Do you know what never got old in ten years of teaching English? Watching a child find a book they genuinely loved. Not the book an adult thought they should read. The book they couldn't wait to talk about, or get back to at the end of the day.
A child who loves reading can get through a book in a day or two, and the cost of keeping up adds up fast. Parents would come to me at parents' evenings and ask for recommendations, or where to go to make sure their little bookworm always had something to turn to next. And my recommendations soon ran thin.
That's what my husband James and I set out to fix with Little Reads. It's a digital library for children aged 5 to 11. There are over 3,000 books, every single one picked by me. More of a library than a teaching tool or game (on purpose). No adverts, no quizzes, no rewards to chase. Just the books, on a phone or tablet, wherever you happen to be.
I should admit I wasn't a natural bookworm myself. Growing up in Bungay, I was read to plenty (We're Going on a Bear Hunt, The Tiger Who Came to Tea), but reading on my own didn't properly click until I was handed a stack of Judy Moody books. One right series and that was that. It's why I take the picking so seriously, and why choosing children's books for a living is the best job I've ever had.
When you sign up, you tell us your child's age and pick three genres they love, and the app suggests books to match. When they abandon dragons for detectives (which we all know happens), you just change the genres in the app.
With the summer holidays here, a few things ten years of classrooms taught me about children who love reading:
Choice is everything. The children who read most were always the ones who'd picked the book themselves, even when it looked too easy or too silly.
Rereading counts. At my last school I happily let children read the same Horrid Henry for months. Going back to an old favourite isn't lazy; it's what loving a book looks like.
Series keep the habit alive. One book ends, and the next is already waiting. (I speak from experience. After Judy Moody it was nothing but Jacqueline Wilson for years.)
A book travels well. Car journeys, aeroplanes, rainy caravan afternoons. A child with something to read is a happier traveller (as are the adults sitting next to them).
Little Reads is on iOS and Android, and a free account comes with over 100 free books, so you can see whether it suits your child before spending a penny. The full library is £7.99 a month after a 7-day free trial, and you can cancel anytime.
For Wymondham Magazine readers, the code WYMONDHAM30 gives you 30 days free instead of the usual 7. Just download the app and enter the code.
You can find out more here. And if you spot me in Bungay visiting family, I'll happily talk books for as long as you'll let me.















