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Francesca Simon: “Closing Libraries Is Like Putting A Dagger In The Heart Of Every Child”

Francesca Simon has loved books all her life – and it’s a passion she’s determined to help pass on to as many children as possible

Francesca Simon
by Francesca Simon
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PrimaryEnglish

I learnt to read so fast, that I have no recollection whatsoever about how it happened.

I do know that the process started in America, with those terrible Janet and John books; but I quickly left them behind, thank goodness. When I was about six, my parents took me into a book store and bought me a copy of The Pancake. As I stroked the lovely soft, purple cover, I fell in love – and I’ve been in a deeply passionate relationship with reading ever since. School got in the way a little, but I volunteered to work in the library so I always got first dibs on returns; I learnt the Dewey Decimal system alongside my lessons, and made my way through the shelves in alphabetical order. Sometimes I’d be reading for six hours a day – I never had enough of it.

When something comes easily to you, it can be hard to understand why others struggle. For a long while, it literally didn’t occur to me that reading might be difficult for some people. Then, when I was 50, I learnt to ski. I didn’t really want to, but we were on holiday, and my brother was willing to give up his time and energy to teach me, so I felt obliged. It was a revelation; as adults, we are generally able to avoid things that we think might be painful or too challenging – but of course, children have to learn to read, regardless of how steep and perilous the slope might seem to them. And for some of them, it’s an incredibly daunting task.

The other insight I gained through learning to ski was the importance of being able to relish achievement in the moment. When I was finally able to do it, I was happy to stay on the same run for an entire day, coming down over and over again – because I could. One of the troubles children face with reading is that everyone is always trying to ‘move them on’; as soon as they are able to read a book fluently, they are told to choose something harder. But there is such comfort and pleasure to be had in doing something well, at whatever level; I think it’s important to allow more time for emerging readers to enjoy the stage they are at, rather than constantly rushing them forward.

My own son, Josh, didn’t really learn to read well until he was eight or so. Yet when he started school at four, he was given a reading age of six – I couldn’t understand why, but the teachers told me it was because he knew how to hold a book, that in this country we read from left to write, and that text conveys meaning. I found that profoundly sad. The truth is, some children simply don’t have the experiences at home that enable them to get to that point by the age of five, which is why investing in the early years should be such a priority for governments. It’s also why closing libraries, with all the amazing services they are able to offer to families, is like putting a dagger in the heart of every child.

I never set out to become a children’s writer. It was something that just happened, really, after Josh was born and I started to come up with ideas. Retrospectively, I discovered that I have a lot of qualities that make me good at storytelling for a young audience – I’m funny, and logical, with an offbeat way of looking at the world and plenty of energy – but it was not a career I planned for myself, so it’s lovely when I hear how series like Horrid Henry are appealing to such a wide range of readers, and perhaps even encouraging some children to get excited about books for the first time.

Organisations like the Book Trust and the National Literacy Trust do such good work in helping to get the message out that books can be friends, and that reading is supposed to be a pleasure, not a chore. One of the reasons why I am a Trustee of World Book Day, as well as being one of this year’s children’s authors, is that I am a great believer in the transformative power of giving every child in the country a free book.

Whatever plans they may or may not have for March 2nd 2017, one thing that teachers can definitely do is make a huge deal of that little voucher with their pupils; it’s not just a slip of paper, it’s a magic passport – a golden ticket – giving children the right to walk into any book store and choose something for themselves, to own, enjoy and keep. The idea is to make books part of the conversation, for everyone.

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