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Next warehouse open day 7th April!

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We are very excited to be running our first conference at Books for Bugs this November.

This event is a great opportunity for your teachers, English leads, SENCO's and Librarians to learn more about Barrington Stoke books and how they can help children struggling to read.

About Barrington Stoke

For 25 years, Barrington Stoke has been publishing super-readable, dyslexia-friendly fiction to help every child become a reader. Their award-winning short novels by the UK's best writers and illustrators are expertly edited, designed and produced to ensure an accessible and age-appropriate read for those who struggle and a quick, satisfying read for more confident readers.

About the event

Jane Walker, Sales and Marketing Director at Barrington Stoke will talk about publishing for reluctant and struggling readers, how the books are produced and what makes them accessible so that every child can be a reader.

Following this you will have the opportunity to see the books for yourselves in our new Barrington Stoke zone.

Books for Bugs offer 40% off all Barrington Stoke books, the cheapest prices in the UK and we will have further offers on the night should you wish to purchase any for your school.

Plus every school attending will get a FREE Barrington Stoke toolkit to take away. 

This event is free to attend with no purchase required.

To book your place please email sally@booksforbugs.co.uk with your preferred timeslot plus the names of those attending and their roles within the school. 

Places are limited and we kindly request local schools attend the earlier event where possible so those further afield in Gloucester/Cheltenham/Newport etc have time to travel.

Thursday 9th November 2023

4.30-6.00pm  

6.30-8.00pm

Tea and coffee will of course be available!

 

DATE CHANGE... Sadly Kate is unable to make Thursday so this event has been rescheduled for Wednesday 8th November 6-8pm.

To book please see the link at the bottom of this page.

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At Books for Bugs we want all children to be given the opportunity to access high quality, affordable books that meet their needs and interests.

One of the challenges some children face when learning to read is dyslexia. Often this isn't always picked up straight away but as a parent you may have your suspicions.

Is your child having difficulty decoding words, are they frustrated when trying to read or maybe they say the letters are all jumping around?

If this sounds familiar then we have an event for you!

As part of Dyslexia Awareness Week, we will be hosting our first Dyslexia Awareness event on Thursday 5th October with guest speaker Kate Morris. Kate is an experienced dyslexia tutor and assessor who will be talking you through the following topics and will be on hand to answer your questions.

  • What is dyslexia & what are the signs?
  • Who can diagnose dyslexia & when?
  • What can I expect from my child’s school?
  • How can I support my child?

You can find out more about Kate here 

Following Kate's talk we will also be showing you the incredible books produced by Barrington Stoke, designed for dyslexic readers!

After finding these books for our own child and seeing the huge boost in his confidence when he could finally read a 'proper book' we knew we had to stock them so other children could benefit from then too.

There will be an opportunity at the end for you to look through our large selection of these books and if you wish to purchase any they will be available at 40% off the RRP.. the cheapest price in the UK!

Refreshments will be available and a there might just be some Barrington Stoke goodies for everyone to take home!

To book your seat at this exciting event please sign up for your free ticket here

If you have any issues booking your place please email sally@booksforbugs.co.uk

At Books for Bugs we want everyone to have access to affordable, good quality books. We know for some children and adults our warehouse open days can be a bit overwhelming when busy and noisy. We understand this first hand having our own child who has neuro diverse needs and wanted to make sure we can provide a safe and inviting place to shop for everyone.

Therefore we are now offering 2 SEN sessions on our warehouse open days. (First Sunday of each month)

 

1-1.45pm - Be You Sessions

For children and adults who don't mind noise but prefer fewer people and space to shop. This session is particularly suited for children with loud stims! We want children to come in and be themselves and if they clap out when they get excited, need to keep moving or like to shout that is absolutely okay!

2-2.45pm - Quiet Session

For children and adults who prefer a quiet setting, no music and far fewer people. There will be a sand timer on the desk as a visual aid for children on when the session ends and signs up to help support their visit.

