A Little, Aloud for Children: Tomorrow’s the day!

Yes, after months of hard work and much anticipation, A Little, Aloud for Children will officially hit shelves tomorrow, Thursday 7th June.

Edited by The Reader Organisation's own Angela Macmillan, and with a foreword by Michael Morpurgo, this wonderful book brings together the very best of children's literature - both old and new - into one exciting, beautiful, un-put-downable book, which has been published by David Fickling Books. To get your copy of  A Little, Aloud for Children simply order online on The Reader Organisation's website. You will also be able to get the book from all good bookshops, and if you live in the Liverpool area, you will also be able to purchase the book at News From Nowhere on Bold Steet.

In addition to stocking the book, the lovely people at News From Nowhere are also giving over the whole of their shop's front window to display it in all its glory. We have some truly beautiful and very creative artwork to feature in the window display, which was produced by local children in West Everton as part of a community project with West Everton Community Council and  The Reader Organisation. The window display will be at News From Nowhere from Saturday 9th - Wednesday 20th June, so be sure to pop down and have a look, before heading inside to pick-up the book!

Without giving too much away, once you have your copy of A Little Aloud for Children and are settling down to enjoy it, as you turn the pages you will discover a series of beautiful illustrations scattering the pages, bringing to life the pieces of literature collected in the book. These illustrations have been contributed by a number of individuals especially for the book. One of the contributors, professional artist and illustrator Bonnie Friend, was so inspired by her involvement in the book, that she has written a lovely blog post about it! In Bonnie's blog, which you can read here, she talks about her experience of producing artwork to go alongside such classic children's texts as Rudyard Kipling's How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin and Michael Morpurgo's story The Silver Swan, and how it brought back some wonderful memories of childhood reading for her.

There are going to be many more updates about the book to come in the next few weeks - including details of events over the Summer and general news about the journey of this exciting collection - so be sure to keep an eye on the blog. And don't forget - we want to hear from you! After you get your copy of A Little, Aloudfor Children and begin delving into it, be sure to come back here and tell us what you think in the 'Your Comments' section. Tell us who you've been reading it with, where you've been reading it, or just what your favourite bits are.

We look forward to hearing from you ...