THE SHEER FUN OF READING!
Over 90,000 young readers
3,300 reading groups
The 2008 CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Medals’ ‘Shadowing’ Scheme gets underway.....
The CILIP Carnegie & Greenaway shadowing scheme is set to break all records in the National Year of Reading. Registrations have exceeded all expectations in the run up to the announcements of the 2008 shortlists on Friday 18 April.
Nine week countdown: 18 April – 26 June
After 18 April, young people in both primary and secondary schools up and down the country will have just over nine weeks to read all the titles and decide on their favourites before CILIP announces the winners on Thursday 26 June. Animated discussions, strongly held opinions and friendly disagreements at home, at school, in the library and on the internet are the result.
Over the years the scheme has inspired highly original and creative ways of working with books. Reading groups with names like ‘Bookbusters’, ‘Bookaholics’ and a “book biscuit club” meet before, during and after school. There are book ‘buddy’ schemes where secondary schools work with local primaries on the CILIP Kate Greenaway, engaging them in word play, creative writing and art sessions. Some schools hold in-house ceremonies as the Medal winners are announced in London; others connect via video conferencing to discuss their choice.
Connecting young readers via the internet: www.ckg.org.uk/shadowing
Young people share their reading experiences and opinions with other ‘shadowers’ via the dedicated website hosted by CILIP. ‘Shadowers’ file their reviews of each title on line, something that shortlisted authors and illustrators describe as ‘humbling’! The site includes a judges’ weblog; a ‘Have Your Say’ page where book related issues can be discussed; charts displaying the favourite and most reviewed titles, and profiles of individual shadowing groups. The flash animation, sound, video and audio clips ensure that site is lively and fun to use. You only have to look at it for a few seconds to pick up the enormous enthusiasm that the shadowing scheme generates across the country.
The Medals’ anniversary year, 2007, saw the addition of a living archive that looks back over 70 years of the Carnegie Medal and 50 years of the Kate Greenaway.
For teachers and librarians
The site includes a dedicated area offering ideas and support to work with their groups. Thanks to a three year sponsorship package from The Authors’ Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS) the site now offers a teachers pack and lesson plans on copyright. This year ALCS are partnering CILIP in running a copyright competition. Prizes include tickets for the Awards Ceremony on 26 June and school or library visits from former Carnegie winners and authors on this year’s shortlist.
History
Now in its fifteenth year, the scheme was originally the idea of a few teachers and school librarians who in 1994 got together with their local public library to get some young people to ‘shadow’ the judging process. It seemed the ideal way to encourage reading for fun. The idea has proved increasingly popular and registrations have grown year on year.
Reading can be fun! The benefits
One of the main benefits of ‘shadowing’ is the opportunity it gives young people to enjoy reading outside of the curriculum. It also makes it very easy for teachers and librarians to engage children and young people with books. The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals introduce them to top quality fiction and illustration, to new writers, illustrators and genres, and encourage breadth and depth of reading. The shortlisted books fire their imagination and help develop literacy and critical skills.
“Research shows that pupils who read for pleasure perform better academically. I welcome this, and any initiative, that encourages children to read.”
David Wood, Headteacher, Cranbrook Primary School.
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Contact:
Mark Taylor, CILIP Marketing Executive
Tel: 020 7255 0650 Email: mark.taylor@cilip.org.uk
Notes for Editors
2008 CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Shortlists
Announced on Friday 18 April, details of both lists can be found on the website www.ckg.org.uk
CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals
The CILIP Carnegie Medal is awarded annually for a work of outstanding fiction for young people. Now in its 71st year, the Medal was awarded first to Arthur Ransome in 1937. Its sister award the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal is awarded annually for an outstanding work of illustration for young people and was first awarded in 1956 to Edward Ardizonne. Regarded by many as the arbiter of quality writing and illustration for children and young people, since the medals’ inception, the children’s librarians who select the shortlists and winning titles have recognised world class writers and illustrators and frequently spotted fresh talent ahead of the rest. The list of past Medal winners places the UK at the forefront of children’s literature internationally and includes many of the great writers and illustrators of 20th and 21st centuries: David Almond, Eleanor Farjeon, Anne Fine, CS Lewis, Mary Norton, Philip Pullman, Janet Ahlberg, Quentin Blake, Raymond Briggs, Anthony Brown, Emily Gravett, Shirley Hughes and Helen Oxenbury to name a few.
The Authors’ Licensing Collecting Society (ALCS)
ALCS first worked in partnership with CILIP in 2007 supporting the Medals’ shadowing scheme and has now undertaken a three year sponsorship package with CILIP, 2008 – 2010. ALCS exists to promote and protect authors’ rights and to ensure they receive fair remuneration when their work is re-used. One of ALCS’s key objectives is to support consumers in understanding the benefit of copyright. As part of this they are working closely with a number of organisations and agencies involved in education and literacy to engage those in full time education with the issue. For more information on ALCS see www.alcs.co.uk or call 020 7264 5700.
CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals
This is the leading professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers. It forms a community of around 36,000 people engaged in library and information work, of whom around 21,000 are CILIP Members and around 15,000 are regular customers of CILIP Enterprises. CILIP members work in all sectors, including business and industry, science and technology, further and higher education, schools, local and central government, the health service, the voluntary sector, national and public libraries. For more information about CILIP, please go to www.cilip.org.uk
YLG: The Youth Libraries Group
YLG is a Special Interest Group of CILIP. It works in a “pressure group” role, independently and with other professional organisations, to preserve and influence the provision of quality literature and library services for children and young people, both in public libraries and school library services. www.cilip.org.uk/ylg
Updated: 26 June 2008