A Letter To My Class About Reading

Dear Deer Class,

As you’re leaving Moorlands soon, to move on to the next exciting stage of your life, there’s something really important that I need to tell you. Do you realise that you’re all readers now, every single one of you? I don’t mean that you all can read, because you’ve been able to do that for a long time. I mean that you’re all readers; real, genuine, passionate readers. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it over the past few days and I’m pretty sure that I’m right.

How do I know? Because the evidence is everywhere.

Because you start getting ready for story time and moving the cushions to the floor before I've even noticed. Because you make wonderful recommendations to each other and talk about books all the time. Because you remind me about Poem of the Day whenever I forget it (which is pretty often) and keep it going when I'm not there. Because you have the confidence to read books by a wide range of authors.

Because you loiter around the desk whenever you see a new brown parcel arrive, just in case it's a new book (and, let's be honest, it usually is). Because you come into class early to tell me about the books you've read over the weekend or during the holidays. Because you give up your lunchtimes to help keep the school library and Reading Shed running. Because you’re all so keen to have your turn organising the Pupil Recommendations shelf.

Because you understand that reading is far more than books, and that magazines, newspapers, riddles and jokes all count. Because I can hear you talking about books and making recommendations on the way to assembly, even though I pretend I can't. Because you’re all so helpful when we’re visited by children from classes further down the school who want a book recommendation. Because the first conversation I have with most of you each morning is about what you’ve read the previous evening. Because whenever I walk past the library on the way to the staffroom, I see you reading stories and poems with younger pupils.

In fact, now that I’ve started, let me be even more specific…

Amelie, you’re a reader because you’ve read every single book in the classroom that mentions horse and ponies…and you’ve loved them all. I always enjoy watching your reaction when we get to an emotional part in our class book.

Max, you’re a reader because everyone respects your views about books. You’re always so keen to share your recommendations. They way you think so carefully about which books you’re going to read to the younger children continually impresses me.

Sorayah, you’re a reader because you know everything there is to know about our class collection of graphic novels. You’ve enjoyed so many over the year. Just as impressively, you always seem to know who else is reading them, how far they’ve got and what their opinions are. Thank you for keeping my book bill down!

Izabella, you’re a reader because your recommendations are outstanding. You have such great empathy and match books to readers so well. You’ve encouraged so many other children to read books by Tamsin Winter and Rebecca Westcott. Thank you.

Tianna, know you're a reader because you have an opinion on virtually every book that's in the classroom and you make me work really hard whenever you want a book recommended to you that you haven't already read. You've also pointed me in the direction of some fantastic books over the year.

Riley, you’re a reader because you read the books that you enjoy and you don’t mind what other people think about them. You read the Mr Wolf’s Class graphic novel series and you loved them. And then you read them again. And then you read them again. And that’s absolutely fine.

Charlie, you’re a reader because you can remember exactly what happened on page 264 of Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief (and on any page of any other Percy Jackson book). It’s so clear how much you love the series. You’re always keen to help out in the library whenever someone is absent, which is enormously appreciated.

Jude, you’re a reader because you were really keen to continue with the Once series after we’d read the first ones. The fact that you were so honest about how much you enjoyed them and how emotional they made you really impressed me. I’m glad the ones you read lived up to your expectations.

Isla, you’re a reader because you’re incredibly passionate about poetry. I love how you’re always keen to fill the gap whenever there’s a blank day. You’ve also started to widen the range of books you read lately by listening to recommendations from your friends.

 

Billy, I know you're a reader because you just didn't give up. It took a while, but you found the type of books you love in the end. Keep with it! Your contributions to our class discussions about books are always worth listening to.

Hannah, you’re a reader because you’ve single-handedly kept the Reading Shed going this year. You’re always happy to open it, tidy it up and organise the books in there because you know other people enjoy using it. You love reading and you want others to as well.

Scarlett, you’re a reader because you’re our resident Manga expert. So many other children have started reading Manga because of your passion and expertise. It’s wonderful that you’re always keen to share the latest series you’ve discovered. You’re definitely an influencer!

Jacob, you’re a reader because the excitement in your face when you found out there was going to be a third Aveline Jones book will always stay with me. You’ve never once forgotten when it’s time to go and read to the younger children.

