A storytellingand reading guidefor foster carers

Telling my story

Welcome ContentsWelcome to your storytelling and readingguide. This guide contains tips and hints toget you started in telling stories andreading with your foster children.

The first section was written by professionalstorytellers with many years of experience tellingstories to and with children. It was written for TheFostering Network Wales by The George EwartEvans Centre for Storytelling at the University ofGlamorgan. For more information about theGeorge Ewart Evans Centre for Storytelling visitwww.glam.ac.uk/storytelling

Throughout the rest of this guide you find usefulresources including a story written by a fostercarer and reading tips to help encourage yourfoster child to read.

Stories are a valuable tool that help to developyour foster child’s imagination, language andliteracy skills and give space for bondingand relaxation, so turn over to begin yourstorytelling adventure . . .

Best wishes

Maria Boffeydevelopment workerThe Fostering Connectionsmembership project

Hints and tips from The George EwartEvans Centre for Storytelling at theUniversity of Glamorgan:

� Mary Medlicott’s Storytellingfor pre-school children 1

� Liz Weir’s Sharing books withyoung children 2

� Peter Chand’s Storytellingfor groups of children 3

� Hamish Fyfe’s Storytellingfor male foster Carers 4

Interview with foster carerand professional storytellerMary Medlicott 5

The Jigsaw family, a storyby foster carer Pam Williams 7

Improving the literacy of childrenwho are looked after- tips andresources for foster carers 10

Inspiring boys to read 12

The Fostering Network WalesBay Chambers West Bute StreetCardiff CF10 5BBt 029 2044 0940f 029 2044 0941wales@fostering.netwww.fostering.net

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Storytelling and reading guide for foster carers

Mary Medlicott’sStorytelling forpre-school children

Mary Medlicott has been a professionalstoryteller for over 20 years. Mary is authorof two children’s novels and a number ofbooks offering advice on how to tell stories.She has also been a long term foster carer.

Books can provide a great basis foryour storytellingBed-time storytimes are important to all youngchildren. If they revolve around books, rememberyou can also talk about the stories again the nextday. Remind your listeners of characters, eventsor phrases they liked. They’ll become part of yourfamily life together. At bedtime, you could also trytelling a story about some of the events of theday. Nothing pleases young children more than tobe told a story.

Picture books and collections of nursery tales canalso get you going telling stories. First, refreshyour memory of the stories by reading themthrough. Then try telling them in your own wordsinstead of reading them out. You’ll probably beamazed at the response. Young children lovestories that come ‘out of your mouth’.

Soft toys and objects can help bringyour story aliveLook out for a soft-toy or glove puppet to take thepart of a central character in your story. Whetherthe story is out of a book or one you are makingup, the soft toy will help bring it to life. Move thetoy about as if it is real. Wiggle its ears or paws.Young children will be delighted.

A favourite toy can sometimes generate a long-running saga of stories. Give the character aname, then make up new situations for it toparticipate in. Even ordinary events such as goingshopping, a holiday or having a party becomeextraordinarily exciting in this kind of context.You can also use objects to represent things inyour story. Children wil be fascinated to see youputting them into position or moving themaround. They’ll soon want to retell stories in thisway too. It wil help with their imagination andlanguage.

Storytelling provides youngchildren with plenty of opportunitiesto be creativeYoung children love being given a chance to becreative with a story you have told. Encouragethem to paint a story or act it out with soundeffects. Usually you’ll find they add something ofthemselves or change it some way. All this is funto talk about.

Repeating the same story over and over againmay get tedious for the adult. But it’s oftenexactly what young children want. They love theprocess of getting to know a story and feelingcomfortable with it. They especially like it whenyou remember to add in little rhymes or songs;they’ll love learning these and then showing youhow much they have remembered. Graduallythey’ll take over and become the storyteller!

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Liz Weir’sSharing books withYoung Children

Liz Weir is a professional storyteller whoworks with all age groups. A Children’slibrarian by training, she now travels theworld telling stories to adults and children,organising workshops on storytelling, andspeaking at courses for parents, carers,teachers and librarians.