We are here if you need us...

On the way in there will also be a sticker station with smiley face stickers. This has been put in place to help staff identify who may like help and those who would prefer little to no interaction for whatever reason.

If you are happy to wear a sticker please choose from the following:

Yellow Smiley - I am happy to be approached by staff and don't mind a chat!

Red Smiley - I would rather shop without outside interaction and will find a member of staff if I need assistance.

 

Visiting with a group of SEN children

If you would like to visit with a group of children please do get in touch. We have had various SEN schools visit over the years and it is great for children to come and practice buying with their own money in a safe environment. There is parking right outside too.

 

Accessibility

Our warehouse is fully accessible for those with walking aids or wheelchairs. There is a ramp at the entrance and shelves are space to allow plenty of room to manoeuvre and turn.

We do have toilet facilities too however these are standard cubicles. Being an old industrial warehouse it was not built with general publics needs in mind but there is a communal disabled toilet out in the main foyer.

 

We are very excited to welcome Misty the Unicorn back to our warehouse to meet you all!

Misty was the unicorn who took part in our promotion video which you may have seen on YouTube or social media.

To celebrate her joining us we are running a unicorn afternoon and you are invited!

We are planning lots of fun unicorn activities and a unicorn book offer. You can also have a chat with Misty, give her a scratch and have your photo taken with her.

All activities, including meeting Misty are free of charge. Books are obviously for sale but no purchase necessary to join in the fun.

Join us on Saturday 29th July 1.30 -3.30pm at Books for Bugs, Building 12B, Vantage Point Business Village, Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire, GL17 0DD

And if you haven't see on video yet check it out here 

 

Misty won't be offering rides on this occasion but if you would be interested in booking Misty for an event, either at school or private birthday parties, you can find out more about Catherine's Carriages here

We love opening our doors to you all because there is nothing quite like choosing a book or 10 in person! Being able to flick through the pages, read the blurb on the back and be part of the book loving atmosphere makes a huge difference and will likely result in you picking a book you are going to enjoy.

All the important info about the warehouse, access, directions, payment options etc can be found here.

Below however, are our opening time and details off all the special events we plan to hold.

February

Sunday 4th February - Warehouse Open Day with a clearance sale.

  • 10am-1pm Open to all
  • 1-1.45pm Be You Sessions. SEN session for children who don't mind a noisier atmosphere but need fewer people around.
  • 2-2.45pm Quiet Session for children or adults who require a quiet setting to shop. Staff are on hand to help but will only approach if requested.

Find out more about our SEN sessions here

 

March

Sunday 3rd March - Warehouse Open Day and your chance to meet Illustrator Victoria Taylor. 10am-1pm.

  • 10am-1pm Open to all
  • 1-1.45pm Be You Sessions. SEN session for children who don't mind a noisier atmosphere but need fewer people around.
  • 2-2.45pm Quiet Session for children or adults who require a quiet setting to shop. Staff are on hand to help but will only approach if requested.

 

 

 

 

What has been going on?!

Remember how Books for Bugs all started, over 10 years ago when Bug 1 was just a toddler devouring books.. well now he is all grown up and has helped us produce this film about why Books for Bugs is magical.

The aim of the film was not just to promote us as a business but to also remind children how magical reading can be, the adventures books can take you on and the things you can learn! Part of our 'Where will your book take you?' campaign.

A Unicorn, a Pharaoh and a Beekeeper!

Yes, you read that right! We really did have a unicorn in our warehouse and some cheeky guinea pigs! Never work with children and animals they say, but we had so much fun filming this. All the children were amazing and not at all fazed by the lighting and cameras. They took direction very well and were all excited to share the final video with their friends and families.