Megan, you’re a reader because you seek me out every break and lunchtime to tell me all about your latest book. You read widely and with such enthusiasm! You always have a reading plan…this is what I’m reading next and then this is what I’m reading after that.

Lily, you’re a reader because you think very carefully about which picture book you’re going to share with the children in Reception at story time. You’ve done so much to help promote reading around the school over the year and that’s amazing.

Flynn, you’re a reader because you have such a strong individual reading identity. You were one of the first to read the Heartstopper series and, because of that, lots of other people read them too. You’re a brave reader and I love how you want to try new books.

Isaac, you’re a reader because you got so emotionally involved when we read A Street Dog Named Pup together. The way you listened so intensely was amazing. The enthusiasm you have for Poem of the Day has spread to everyone around the class.

Olive, you’re a reader because you live and breathe books. You’ve been a wonderful Reading Champion this year, you’ve given up your Thursdays to open the library and you seem to have read every book in school. Just as importantly, you’ve recommended as many books to me as I have to you over the past few years.

I could go on for a lot longer Deer Class, but I won't as I've made my point. Also, the summer holidays are almost upon us and we've all got a lot of reading to be getting on with. Have a wonderful break and enjoy your time at secondary school. Find the library, make friends with the librarian, keep reading books and make the most of every single minute. I’ll miss you all.

Mr Biddle

The Lovely Dark - blog tour

I was thrilled to be invited to take part in the blog tour for The Lovely Dark by Matthew Fox. His debut middle grade novel, The Sky Over Rebecca, is fantastic and I was excited to see how he would follow it up. My excitement was justified! The Lovely Dark is a superb story, the first book set in a post-pandemic world that I've read, and has definitely staked a strong claim to being one of my favourite reads of the year. I can't recommend it highly enough for Years Five and Six.

Matthew was also generous enough to write a piece for this blog about how he actually came to write The Lovely Dark. I hope you enjoy reading it.

A Pandemic Fiction by Matthew Fox

The Lovely Dark had a long gestation period. It’s out in paperback in the UK this week, but I’ve been thinking about it – and trying to forget about it – for more than a decade.

This was the starting point:

A girl, Ellie, dies in London; Charon picks her up in a flooded underground station and ferries her across the Styx to Hades; there, she meets a boy called Justin, who will be her guide to the Underworld…

And for a long time, that’s as far as I got. I worked through numerous permutations and combinations, but nothing felt right. I couldn’t figure out the why of the story: why did I want to tell this story and what did I want to say?

Then along came a pandemic…

Now a story I had tried to forget about seemed to have some relevance. It could be a way to look at the pandemic, I saw, a way to think about the impact of lockdowns on young people. I wrote the first draft of a new middle-grade novel set partly in post-pandemic London and partly in Hades. Ellie’s grandmother has died in the first wave of the virus: her grief is part of a bigger societal event; her love for her grandmother helps to structure the story from start to finish.

I didn’t have a title for the book yet, but I found myself thinking about lockdown, and about how people reacted differently to it. Introverts and readers seemed better able to work through the weeks of solitude. I thought perhaps some people – myself included – might find it a little too comfortable. And one winter’s night, just as I was drifting off to sleep, I began to think how lovely it was to be safe and warm, in a dark room on a dark night: it felt womb-like; it felt like hibernation.

I’m here in the lovely dark.

So I had a title, and with it came a better feel for the Ellie’s character. She’s someone whose world has been turned inside out by the pandemic: her grandmother has died; her friendships have been disrupted; she has retreated into her books. Her bedroom is a safe, warm space where her overactive imagination rules. ‘It’s what happened to me in the pandemic,’ she tells us. ‘The world outside shrank. The world inside grew to fill the space that remained.’

Lockdown for most people was a kind of half-life. Even introverts eventually found themselves longing for an in-person author talk at their local independent bookshop; we all have to get back to the business and business of living sometime. As Ellie’s grandmother says towards the end of the book, ‘I have been in Erebus – a place of darkness between Earth and Hades. I have lingered there . . . Sometimes I think we’ve all been in Erebus these past few years and are only now returning to the light . . .’

It’s my hope that The Lovely Dark can help younger readers talk about and reflect upon their experiences during the years of lockdown – and perhaps help us begin to say good-bye to the pandemic.