2019 Annual Report

Children’s Book Network (CBN) is about children, books and friends. Our aim is to promote joy in reading to the extent that children will come to love books. We provide a safe space for our children to let their imaginations fly and give them cultural stimulation and access to knowledge outside of their everyday experience.

CBN passionately believes that all children should have the chance to read books that interest and excite them. All children should have access to books that take them into other worlds, other lives. All children deserve books and stories.

OUR CHILDREN

We work with children from under-resourced communities between the ages of 9 and 12. Our children can read but don’t enjoy reading or books and seldom have access to age-appropriate books that will excite a desire to read for pleasure.

Our voluntary participants attend CBN workshops during weekends and school holidays. We work in English, and our enthusiastic volunteers (community members and core CBN Team) are always close by to help with any translations.

WORKSHOPS

Our most important work is achieved through themed reading workshops. These are held over weekends and in school holidays - sometimes over several days if funding allows. The children self-select to attend by returning a permission form signed by their parent or carer. The theme can include anything that will expand their imagination, including games, team-building activities, arts and crafts and as much reading as possible - hearing extracts from interesting non-fiction as well as fiction, reading aloud, paired reading, book club and quiet reading.

TOOLBOXES

A CBN reading toolbox is a sturdy book-carrier called a ‘Cadi’ filled with about 60 books. We supply these ‘mini libraries’ to communities and organisations who focus on reading with children. Toolboxes are used by teachers, librarians, social workers and organisations after school, at weekends and in school holidays to run their own workshops. With each toolbox comes a handbook explaining our methods and activities – including the CBN reading game, and many suggestions about how to develop the theme.

Read all about our busy 2019 here, in our Annual Report.