The animals however took a few extra takes! Behind the scenes we had staff under the shelves pushing boxes along the row to keep the guinea pigs in who spotted even the tiniest of gaps and of course there was someone hiding behind the chapter book shelves with a large bucket should the unicorn suddenly need to spend a penny! I must say though the unicorn, Misty from Catherine's Carriages, was so well behaved especially having never been in a book warehouse before, was totally chilled! Misty is a pro though and often attends children's parties and events do check out their page if you are local.

And just for reassurance in case anyone is worried we did have a local vet on site throughout the filming.

Lets see a few more of Misty!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want to see the final film? Of course you do! Click the picture below to watch. This video link is on our YouTube channel and we would very much love it if you could subscribe too. Enjoy!

There are lots of aims we set ourselves as a business and two of ours found a new link this year. Helping local children access good books and managing our waste in the most environmentally friendly way.

Now I wouldn't personally call slightly damaged books waste because we all know once a book has been read it is going to have a crease on the spine or a turned over corner to the page and its still perfectly readable for years to come. But, for a business selling new books occasionally we do get the odd one or two that get a scuff or a crease when we have used it for a photo shoot etc. These we cannot then sell as new, it wouldn't be right! Then I suddenly had another of my little ideas! Lets give them out free to children around the Forest of Dean.

We are in an area where there are lots of Bus Stop and Telephone Box Libraries and so we knew we had places we could drop them off and children could pop in and help themselves.

On stickers went and the first big box headed out the door which topped up 3 local telephone libraries. A week later I passed one of these drop offs and out of curiosity I thought I would pop in and see if any of the books had been chosen and to my delight well over half had already been picked up including the teen fiction! I then took a detour home to check another drop off and that one had a big empty gap!

I realised this was working, children who perhaps couldn't get to a big library and maybe couldn't afford to buy books because lets face it right now in the depths of a cost of living crisis books are a luxury, were picking books up and hopefully reading!

However, there is only so much a small business can give away but this is community project and what do rural communities do best? Help each other! A quick chat to a teacher friend and she mentioned her school had some books that they no longer needed. That night I then post on Facebook and lots of people locally had books their children had outgrown but they hadn't had chance to move them on either.

 

Fast forward and we now have a Community Corner in our foyer outside our warehouse next to our click and collect lockers where we not only advertise local events for children but we have a donation box where children can donate any unwanted books. These books get a special 'Friends of Books for Bugs' sticker on and are added to free libraries across the Forest. This has been such a great success we are now dropping books off a bit further out too and who knows what the future will bring!

 

 

If you have read this far, then thank you! And if you are thinking ooh I have a pile of books we no longer read, please consider dropping them off to a local community library or offering them to a local nursery or playgroup together we can keep children reading.

 

After many years in a unit on the second floor, shared with several other businesses and with a cranky old industrial lift we were lucky enough to be offered a new ground floor warehouse space on the same business park.

Our new warehouse spans 5000 sqft and houses over 100k books! Not only do we have lots more shelving space for books but also office space, a packing area for online orders, a packing and trolley area for all our virtual book fairs and school wishlists, a goods in area and stores for all our boxes plus the luxury of our own kitchenette and toilets!

This move not only created a better working environment for us as a team but a better experience for those of you who visit too.

The biggest difference though has to be having our feet firmly on the ground floor! No more dodgy lift, no more pulling pallets of stock around the first floor to our unit, no more getting all our deliveries down the stair for DPD collections and easy access for all our customers. We even have parking spaces right outside the door!

When we took the unit it on it was an empty shell, with a massive hole in the floor, no kitchen and toilets that hadn't been used in years.. it has been quite the transformation!

 

From this...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To this...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and whether books are coming in or heading out to their new homes we just open the doors and load them in the DPD vans... no more lifts!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you would prefer to shop in person you can come and see behind the scenes in our warehouse either at our monthly open day or via appointment. Details on visiting can be found here

 

 

 

Have you enjoyed colouring in the My Family and Friends Out and About book?

You can find out more about my friends here or download the pdfs below to read with your friends and family. There is also a quiz, an activity you can do with your colouring book and a little bit about wearing glasses.

