From Chore to Joy: Rediscovering the Magic of Reading for Today’s Students

As a new Primary School teacher in 2020, I realized for many children, it seemed reading was a chore; just another piece of homework; something irritating or boring; or a blocker from being able to play on the games console. When I was younger, I loved reading books, especially non-fiction texts such as Horrible Histories; novels including Goosebumps and The Faraway Tree; and picture books including the Mr Men series and Funny Bones.

Of course, I didn’t have mobile phones, tablets, video streaming services and consoles to distract me like the children of today do. Reading allowed my imagination to run wild, my vocabulary to grow and my knowledge of the world to expand. This is what I wanted (and still want) for the children I have taught and many others, including my own.

Crafting a Unique Narrative: From Challenge to Creation with ‘Stan Has a Plan’

Narrative writing, being a key part of the writing curriculum, was something I spent a long time planning for my team. There were certain focus points in each week we wanted children to work on, including certain key features. We provided WAGOLLs (What a Good One Looks Like) for the children to use, often found online. They included these key features so we could highlight them or encourage the children to find them. For one particular writing topic, I scoured the World Wide Web, but alas found nothing that included everything I wanted. It was then I decided to write one myself.

No sooner than when I sat down to write, an image of something I remembered seeing years before, came to me. Without giving away the ending of my book, it was an image of an animal dressed as something else. In an instant, I knew what the basic plot of this short story was going to be. I had the first draft of the story written in under an hour. From that point, I was considering how this could be made into something people would want to read. The original concept of ‘Stan Has a Plan’ was born.

Reviving a Dream: Rewriting for a New Generation of Young Readers

As it happened, just as the Anthem of West Ham says, ‘Like my dreams, they fade and die’. Being a husband, a new father and a teacher, my time was taken up and the project was shelved. Fast forward three years – our eldest child (Stanley) loved us reading to him, especially Julia Donaldson’s books. He enjoyed the illustrations, the rhyming and the stories. Now, he reads them himself and delights in reading them to us. Luckily, our youngest (Ronnie) is no different and enjoys sitting on our lap, taking in a good story.

Their love of books inspired me to get my old story from the cupboard. Whilst I knew it was entertaining with a lot of rich vocabulary, there was a problem: it didn’t rhyme. It was a narrative aimed at 7-8 year olds and I wanted to make the story accessible to more children. Whether that was it being read to them, or reading it themselves. Therefore, I took on the task of rewriting the story in the theme of a children’s rhyming picture book aimed at those aged 5 to 8 years old.

Stan and Ronnie’s Adventure: Crafting a Plan to Outwit Clive the Wolf

Stan Has A Plan introduces Stan the old street-wise rabbit and his best friend, Ronnie, the nervous cockerel. Ronnie calls Stan for help one early evening from his farm. The protagonist of the story (Clive) is a huge wolf, who is looking to devour the animals on the farm. Stan tries to think of an idea to help out his friends in need. As the title of the book suggests, he does come up with a plan and puts it into action. The question is, will it work, or will Clive be having a delicious stew tonight?

Broadening Vocabulary and Engagement: How ‘Stan Has A Plan’ Appeals to All Ages

I have purposefully used language in the book that is aimed at the top end of my target audience. So children can have access to a broader vocabulary. The plan is a funny one and thanks to the illustrators of White Magic Studios, the book really comes to life through the pictures. The lovely pictures make it accessible for younger readers as well, especially those who like having their adults read to them.

The book gives more advanced readers the opportunity to infer meaning through the text and illustrations; retrieve information; and predict the outcome of the story. It is for these reasons I believe this book reaches out to a wide age gap and will be enjoyed by those from early readers to those aged approximately 8- 9 years old. If the book was enjoyed widely enough, I would love to consider bringing out a second in the series.

Aspiring for Recognition: Encouraging Young Readers and Dreaming of Awards

Furthermore, having my book entered for an award would be an aspiration of mine. There are so many amazing books out there across a variety of genres. If ‘Stan Has a Plan’ became well known enough to be regarded in a similar light, it would be a dream come true. I am excited to start my journey with the Authors’ Lounge and want to thank Riley for introducing me to this.

My main objective for the book is to encourage more children to read for pleasure. This is something that has proven to not only benefit children academically, but it also enhances imagination, builds self-esteem and develops a better cultural understanding of the world.

Excited to Share ‘Stan Has A Plan’: Available Online and Inspiring Young Readers

As a first time author, I am excited to see my book purchased by people near and far. My book, Stan Has a Plan, is available to purchase at Waterstones.com and Amazon amongst other online retailers. I hope you enjoy reading it, but more importantly, I hope we can encourage children to pick up books, grow their knowledge and love reading again. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this article.