughty brother http://tinyurl.com/cjcpxfl       http://tinyurl.com/cg9dl4t

The Night Before Christmas - classic of course, we always read it as a family on Christmas Eve before bed, even though my kids are grown now. We still have this old copy of it that was published in the year my son was born and it is much cherished.
http://tinyurl.com/crz7224

Chick Lit
I'm not ashamed to admit it, I find romance makes for very relaxing reading, especially books that have a festive theme and these have been my favourites this year:

Christmas at Tiffany's - loved the glamour and travel description in this book, didn't want it to end
http://tinyurl.com/clwfxj5

1225 Christmas Tree Lane - I only discovered Debbie Macomber this year , her books are as comforting as a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows on a cold night and this book was no exception, left a warm fuzzy feeling lol.

What else have I read this December? well I have returned to an old favourite, Rumpole at Christmas, his irascibility and the dry humour in John Mortimer's writing are very amusing. Finishing with the best I am also re reading Christmas Carol but on my ipad this year, excellent Padworx version that I am very much enjoying.

Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas, hope you get all the books you've been wishing for (I'm hoping Santa will bring me the Amazon voucher I've been hinting at!) 

Happy reading!