Welcome
Welcome to May’s edition of the Coleham Reading Newsletter!
I am delighted to welcome you to our school reading newsletter, created to support and celebrate reading both in school and at home. Inside, you’ll find carefully chosen book recommendations for different ages, practical tips to help encourage your child’s love of reading, and simple ideas to make reading part of everyday family life. I am also excited to share suggested apps and digital resources that can help engage children and build confidence in reading in a fun, interactive way. I hope this newsletter inspires you to enjoy reading together and helps nurture a lifelong love of books in every child.
Recommended Reads
EYFS
Mandy is a banana. A yellow, bendy, half-mooned-shaped banana. The problem is, Mandy doesn’t want to be a banana. She would rather be a prickly pineapple like Pedro, a round watermelon like Wilhelmina, or – frankly – ANYTHING other than a banana.
It takes a plucky little blueberry called Blip to help Mandy focus on her ‘haves’ rather than her ‘have-nots’ and to celebrate what makes her so unique, so bendy, so brilliant and so absolutely, utterly . . . BANANA!
A quirky celebration of learning to love the skin you’re in, featuring an all-star cast of fruit-bowl friends. Heart-warming and funny in equal measure, Mandy is Still a Banana is guaranteed to be a hit with little ones and adults alike.
KS1
A gentle story about moving, making connections and mapping a better world.
When a young girl moves to a new country, her mum helps her draw a map to understand her unfamiliar surroundings. They draw the new neighbourhood, new friends and the special places the girl has found but important things from the past are missing like Grandma and Joe-Dog. So the girl makes the map bigger to include them.
Soon the girl’s friends are inspired to add their own stories and the distances between them all seem to shrink. Yet when misfortune strikes and the girl’s world is shown to be less fixed than she thought, how will she learn to navigate change?
Discover how we all have the power to create a better future.
LKS2
A delightfully uplifting new collection of children’s poetry from Joshua Seigal, winner of the 2020 and 2023 Laugh Out Loud Book Awards and 2024 Reading Rocks Award.
Whether you are in the mood for something hilariously silly or sentimental, this new collection of witty, reflective, and rather ridiculous poems will lift your mood, spark your imagination, and give your mental health a little boost! Joshua Seigal’s verses will have you pondering life’s big (and small) questions as you encounter a waxy pet lemon, spicy jalapeños and a valiant dog who proves that even the smallest of us can be heroes. This book is a must-have for imaginative young readers and aspiring poets aged 7+.
Joshua Seigal is a two-time-winner of the Laugh Out Loud awards (also known as the Lollies) in 2020 with I Bet I Can Make You Laugh and in 2023 with Yapping Away. Joshua won the People’s Book Prize in 2022, and his poetry collection Who Let the Words Out? also won the 2024 Reading Rocks award in the Lower Key Stage Two category in 2024.
UKS2
Can YOU solve the case? Choose your suspect, choose your next move – choose the story!
YOU VS is a series of interactive adventure stories where the reader gets to choose what happens next! Full of maps, diagrams and illustrations, YOU VS gives readers the chance to star in their own stories: big genre adventures with huge stakes, real heart and a sense of humour. Oh, and lots and lots of endings.
In YOU VS The Poison Plot, it’s the eve of the school talent show, but the school’s drama teacher has suddenly collapsed with four witnesses at his side! As editor of the school newspaper and a seasoned journalist, you investigate – and smell foul play. You’ve got ’til tomorrow’s show to follow your nose and unravel the mystery…
Perfect for fans of Cluedle and Murdle Junior as well as The Boy With Big Decisions, this first book in the series is an attempted-murder mystery where YOU get to solve the case!
Reading at Home vs Reading at School – Why this age matters
Reading at home is one of the most important ways you can support your child’s learning. Just a few minutes each day can make a big difference to their confidence, vocabulary and understanding of the world around them.
Listening to your child read, sharing stories together, and talking about books helps to build a lifelong love of reading. It also strengthens key skills that support learning across the whole curriculum.
We encourage you to make reading a special part of your daily routine—whether it’s a bedtime story, sharing a favourite book, or visiting the library together. Thank you for your continued support in helping your child become a confident and enthusiastic reader.
We do understand that it could appear to feel like duplication, given your child has been reading in school with staff. However reading at home and school are complimentary tasks, with each adult adding something different, unique and exciting they can share.
Learning to read at school
At primary school, children are learning how reading works. Teachers support them to build skills like phonics, fluency and understanding, giving them a strong foundation as they become more independent readers.
Reading for pleasure at home
At home, reading can be more relaxed and helps children explore their interests, build confidence and enjoy stories and information in their own way – without it feeling like homework.
Accessing books at home
Great stories don’t need to cost a thing. Children at primary age often want to explore new stories and topics all the time, but that doesn’t mean you need to keep buying books. Your local library is full of free books, ebooks and story times for families. If getting there isn’t easy, digital platforms can help you access stories and magazines at home.
You can also share books with friends, neighbours or family, and many schools and Family Hubs run book swaps, community bookshelves or lending schemes – giving children even more chance to discover something new. Click the link below for information on where to find your nearest library.
https://libraryon.org/libraries –
Further access to additional reading material such as ebooks and audio books, please see below:
Borrow Box 
BorrowBox lets you borrow audio books and ebooks for free through your local library. It’s a great option for listening together, supporting reluctant readers, or enjoying stories on the go.
BorrowBox – Your library in one app – CLICK LINK HERE
Libby
Libby gives free access to digital magazines, ebooks and audio books through libraries. Children can explore topics they already love in a format that feels familiar and fun.
Libby – Welcome – CLICK LINK HERE
Twinkl 
Twinkl offers child-friendly magazines and reading content designed to support confidence and enjoyment. Many schools provide access, and free content is available to families.
Parents Hub – Twinkl – CLICK LINK HERE