 

Meet-Fenn-and-his-friends-part1

Meet-Fenn-and-his-friends-part2

Meet-Fenn-and-his-friends-part3

Fenns-Friends-Quiz

Fenns-Friends-Quiz-Answers

Fenns-Friends-Wearing-Glasses

Fenns-Friends-Glasses-Answers

 

You could of course read the quiz and games out from your phone, tablet or computer rather than printing which is better for the environment and you can also print in black and white to save on ink too.

If you have any issue downloading any of the pdfs please email admin@booksforbugs.co.uk

We are so thrilled that you have found out about Fenn's Friends.

Fenn is our second son (Bug2) and has a rare form of drug resistant epilepsy. We found it really hard to find books that had a character in it who looked like him, a character he could relate to and make him feel more 'normal'. Isobelle, Fenn's real life friend, has two mums, again she had never seen a colouring book with her family in it and so one day Mummy Bug decided she had a new mission! To create not just a colouring book but social stories about children with different disabilities and family backgrounds.

Just like Fenn and Isobelle most of the characters in this book are based on real children. This first book, a colouring book, we wanted to include a real mix of children, some with disabilities and some without.  What we didn't want to do however is highlight all these 'differences' we wanted to make all of these subtle, because these children are normal and not only do we want these children to see themselves in a book and think 'oh cool he's got a hat like me', it is really important that like the LGBTQ+ and BAME movements we all work towards normalising differences, challenge stereotypes, talk openly about disabilities and encourage acceptance.

So in the colouring book itself there is no mention of Fenn's helmet or Harry's hearing aid at all. However, if your children do ask questions we have pdfs free to download and a page where you can meet the characters to learn a little more about them. At the bottom of each page is a short sentence to help you identify the character i.e 'Fenn loves to play catch at the park.'

Find out more about the characters here

Free PDFs to download about the characters and activities can be found here

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More exciting news: work has already started on a range of picture book which do talk more about certain disabilities. These will be produced to show children that although these children have extra challenges to deal with in life they are still children who want to play and have fun, and we hope they will encourage all readers to be one of Fenn's friends too. We are aiming to have the first book published early next year which is about epilepsy. More books will follow about hearing loss, limb loss and having a stoma.

We are obviously aware that the current range of characters only cover some disabilities, as the range progresses we aim to introduce new characters.

Finally, if you haven't purchased a copy of the colouring book yet you can do so here

50p from the sale of each of the first 2000 copies sold will go direct to Wallace and Gromit's Grand Appeal (Charity Number 1043603)

The Grand Appeal helps support Bristol Children's Hospital where Fenn is a regular visitor. Find out more about the Grand Appeal here 

If you are a hospital, charity working with children or a school looking for larger orders of the book please get in touch to discuss the discounted prices available.

 

Wallace and Gromit's Grand Appeal is an amazing charity set up to support Bristol Children's Hospital. Funding is used to support research into childhood conditions or the buying of important equipment such as scanners. It is also used to help children and their families direct with music, art and play therapies and also with family accommodation. Lots of families travel from across the South of England to Bristol hospital if their child needs specialist care. The family accommodation allows parents to stay with their child through these difficult times, especially for longer admissions.

Our son has spent a lot of time at Bristol Children's Hospital both with admissions and appointments as we are under several teams. Just over a year ago he also underwent neurosurgery there. The team were just incredible in what was a rather scary time.

Having seen first hand the amazing work both the hospital and the appeal do we wanted to use the launch of our first book as a way to give back. Therefore 50p from the sale of the first 2000 books will be donate direct to The Grand Appeal. This will raise an amazing £1000!

So a huge thank you in advance to each and everyone of you who purchases a copy as this will not only help children like Fenn be seen but also raise vital funds.

I will of course keep you all updated on the progress of reaching our target.