Sharing stories and rhymes with a very youngchild is a great privilege, which should never beunder estimated. We live in a highly visual, fastpaced world, and now, more than ever before, weneed to take time to talk to children, to read tothem, and to open for them the wonder of theworld of books.

Enjoy yourselfWhen we tell stories we entertain, stimulate theimagination, develop language and rhythm skillsand show the child we care enough about them todelight in doing so. To see so many little faceswatching your face, squealing with excitement isan unforgettable experience. Realising in years tocome how many of those stories and rhymes areremembered serves to remind us all howimportant it is to foster a love of books. By lettingchildren have a chance to share books withtrusted adult in their early years, we are creatingan environment where books and reading are anatural part of their everyday lives.

Use old favouritesEvery child has a right to meet Peter Rabbit, Alfie,The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Owl Babies andMo and what’s more time to greet them asfriends! The characters from children’s picturebooks have so much more impact than the latestvideo and leave room for imagination to come intoplay. Watching a TV or DVD is a solitary and oneway experience leaving no room for interaction.How much better to see and adult and a child sattogether, sharing the magic of a story.

Dealing with sensitive issuesAll of us tell stories, and children love to hear thetrue ones about what happened to you when youwere little and what toys you played with as itgives them a connection to you. Everydayexperiences are extremely popular and yet somesituations can take a little explaining, so modernchildren’s books deal sensitively with foster care,adoption, going to hospital, divorce and disability.It is vital that these books are available to be usedwhen appropriate. We live in a multi-culturalworld and once again it is essential; that ourselection of books can reflect this diversity andalso the different needs of each individual child.

Never have we had so many wonderfullyillustrated, exciting books for children and yet wehave never needed them more. We see more andmore children starting school with poor languageskills and low self-esteem amongst those whoare slipping through the education system. Byimmersing children in a wide variety of books intheir early years we can help them build a betterfuture as readers and can together gain a greatdeal of enjoyment at the same time.

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Storytelling and reading guide for foster carers

Peter Chand’sStorytelling for groupsof children

Peter Chand is a full time storyteller whoworks with audiences of all ages. His familyoriginally come from India, and he collects,translates and tells stories from the sub-continent and beyond. Peter also runsstorytelling workshops to help buddingstorytellers develop their own performanceskills.

Working with audiences of all ages, I have firsthand the incredible magic that is created whenyour listener is taken into a strange, exciting andnew places through the power of the story.

Use your voiceOne of the easiest ways to do this is by readingfrom a book, and using funny and interestingvoices to capture the character, and the child’simagination. The more you do it, the easier itbecomes - and soon you will be getting asked to‘do the voice, do the voice!’

Use your bodyUsing your body and gesture can also be veryuseful in bringing the story to life. Imagine agiant. Now use your body and pretend that youare that giant. Is your chest starting to puff out?Do your arms suddenly drop by your side? How doyou find yourself walking now that you are huge?How do you sound when you talk? There, you arethe giant! And if you are having fun with thecharacter and the story, chances are, the childrenwill be too.

Eye contactI’ve talked about the body and the voice, but Ithink the most important thing in storytelling iseye contact. Whether you are telling a story frommemory, or reading from a book, eye contact isimportant in engaging your listener. If you arereading, occasionally look up at the children, anduse your eyes to emphasise that part in the story.Your eyes can tell them whether the part you arereading is sad, happy, exciting or frightening.

The great thing about all the points mentioned isthat they all overlap. If you puff up your body likea giant, your voices automatically changes to suitthe appearance, and vice versa.

Make up storiesIf you feel confident, you can always make upstories, and involve the children in that process.Ask them what they would like the story to beabout, or even use their favourite toy or hobbywithin the tale. When my children were young, wemade up a story about a pair of sausages thatwere in the fridge, who would get up to all sortsof adventures once the family were asleep!

So have fun telling the stories, and rememberthere is no right or wrong way to tell them. Thefact that you are sharing the experience togetheris the most important thing.

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Hamish Fyfe’sStorytelling formale foster carers

Professor Hamish Fyfe is co-director of theGeorge Ewart Evans Centre for Storytelling,the only academic centre dedicated to theart of storytelling in the UK. He has workedas a teacher, actor, and researcher in avariety of contexts before taking up his postas Chair of Arts in the Community at theUniversity of Glamorgan in September 2004.

Stories shape our livesThe drive to tell stories to understand our lives asstories are in all human beings. The youngestchild and the oldest person enjoys a story andtells stories everyday. Stories shape our lives andthe way we understand the world- we cannot livewithout them. Some of my Dad’s stories werejokes but some of the best ones were about thingsthat happened to him as a boy. My life would havebeen very different if I hadn’t had an opportunity toshare these stories. Storytelling is not a one wayprocess – we need to tell and be told stories andhave time to explore what they mean. Why, justbecause it usually happens, should men beexcluded from this? In our house at the end of theday, story ritual tended to be an activity mymother undertook but at mealtimes my brotherand I used to plead with my father to hear hisstories, many of which we had heard before.Sometimes stories are written down, sometimeswe remember them and sometimes we makethem up.

Perhaps the best way to see howimportant story is in children’s livesis to tell a story . . .

I have friend called Robert and, one morning whenhis son was about five, Robert was driving him toschool and it was pouring with rain. The little boy

said ‘Daddy, I think mummy is mad’. ‘Oh,’ said hisDad, as the window screen wipers battled to copewith the downpour. ‘Well this morning Mummylooked out of the window and said. ‘Isn’t it a lovelyday?’ So Robert had, as often happens withchildren, three minutes before arriving at theschool gate, had to introduce the concept of irony.‘Well,’ he said, ‘Sometimes grown-ups say onething and they mean the exact opposite of that andthey think that is funny’. The little boy didn’t replybut went into a short period of reflection on whathis father had said, got out of the car and went intoschool. His father had completely forgotten abutthe conversation, but when he got home at sixo’clock, his son waiting was for him with a veryserious expression on his face. ‘Daddy will youcome up to my room please?’ he said. Puzzled hisDad went him and found that the little boy haddeliberately made a mess of his bedroom takingcare to pull the duvet off the bed, empty a box oftoys on the floor and dislodge a poster from thewall. Looking at his dad with a quizzical eye hesaid, ‘Nice tidy bedroom, eh Dad?’ At this pointRobert remembered the conversation in themorning and was able to say. ‘That’s right –you’ve got it’.

Enjoy the opportunityto share stories

This little boy had an idea and he knew that hisDad was the right person to test it on. Childrenwho are provided with a rich story environment-both in hearing stories and talking about them –will grow as thinkers and relationships will bestrengthened. None of us should miss out thisgreat opportunity.

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Storytelling and reading guide for foster carers

Storyteller, Mary Medlicott

Emily Underwood from the George Ewart Evans Centrefor Storytelling at the University of Glamorgan chats tostoryteller Mary Medlicott about her work and her life as afoster carer. Mary discusses the importance of stories for allchildren and how foster carers can begin to bring storytellinginto their homes.

Mary Medlicott has been telling storiesprofessionally for over 25 years. She workswith adults and children in educational,community and performance settings. Sheis originally from Pembrokeshire but is nowbased in London although she returns toWales often to tell stories. Mary has writtenOpen Secret and Elephant Luck, novels forchildren, and two books advising adults whowork with children how to tell stories;Cooking Up a Story and The Little Book ofStorytelling.Mary and her husband were long-term fostercarers to two boys. The boys were aged eight andnine when they arrived and stayed with them forfive years. Mary still maintains strong connectionswith the boys who are now in their early 30’s. Marydiscussed the role that storytelling played in herrelationship with her two foster children. “Whenthe boys came to us they had had lots of changesin their lives and they were in a very disrupted andanxious state. I found that bedtime stories wereone of the key elements in establishing a familytogether and it was something that they alwaysenjoyed. We would read stories to them and ofcourse it gave us lots of things to talk about”.

Mary also observed that storytelling had a role toplay in helping the boys understand their ownpersonal history. “I really felt that we were tryingto help them to make sense of the story of theirlives and as part of that we would make a journalof the places we went to and the things that we didand we would stick in all kinds of stuff. Last yearthe elder of our two foster sons was here, and hereally enjoyed looking back over the journals ofour holidays. The stories of things that we did

have become really important to them bothbecause they have provided them with stories of afive year period in their lives which could havebeen a gap, as gaps that had gone before, socreating strong memories through telling storiesabout what we did was really important. Theyounger of our foster sons was having a chat withme recently and he was saying how all the storiesthat we had were the most important thing that heremembers about those five years.”

There are other benefits that come fromstorytelling. Mary notes that it gave the boys timeto relax and a chance to engage imaginatively,giving them a chance to see how problems areresolved and to work a story through frombeginning to end. Mary suggests that a good wayto start this is to talk about the things that arehappening in your day to day life. “One of the firstthings is remembering things that you do andexperiences that you have and telling storiesabout that. It is as simple as saying ‘do youremember when we . . ?’ If you have toys aroundyou can imagine the kinds of things that mighthappen, instead of it being a rabbit, it’s Mopsy theRabbit and you can make up stories about whatshe’s going to do today.”

Foster carers can also benefit from storytelling.“I’ve found lots of people that I’ve worked with findit very empowering for them when they see thatthe children are interested in what they have tosay. It makes communication happen. Manyfostered children are in an anxious state quite a lotof the time because they might not know what’sgoing to happen to them and they might havecome from very difficult situations, and be facingdifficult situations so looking for times ofrelaxation is one of the most important things that

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you can do as a foster carer.”

Mary has also worked with groups of looked afterchildren, again she has noticed the incrediblepower of storytelling to hold the young people’sattention and to give them a chance to developtheir creative and imaginative skills. “I did asession recently with teenage looked afterchildren and I could see that the opportunity toengage in some creative storytelling games wasvery interesting to them. I also saw the depth oftheir listening to a story. Afterwards one personsaid ‘it’s like being in the story isn’t it? It’s likeyou’re there’. So I take from that that it’s veryrelaxing and it occupies your mind but it also givesyou an experience of working through somesituations in a whole way that brings you to an endthat satisfies and is engaging.

The need to create a safe space for storytelling issomething Mary highlighted as really important.“You can sit there and you can remembersomething that has happened in the day or tell astory if you know one to tell or make something upor read a book. You might find yourself telling astory in the kitchen when the child is able to goaway if they want to. It’s important not to obligepeople or force it on them, you can’t say ‘you willlisten to this story’. Children can take these kindsof offerings in different ways, and sometimes a

child will walk off in the middle of something andyou think ‘Oh that was a failure’. And then they’llcome back a day later and say ‘what was that youwere saying’ or ‘can you tell me about that again’.I think you have to be quite forgiving aboutsituations and don’t criticise yourself, just try itagain.”

Mary noted that although storytelling often seemslike a difficult thing to start it is something we canall do. “A lot of people think that storytelling isonly making stuff up and they feel a bit dauntedabout that but it’s really important to rememberthat what storytellers do a lot of the time is retellall kinds of stories. Your foster children mightnever have heard the story of Cinderella and youmight remember it or you might have otherstories that you could look up in a book and tell inyour own words. A lot of looked after children willbe in a situation where they haven’t had those kindof things and so the likelihood is that they willengage. Children’s libraries are very much moreattuned to helping people these days, somelibraries provide storytelling sessions which canbe a great link in to the world of stories and books.There are all kinds of resources that you canborrow and you can listen to stuff on CD as well.You might be a bit daunted at first but when yousee the effects it will encourage you.”

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Storytelling and reading guide for foster carers

THE JIGSAW FAMILYBy Pam Williams

This story is about a little girl who looks so like anyother little girl you would not be able to tell thedifference. You would not be able to tell that thislittle girl is much braver and much more specialthan any other little girl.

The little girl I am talking about is so brave thatreally she should have been given a big prize or amedal or something like that. Ahh! I know whatyou are thinking now, you’re thinking - “I bet thislittle girl broke her leg and didn’t even cry.”Or - “I bet this little girl met a herd of wild animalsand stared them straight in the eye.” Or maybeyou’re thinking - “She rescued someone from adangerous place.”

No, these things are all very brave but my littlegirl, the little girl in this story was much braverthan that. This little girl’s name is Megan.

The reason why Megan is so brave and so specialis because when she was very little, a dreadfulthing happened to her family. Megan’s family gotbroken. Yes, broken! Just like a plate or a cup doeswhen you drop it. Shattered into lots of littlepieces. When this happened to Megan’s family, thepieces could not be put back together again. Theyall got separated, all of them. Not even two piecescould be put back together. Megan was going tohave to start life all over again, almost as if shehad just been born with a family she had nevereven seen before, a family who did not knowanything about her: not her favourite song, not herfavourite toy, not even her favourite food. When youcan’t even talk yet, how can you let that familyknow all the questions going on in your head? Howcan you tell them how scared you are? How could

Megan ask them about the missing pieces of herfamily? Why was everything so different? Wherewas everybody? What a dark, scary world thiswas…

Across the city lived a rather strange family. Well,that is according to one of the children whobelonged to it. Jenni was ten years old. She hadtwo big brothers who did not live at home any morebecause they were grown up. She had one bigsister and at this moment in time she had ayounger brother. I say ‘at this moment in time’because this family was always changing, just likea jigsaw puzzle. Pieces were always being put inand then taken out. One day Jenni had one sisterand three brothers, the next week it could be twosisters and three brothers or any combination.

For the first five or six years of her life, Jenni didn’teven notice that her family was different. Shedidn’t really notice until she started going toschool, that her friends did not keep swappingtheir brothers and sisters for new ones. That’sabout the time Jenni arrived home and exclaimed,“Our family is strange, really strange. Weird!’

Jenni and her Jigsaw family lived in a house in thecountry. Jenni’s older sister, Kelly had a pony andalthough Jenni did not really like to ride, she didlove all animals and she had plenty: dogs, cats,birds, rabbits and a hamster. All these animalswere part of this family jigsaw. Jenni was a veryhappy, dizzy little girl with blonde hair, blue eyesand rosy cheeks. She loved animals, she loved hersmall village school and most of all she loved herfamily. Jenni was always glad to be who she wasand it never really bothered her who was home

This story was written by Pam Williams who took part in a BBC Wales RAW story writingproject. Pam has been a foster carer for over twenty six years and this story for young childrenstands for its clarity and honesty.

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made and who wasn’t. She was loved, she wassecure and she lived in a warm cosy world. No,not scary, not scary at all. Nothing like Megan’sworld.

On the day Megan arrived at the Jigsaw family’shouse, the family consisted of Mum and Dad, whoboth worked in a hospital looking after people,Kelly, Jenni (who you know) and Malcome. Kellywas tiny as a fairy with long dark hair and greeneyes. She lived, breathed and dreamt about horsesand was only ever to be found riding, mucking outor feeding her pony Pepsi. Well, she did pop in forthe odd meal, or bath, or to get her Dad to help.Kelly had lived with the Jigsaws since she was tenweeks old. She loved them all and she was loved,she was safe and secure. Malcome was six yearsold. He had lived with the Jigsaws for about threeyears and he was very clever, much brainier thanthe rest of the Jigsaws! Malcome liked living withthe Jigsaws but not as much as he liked his ownfamily. He still saw a lot of them and wanted to gohome one day.

Well, that was the situation when the Jigsawfamily opened its arms and hearts to the tornadothat was Megan. They might have been a shock toher but, oh my goodness, the Jigsaws had no ideawhat they had let themselves in for.

Do you know about tornadoes? Well, they arrivewithout any warning. They arrive so quickly, like abullet from a gun: so fast, so loud, and so scary.Everything is left flattened and broken; everyone isleft scared and shocked.

The first thing the Jigsaws noticed about thistornado was the noise. On and on and on it went!In the house, in the car, in the night: no morewatching the telly, no more chats, just a little voicethat never ever stopped, never. Natter natternatter, cry cry cry! Shrieking, begging for her lostfamily. Bewildered, afraid . . . Before she hadarrived at the Jigsaw’s house, Megan haddelivered first her sister and then her brother totheir new homes but the baby, where was thebaby? Was she still at home? Was she alone? Wasshe safe? She wanted her baby sister more thananything in the world. The next sensation to hit theJigsaws was the flash before the eye. Oh! Thereshe goes again, flying from chair to chair,

charging from room to room; searching, watching,bawling every time anyone left the room, scaredthey might not come back. Watch out! You’ll beflattened by this tornado.

Night time was the worst time of all. Megan’shouse had always been busy at night. Megan andthe other children in her family would cuddle onthe sofa and fall asleep together. Megan hardlyever went to bed. Now with this strange familythings were very different. Bath, story, bed, sleep.Only Megan didn’t sleep. No, Megan wandered andsearched, gathered food, ate food, stored food,took whatever she could get her hands on: Kelly’smake up, Jenni’s toys, Malcome’s pens, anythingthat was treasured. Nothing was safe. Everyonecomplained and moaned and everyone got verycross indeed.

On and on went this tornado.

Could there be any more problems to deal with?The Jigsaw pieces were all over the place, all ofthem trying to get the puzzle back together, tryingto fit Megan in as well but Megan the tornado justkept blowing the pieces away. They were going tohave to show Megan the right way to do things;teach her all the things that were right and wrong.Tornadoes, though, don’t stop long enough tolearn. They don’t stop long enough to think, theyjust charge on and on. Megan did not learn athing. She talked to strangers everywhere shewent, she took things that weren’t hers, shejumped up and down in cars, she climbed up ontoanything in sight. She was a walking nightmare.Life now in the Jigsaws’ house was like living in amaze. You know what I mean don’t you? You knowthat there is a way out but you just can’t find it.Round and round the maze they all went: splittingup, bumping into each other, arguing about theway out. Send her away? Keep her? No, yes, yes,no! Family meetings were held like mini trials.No-one wanted to give up but they were never ableto eat out, go to the pictures, ride in the carwithout stopping a dozen times. They were neverable to go shopping without tantrums, never ableto sleep without one eye open, never be able totalk without constant interruptions. The otherchildren could never have any attention from Mumand Dad who were too busy trying to stop thetornado.

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Storytelling and reading guide for foster carers

In the end she went. The tornado was gone.

They were happy now weren’t they? The Jigsawfamily?

NO THEY WERE NOT!!!

Jenni was right: they were strange, they wereweird. They may not have known it but when thetornado scattered the jigsaw pieces all around,they could not put the puzzle back togetherwithout that one missing piece. All of the familywere sad, sorry, guilty, and lonely. Why had theysent her away? What had they done?

They needn’t have worried though. The tornadowas still rushing around, settling nowhere. Shewas still asking for them, still wanting to be partof the puzzle. When Jenni arrived home fromschool one day to find Megan’s little pink bikeoutside the gate, her heart almost stopped. Wasshe back? Was that possible? Was it what shewanted? Jenni rushed up the path and burst intothe house. There she was, there was Megan, therewas the tornado. Jenni burst into tears and Megan

did too. Their shrieks were deafening andeveryone had tears in their eyes. It had been tenlong, sad weeks; ten very quiet peaceful weeksbut now Megan was home. Jenni was glad. All ofthe Jigsaws were glad.

Today Megan still lives in the same house with thesame family, although they’re not quite the sameanymore. Today Megan is ten years old. She looksso like any other little girl, you would not be ableto tell the difference. You would not be able to tellthat this little girl is much braver and much morespecial than any other little girl, but Megan isbroken. Inside she is shattered about. But Meganis going to be fixed, she is going to put all of herpieces back where they belong. Lots of people arehelping her gather all of the pieces and put themin the right place. Megan is strong, Megan isbrave. So, so brave. One day Megan’s world willfeel safe, not scary, not scary at all. One dayMegan will love being who she is.

