LI: to understand what a reading journey is. Lesson aims: Read and analyses two reading journeys Begin to plan your own reading journey

So what is a reading journey? Not reading in the car! What is the path you have taken to become the reader you now are – Where did it start? Has it always been successful? What have been the highlights? Have you shared the journey with anyone important to you? Has anyone inspired you? Has anything made the journey harder than it might have been? Where is the journey likely to go next?

Mr Hamshar’s Reading Journey It all began back in 1976!!!

My mum tells me I always pointed to the egg on the first page and smiled at her – strangely my youngest son did exactly the same to me. The first book I remember and I loved it! The holes in the book where the caterpillar has eaten his way through, the magical moment at the end when the butterfly appears. I now love reading this with my little boys and the strange thing is they seem to love the same bits 30 years later!

These stunningly detailed pictures of animal people living human lives captured my imagination. I loved seeing something new in each picture every time I looked through it or read it cover to cover with my mum or big brother (usually when trying to put off going to bed!) Richard Scary wrote and illustrated lots of other books in the same series including traditional fairy tales – my brother and I collected them at birthdays and Christmas.

Once I had learned to read, I read the same books again and again Once I had learned to read, I read the same books again and again. They were all about two friends called Frog and Toad – although I liked the stories I thought the pictures were great and spent hours trying to copy them and master the characters.

My brother had to do a project at school, this was when he was in Middle and I was in First School, to design a book like a famous author. He chose Meg and Mog and I helped him colour his pictures (he told me I was better than him at it – I don’t think I was!)

My Year 4 teacher got really cross with me one day because I would not read sensible books, “You can’t always chose picture books!” I remember thinking, ‘I’ll show you!’ After spending what seemed like days in the book corner looking for a sensible book my friend Tom Cole lent me a book he had been given for his birthday – I never looked back and read all the Napper series in a matter of weeks.

COMICS Despite my new love of reading (one series all about football and when I say series there were 3 books in it!), I still preferred comics. Teachers used to tell me that it wasn’t reading but my Step dad and brother loved them too so I read loads, including the annuals – which I definitely considered to be books! This was an offspin from the comic and I loved the books!

Eventually, I became a good reader with a lot of help from one man, who is still to this day my favourite author: Roald Dahl This was the first time I didn’t have to be strapped to a chair for reading practice at home with mum and the great thing was he had written so many books that I never seemed to run out. When I eventually did run out I do not know because I just kept on reading – and not just Roald Dahl!

Poetry Poetry was always something that I found a bit ‘boring and rubbish until Roald Dahl fixed that as well! My favourite line is when Little red riding hood, ‘Whips a pistol from her knickers’ . I think this is what made Dahl such fun to read, it seemed a little bit naughty and like grown ups wouldn’t like it, which made it even more tempting.

This is where I didn’t really get it that I was reading and where I did most of my reading – non-fiction texts. I particularly liked the Guiness Book of Records and was convinced I would make it into the book (not managed it yet!). I also liked books that where guides to spotting stuff around me especially nature!

I had more than few slip ups along the way; here are a few that almost put me off reading for life! But strangely I now enjoy reading some of these with my children now – maybe I should have been more patient and listened to my mum after all!

The first serious book I remember really enjoying was The Silver Sword The first serious book I remember really enjoying was The Silver Sword. It is a fantastic story from the Second World War and is about a family split by the war and their journey to try and find freedom, safety and each other. I must have read this about 20 times and I never grow tired of it.

Life long happy reader I read the paper everyday – or the internet equivalent of it (starting from the back t the front because that’s where the sport section usually is!) I read with my children daily. I read novels, autobiographies and work books whenever I can … the only problem I now have with reading is finding enough time to do as much as I’d like.