National Literacy Trust Birmingham's Books Aloud

The Books Aloud Challenge

Schools and community settings across Birmingham - are you ready to read aloud with your groups five times or more before the end of July 2024?

Shared reading is a great way to build a love of books, bring people together and to support mental health.

Every participating school or setting will receive:

A free book (of your choice) to read aloud with your group
Free training to support you to read aloud effectively and how best to lead an engaging discussion about texts.
Guidance and resources
A chance to win one of six £50 Amazon vouchers (see below for more details)

Why get involved?

The Books Aloud campaign is designed to be inclusive of all reading abilities because it just involves listening and discussing, rather than reading text on the page.

The campaign is open to all, but we are particularly hoping to engage:

Teachers working with teenagers - Books Aloud could be a great activity for students to de-stress during exam term. Even older young people can find great joy in just being asked to listen – rather than complete any activities – in response to a text!
Leaders of sport and hobby groups for teenagers - Last year, we piloted Books Aloud with some basketball teams – and found that the young people most enjoyed texts about sport psychology, which helped them to improve their performance on court. Sharing a text that connects to your group's interests can be a great way to engage them with reading.
Community social groups – Reading aloud is a great shared activity and can generate some fantastic conversations. It is useful for combatting loneliness and helping people to open up. For migrant groups – reading in your native language can also help to celebrate culture and identity.