Practical, accessible and brimming with enthusiasm, 100 IDEAS for Primary Teachers: Reading for Pleasure will help teachers implement some innovative suggestions in their own classroom and nurture a reading community in their school. A deceptively slim book that could make a big difference.

Many years ago as a school librarian at a meeting with parents I said that teachers taught children ‘how to read’ and that my role as a librarian was to teach them ‘how to be a reader’. Those roles, I think, have now become less distinct in the primary sector due to the increased focus on the importance of reading for pleasure and the rise in the number of teachers who are now ‘Reading Teachers’. This new book shines a light on some wonderful examples of how this works in practice, providing its readers with the tools they need to replicate this in their own schools.

Scott Evans has gathered together a selection of tried and tested ideas, advice and suggestions that teachers can use to create a reading for pleasure culture in their classroom, school and wider community. Perhaps even more importantly they will also help sustain that culture. A big plus of this guide is the concise and clear presentation of the subject. The book is divided into 11 parts, each part focusing on a particular aspect such as, Creating a Reading Classroom, Being a Reading Teacher, Understanding Text Types, Love Your Libraries and Participating With Parents and Families. Within each part are individual ideas each having a relatable quote, a summary and a step by step guide to implementing the suggestion. There are also teaching tips, and ideas on how to expand on the activities incorporated plus bonus ideas. This comprehensive approach enables teachers to use as much or as little as they need from the suggestions and to select ideas suitable for their own school.

Scott Evans makes it clear from the introduction onwards that Reading for Pleasure should not be an add-on to the curriculum but integral to teaching. His knowledge and enthusiasm will inspire his readers and his practical advice will enable them. This excellent guide is perfect for teachers at any stage of their career and also suitable for school librarians who could adapt many suggestions for use in the school library. Despite the title this book would also be useful to secondary teachers too. An excellent resource and highly recommended.

100 IDEAS for Primary Teachers: Reading for Pleasure is published on 30th March by Bloomsbury Education. You can follow Scott Evans on Twitter @MrEPrimary and his helpful website can be found here. I should like to thank Enisha Samra and Bloomsbury Education for my review copy and for inviting me to participate in the blog tour.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour organised to coincide with publication over the next few days and full details can be found below.