For the National Year of Reading, we are sharing a series of short conversations with people who are involved in promoting reading with young people. This could be a programme, resources or a literary event, and we're giving them the opportunity to share what they do and how people can get involved.

In this episode we are joined by Dr Fen Coles from the Letterbox Library. Letterbox Library offers the very best in diverse and inclusive books for children. Founded over 40 years ago, they have an expert team that reviews and selects their books with a real emphasis on quality - diverse representations, engaging texts and excellent illustrations - and books that genuinely appeal to children.

We talk about their rigorous selection process for books, current trends in representation, and the challenges faced in maintaining diversity in literature and why it matters. We cover the success of The Little Rebels Award, which recognizes radical children's literature, and look forward to its return. We also return to the familiar theme of why libraries and trained librarians in schools should be a non-negotiable and end on hopes for the legacy of the National Year of Reading.

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In this episode we talk with Pépé Smit about her picture book Fred the Very Demanding Deer which is published by Scallywag Press and translated from Dutch. We were lucky enough to go to the launch at GOSH comics and met Pépé, loved the book and of course wanted to chat to her about the book and Fred.

Pépé trained as a visual artist at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy and the Sandberg Institute. Her illustrations have appeared in several leading magazines and newspapers, but she has increasingly focused on creating picture books that make young children both laugh and think.

Fred the Very Demanding Deer is a story about a deer who wants to leave the forest to visit the city - his adventure breaks the fourth wall and is a chat between the illustrator and the deer as they navigate the trip and the book together. We talk to Pépé about how the idea for the book was developed and how it grew into a series (there are many more books in the series) and the translation process from Dutch to English.

Win a copy of the book and a felt Fred!

We also have a very special giveaway of a copy of the book and a felt Fred which would be a lovely addition to a Christmas tree – (UK only) This giveaway is running on Instagram, entrants will need to like the post announcing the competition, comment on the post and follow Mostly Book Talk.

Instagram: @mostlybooktalk

Full Terms and Conditions can be found here.

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For the National Year of Reading, we are sharing a series of short conversations with people who are involved in promoting reading with young people. This could be a programme, resources or a literary event, and we're giving them the opportunity to share what they do and how people can get involved.

In this episode we are joined by Sian Hardy, founder of the Literacy Hive. Literacy Hive is a comprehensive library of literacy resources for primary and secondary teachers categorised so that they can find the support they are looking for quickly and easily.

We talk about how Sian realised that although there is a wealth of resources to support literacy available, educators face a real challenge in finding high-quality resources amidst a sea of scattered information. She has designed Literacy Hive to resolve this issue by categorising resources into specific areas of the literacy curriculum, ensuring that teachers can easily find the support they need to tackle various challenges, whether it’s engaging struggling readers or finding resources for English as an additional language. She stresses that is not just a directory of websites but includes filters for key stage, price, and resource type which make it easier to identify the right tools for their specific needs.

We also discuss the Reading for Pleasure hub she has included for The National Year of Reading to support that key aspect of reading. She also highlights the popularity of her calendar of reading awards and events.

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