Reading for Pleasure- Holiday Reading Guide

Imogen Gray

The summer holidays provide an excellent opportunity for you and your child to relax and unwind with a good book.

As parents, you can support your daughter’s reading habits by helping them find books that interest them, encouraging reading as a downtime activity and reading with them. One of the most important motivations for children learning to enjoy reading for pleasure comes from the people around them, when you share an enthusiasm for reading, it rubs off!

It is important that children have access to a range of books on topics that interest them and there are books out there for even the most reluctant readers to enjoy (I know that J.K Rowling is responsible for engaging many reluctant readers!). The ABC podcast Best Reads 2021: Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction includes some excellent text recommendations for young (and older) readers. Young adult author Tristan Bancks states that he does not target his novels on particular age groups, but rather on topics that interest young readers.

My holiday reading pile is growing higher by the day, particularly after watching the new series on ABC- Books That Made Us, which I highly recommend.

Ms Hedwig Hill and I have collated a short resource list of recommended reads for young adults (many of which are available for loan from the O’Brien Resource Centre). Why not add a title or two in your child’s Christmas stocking!

In exciting news, the O’Brien Resource Centre is allowing students to borrow books over the holidays, providing that they do not have any overdue loans, including text books. Students can also access ebooks and audiobooks through the Library catalogue’s ePlatform at any time. Please email Mrs Hill if you have any questions about accessing the platform.

As always, I encourage you to ask the question: What are you reading?

Happy reading!

PS: I am reading The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina