Three anthologies that are meant to be shared with others, aloud.

For many of us being read to is one of our earliest memories. It could have been a parent or a grandparent reading, and we were safe and warm, and the stories took us on adventures to other places. Many of us can also recall a teacher reading aloud to us as we sat on the mat in front of them, but again our imaginations were travelling far away to other places, and it is not the mat or the other children around us that we remember, but the story.

Many of us have also enjoyed being the reader reading aloud, but life's busyness, lack of time, and a perceived lack of need once the kids could read for themselves, means we haven't read aloud for a long time. 

These three anthologies of stories and poems: A Little, Aloud for Children, A Little, Aloud, and A Little, Aloud With Love, published by The Reader Organisation in the UK, have been collected together for shared reading, either for reading one-to-one, or within a group. Each anthology is an excellent introduction to the shared reading experience, and a reintroduction to reading aloud. The texts within have been tried and tested in groups already. 

One collection of stories and poems is for reading to, or with, children. In the foreword to A Little, Aloud for Children, children's writer Michael Morpurgo says it is "important to carry on reading to children long after they are able to read fluently themselves. Reading out loud conjures a precious space and a time that is spent exclusively together."  

The other two anthologies are for reading aloud to adults. The collections are divided up into sessions. Each session has a story and a poem that are paired together. The collections for adults also come with reading notes based on conversations sparked by the texts. Each story has an approximate reading time noted under its title.

Why not give it a go? These three anthologies offer a starting point for gaining confidence. Read aloud to a loved one or gather a small group together and take turns reading out loud. As Founder and Director of The Reader Organisation, Jane Davis, says in her introduction to A Little, Aloud, "... being read to may be comforting, relaxing and sustaining for the listener, for the reader it can also be a source of generous delight."

If you would like to learn more about how shared reading groups can work check out the website of the UK based The Reader Organisation here: https://www.thereader.org.uk/what-we-do/shared-reading/, and the website of its New Zealand offshoot, The Reading Revolution: https://thereadingrevolution.org/about/. 

We have started shared reading groups at Dunedin Public Libraries for people with memory loss or dementia called Narratives: Book-Sparked Chat.  Check out our events calendar if this is something that would interest you or a loved one. We have a newly formed group at the City Library, and another starting at Mosgiel Library on 2 May 2022. Waikouaiti Library are also planning to start a group in late May. Contact Reading Promotion Coordinator jackie.mcmillan@dcc.govt.nz if you would like to find out more information about Narratives: Book-Sparked Chat.