You can find out more about The Grand Appeal here

You can purchase a copy of the colouring book here

Welcome,

If you have stumbled across this page you may well have seen my first book in the Fenn's Friends series, Me and My Friends Out and About. This is a colouring book for you to enjoy, filled with children like me. You may have spotted some of us may look a bit different or have a family different to yours so let me tell you more!

You can read a little snippet about us below or please feel free to download the PDF version. Grown ups are very welcome to use any of our PDFs free of charge, to share with your children or class.

I guess I should start with me! I am Fenn. I live in the forest with my Mum, Dad and 3 brothers. I like my littlest brother the best, he is the one with long hair in our picture in the colouring book. He is so funny but quite mischievous too!

You may have spotted I am wearing a hat. I have a condition called Epilepsy and this hat is actually a helmet. It protects my head when I have a seizure. There are different types of seizures, I have ones where I fall to the ground, my arms and legs go very stiff and them my body shakes. The helmet stops me from hitting my head on things like tables, toys and the ground! Afterwards I feel very tired so I take it off whilst I have a sleep.

You can find out a little bit more about my life with epilepsy in my new picture book which will be launched early next year. If you are a grown up looking for child friendly resources around epilepsy Epilepsy Action has lots of free information and activities.

Hello, I am Harry. I live in the city with my Mum and baby sister Sophie. I love animals and go to the city farm as much as possible which is a short walk from my house. Chickens are my favourite animal, I love watching them scratching the ground looking for treats! I also love the colour blue, can you tell! Today I was wearing a blue t.shirt, blue trousers and blue trainers. I also wore something else blue, can you spot it?

It is my hearing aid. I am deaf in my left ear, this means I can't hear on that side what is being said to me or the noises around me. The hearing aid helps me to hear all the sounds more clearly, I love to hear the cockerel at the farm "cock-a-doodle-do!" But I don't like listening to Sophie crying! Did you know that hearing aids in the right ear are a different colour, they are usually red.

A story all about my trip to the farm will be available soon, it will also be available in sign language too. If you want to find out more about childhood deafness here are some useful sites.

National Deaf Children's Society

CSSEF - Supporting deaf awareness in schools

Hello, I am Abbie. I live with my Mum and Stepdad in the countryside. My favourite things in the whole wide world are horses and ponies! I love them so much that I go riding every week and on the weekends I help at the stables filling up the hay nets, mucking out and brushing the ponies. The pony I love the most is called Shadow, I take her a carrot every week and give her extra strokes. She loves being brushed too.

A lot of my friends were surprised that I go riding because I have a disability. Did you spot that I am missing my lower arm and left hand, or did you think the illustrator forgot to draw it on!! I was born with no lower limb and it does make somethings tricky but I am not going to let it stop me from doing all the things that I love. One day, when I am grown up, I want to compete at the Paralympics, what sport do you think I would choose? Of course it would be horse riding!

There is an amazing charity that supports riding with disabilities called Riding for the Disabled it has lots of information so do have a look.

Hello everyone, I am Sally. I live by the seaside with my Mum, Dad and brother James. We spend lots of time at the beach. Sometimes we go in the sea for a swim but my favourite thing is building really big sandcastles and decorating them with pretty shells.

When I am at the beach I have to keep something very safe in my bag. What do you think is in there? A toy, a phone, money for an ice cream? No, it is actually a special medical pouch that protects part of my body. Now this might sound a bit yucky, but I promise you it's not.. I can't poo like most people, the poo can't come out of my bottom. I had to have a operation to have an opening on the side of me called a stoma. This now allows the poo to come out safely, it goes into the pouch and then gets thrown away.

Because the pouch is waterproof I can still swim as it keeps my stoma nice and dry.

Here is the Colostomy website if you want to find out more about Stomas.

Hi, I am Leon. I live in a big city with my foster family. I have a foster sister called Ayesha. The city is really busy, there are lots of sounds and lights all day and night. My favourite place is at school as that is where I get to see my friends and its a bit quieter.

