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TEACH READING & WRITING
A
s thefinal credits roll, we exhale
deeply and turn to each other.
“Ohmy goodness! What arewe
going to do now?” It’s the end
of another one of those late
night box-set binges.
You know the feeling:
thefinal episode comedown and the search
for a newserial-fix tofill the void left by a
completedNetflix blockbuster. I’vewatched
most of the big ones, havewaxed lyrical about
the characterisation and narrative pace of
several, and of course adopted the knowing
superiority of ‘onewho has read all of the
books’ for that onewith dragons and the
high head count. I ama serial offender.
Likemany peoplewho consider themselves
a reader, my addiction to stories told in
series precedes the phenomenon that is
the digital box-set. Since childhood I’ve
committedmyself to tales that run and run.
Not counting repeats, I made seven visits to
Narnia and three to the EnchantedWood. As
an adult, I’ve followed the uplifting exploits
SERIAL
offenders
Hooking children into reading
a series of books is a great way
to promote a love of literature
that becomes a lifelong habit,
says
Rachel Clarke
...
RACHELCLARKE
is thedirector ofPrimaryEnglishEducationConsultancy
of Precious Ramotswe (TheNo. 1 Ladies’
DetectiveAgency) and the contrastingly dark
Scandi-noir adventures of HarryHole. And
I’mnot the only adult who does it. Stacked on
the shelves ofmy local bookshop are piles of
Patricia Cornwell’s Scarpetta novels, Philippa
Gregory’s historical serials, and theworks
of Victorian serialisation pioneer, Charles
Dickens. Who’d have thought you could
create a chain from
The Pickwick Papers
to
BreakingBad?
Box-sets (or stories in series aswe should
properly call them) can be a great way to
introduce children to reading, hopefully
making themreaders for life. So, when setting
up a school library or class book corner, it’s
always a good idea to include stories in series.
Here are just a few reasonswhy…
Old familiar
Storybook characters arefictional friends
and it’s rather comforting to check-in on
themfromtime to time. What’smore, being
in the company of friends is easy. You don’t
need towork hard at building rapport, as
you’ve already been through life’s adventures
together. Confidence stems fromfamiliarity;
meaning that books in series provide a safety
net for reluctant readers. Pointing them in the
direction of a good set of stories frequently
gives these children the confidence to
continuewith the rest of the series.
Illustrations: Simon Bartrum, Man on the Moon, Templar Publishing