The End

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Improving the literacy of children whoare looked after - Tips for foster carers

� Read aloud to your foster child. The voice is awonderful instrument and can bring the storyalive for a child. Encourage your child to readwith expression. This will help them read morefluently.

� Choose books that reflect the child’s interest.Books that are of high interest, include plentyof illustrations and are colourful will appeal toyour foster child.

� Discuss the book with your foster child.Talk with your child about the book, what theydid and didn’t like, including the charactersand subject matter. Encourage them to havean opinion. Talking together about the storycan help build your relationship with yourfoster child.

� Leave books around the house. Reading justdoesn’t have to take place in the living room.Children may just to be tempted to open a bookif they find it in unusual places – even thebathroom.

� Use different media types. Children who arelooked after may have different needs, so booksin different media types maybe more accessiblee.g. audio books/talking books, CDs and DVDs.Newspapers and comics are also another wayof attracting children and young people toreading.

� Show by example. If your foster child seesother members of their foster family readingthey maybe curious to see what you are up toand want to copy. Set a good example bysharing your reading. Encourage older children

to read to the young. Let your children see thatyou value books.

� Visit and join your local library. Many librariesrun storytelling sessions for younger members.For teenagers, libraries offer such activities asafter school book clubs and are developingcollections specific to young people. Talk toyour local library, ask them to recommendtitles and find out how they can help you andyour family, books are free!

� Approach your local Foster Care Association.A number of FCAs are creating their ownlibraries with books/CDs for foster carers toborrow. Resources can include books to readwith your foster child and books for fostercarers to read on a specific topic in your role asa foster carer.

� Talk to your child’s school. Your child’s schoollibrary maybe running a number of readinginitiatives, such reading groups, book awardsand story telling sessions.

� Young children watch adults. They are bornmimics and love to copy. If they see you readinga book they will want to do the same. It's nevertoo soon to start. Colourful board books aregreat for babies. They not only look at thecolourful pictures but with your help they canlearn to turn the pages, to get a sense ofachievement. Together you can enjoy theadventure of the written and spoken word whileexperiencing the privilege of entering thechild's world. Most libraries run Book Startevents for families with little ones.

Are books and reading important?The answer is yes, most definitely! Reading acts as a gateway to learning, it is the key to thedoor which when unlocked opens up a whole new world of knowledge, fun and excitement.Establishing this skill, will enable children to increase their self confidence, to improve theirsuccess at school and to feel included. Take some time to read with your foster child today –the impact will last a lifetime. Stories and storytelling should be fun – enjoy yourself.

Quick tips - So what can I do as a foster carer to help?

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Storytelling and reading guide for foster carers

Writers on TourA scheme run by Academi, the Welsh NationalLiterature Promotion Agency and Society forAuthors. The scheme helps finance visits bywriters and storytellers and can fund up to 50% ofthe costs of appropriate literacy events. Ask youragency if they would like to hold a litaeracy event.They also have a database of most Welsh andWelsh-based writers in both languages with briefbiographies and contact details.www.academi.org

BooktrustAn independent charity providing information forparents, teachers and libraries on a range ofbooks for children and young people.www.booktrust.org.uk

Getting the Blokes on Board:Involving fathers and male carers inreading with their children is a freemagazine that contains research, case studies, toptips and celebrity interviews to help peopleworking with families get dads and male fostercarers involved with reading.www.literacytrust.org.uk

How to enjoy reading aloud to youngchildren by Edmund Pegge & AlisonShakespeare. Southgate Publishers, 2007, ISBN1857411560. A book giving hints and tips on how toread to your child, further information is availableon the publisher’s website.www.southgatepublishers.co.uk

The Literacy Trustwww.literacytrust.org.uk/index

Move on upA national project from the Department forChildren, Schools and Families to encourageeveryone, including foster carers, to improveliteracy and numeracy skills and so support lookedafter children.www.move-on.org.uk/index

The Reading AgencyAn independent charity promoting readingamongst all age groups.www.readingagency.org.uk

Read Together is a campaign based inScotland to promote reading together betweenparents or carers and their children. The websitecontains many hits and tips.www.readtogether.co.uk

Read with me is an advice booklet produced bythe Basic Skills Agency encourages parents andcarers of three to seven year olds to read with theirchildren.www.basic-skills.co.uk/resources

Volunteer Reading HelpA national charity which supports parents, carers,teachers on how to help a child to read by a seriesof workshops and training sessions.www.vrh.org.uk

Adult LiteracyIf you too would like to get involved in improvingyour literacy skills then the following sources ofinformation maybe helpful:

The Vital Link is part of the Skills for Life Strategyprogramme it aims to support adults with lowerliteracy levels and encourage an enjoyment ofreading, increase skills, help boost confidence andmotivation. A series of Quick Reads has beendeveloped to help, high interest stories written bypopular authors for those wanting a quick read.www.literacytrust.org.uk/vitallink

Learndirect a provider of literacy skills andcourses for adults.www.learndirect.co.uk

Resources to help improve your foster child’s reading skills

12

Telling my story

Inspiring boys to read

So what do boys like to read?� It is a mistake to believe that boys in general

are reluctant readers and do not like fiction. Itis often the type of fiction presented to themthat puts them off. Generally, boys enjoy bookswhich place action ahead of emotion and wherewhat the characters do is more important thatwhat the characters think or feel. Many boysprefer the action novel. These are theequivalent of thrillers and detective stories inadult books. Action books tend to be publishedin a series to help marketing but once yourfoster child has finished the first they may bemotivated to read the series.

� Boys tend to like books which match theirimage of themselves. They want to be able toidentify themselves and what they would like tobe and do. This is why books about charactersengaged in sport have always held at least aninitial attraction for boys.

� Boys love to have fun so they want books thatare fun and make them laugh. A significant partof the mayhem that boys love is poking fun atothers, especially adults. Boys continually findthemselves told to behave, to be tidier and lessboisterous, so books where the characterstriumphantly break out of these restrictions aregreatly prized.

How you as foster carers canencourage boys to read� When choosing authors or even storytellers,

feature men regularly.

� If storytellers often visit your foster child’sschool suggest that they may like to think offeaturing male storytellers. They may eventhink of asking other kinds of guest to classesincluding songwriters, sportsmen, DJ’s or

evenstreet dancers. They all have a story to tell.Male poets and rappers can be effective inencouraging boys to read.

� Ask your local library if they have thought aboutcommunity figures such as the police or firebrigade who could come in and talk about theirwork? They might seem non-book related but ifthey visit the library you can select librarybooks that link in with the theme.

� Don’t limit yourself to books, there are plenty ofother materials that encourage reading. Whatabout comics, magazines, joke books, puzzlebooks or song lyrics?

� Make the reading relevant to their life. Manyboys like to read manuals for their ipod or XBOXgames and activities that they are interested in.Magazines on their hobbies such as skateboarding or computer games, for example, willbe popular.

� Make a point of reading more ‘boy’ friendlybooks yourself. Your foster child will knowwhen you are bluffing and it’s important to gaintheir trust.

ResourceBoys into Books is aproject run by the SchoolLibrary Association,which aims toencourage reading forpleasure for boys, aged 11-14, key stage 3.A booklist is available to download. This listcontains around 170 titles guaranteed to get boysreading, arranged by genre. There are plenty ofup-to-the-minute titles, some modern classics,and one or two old favourites. Its focus is fiction –though there are some non-fiction titles amongstthe others in the book list.

www.sla.org.uk/boys-into-books-overview.php

Statistics show that boys do not read as much as girls. Given the importance of reading indeveloping vocabulary, self-expression, and higher-level thinking skills, it is essential toget boys engaged with books. There are a number of things that foster carers need toconsider when thinking about what boys like to read - Are they willing or reluctant readers?Are you looking for books that they will read by themselves or books to read to them?