On bonfire night I went to the fireworks display with my friends Jasmine, Andrew and Kashvi, we had to drive there, then walk up a big hill. The fireworks were amazing to watch, I loved seeing the colours just explode, up in the night sky. What I didn't enjoy though was the noise. Some times its loud in our flat with all the noises outside but the fireworks were really, really loud. I don't like loud noises at all they sometimes make me scared. Luckily I took my headphones and that made them much better.

I sometimes think its just me that doesn't like the loud bangs of fireworks but did you spot who else doesn't like it- animals! Animals get scared too when fireworks go 'bang!' in the sky I wonder if owls would like headphones too?!

Leon has ASD and noise is one of the things he finds difficult.

This is a great video for older children and adults about why noise can be an issue

Hello, I'm Amelia. I live in a little village with my Mum, Dad and brother Jacob. Right by our house is a nature area, there are lots of trees and a huge pond full of ducks! On the other side of the pond is an amazing playground. On Saturdays Jacob, Dad and I ride our bikes along the path past the pond to the park. We often stop to spot the ducks and other wildlife like butterflies and squirrels.

I never really liked our Saturday bike ride because I kept falling off, this made me really sad. Then for my birthday I got this new red, shiny bike. It had a big purple bow on the front and it had 3 wheels.. it was a trike!

I have Motor Dyspraxia, this means I find it hard to co-ordinate my arms and legs and this means I can't always balance. Three wheels makes it much easier for me to ride as the trike doesn't wobble like a bike. Now I don't fall off and I can go really fast! Saturdays are now my favourite day.

Hi, I am Ben. I live with my sister Ellie and our Dad. Going to the funfair was so much fun, Ellie and I had such a great day. I got a frog balloon and my favourite, an ice cream cone with chocolate sauce. Ellie won a giant teddy, we are going to call it Big Bear. There were lots of rides at the fair, the spinning cups were my favourite as they went very fast.

I like fast things, sometimes my friend Max and I have wheelchair races, our dads push us really fast around the park. Did you spot me at the park in your book? I was on the slide with Ellie. I find it hard to walk and climb because the muscles in my legs aren't very strong but dad lifts me to the top and I can slide all the way down. Whee!

 

Are you enjoying learning about my friends? Can you remember all their names?! I have a few more for you to meet, Chloe and Charlotte, Ravenna, and Isabelle. They are going to tell you a little bit about themselves and their families.

Hello from us both! Do we look very similar? That's because we are twins! Our family is quite big. We live on a farm with our Mum and Dad, big brother Calum, big sister Clarissa, little brother Casper and our baby brother Charlie. That's 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 of us all in one big farmhouse! It can be quite noisy when we are all at home together but there are lots of places to play on the farm and lots of jobs to do so we spend a lot of time outside. We like to help dad milk the goats. Mummy is then very clever and makes the milk into goats cheese to sell at the farmers market. The best thing about having lots of brothers and sisters is there is always someone to play with and on Sundays we all walk to the woodland and play. Dad likes to help us build dens too.

Hello, I am Ravenna. I live in a house in a pretty rural village with my Mum and Dad, my Sister, 2 Brothers and our Grandma. I love having my Grandma living with us she tells the best stories at bedtime. Our house is quite big but we don't really have a garden so sometimes we go to the park and have a picnic. Did you see the big basket of food we took with us? That day we had my favourite, vegetable samosas. My mum and grandma made them and I helped. When I grow up I want to be able to make delicious picnics like this too, maybe I could be a chef?

Hello, I am Isobelle. I live in a house in a village. I have two Mums, a sister called Jess and a cat named Willow.

We are home educated and we like to learn out and about which means lots of trips to amazing places. Jess and I love animals but penguins are my absolute favourite. When we visit the zoo I spend all day watching them and asking the keeper lots of questions. Did you know there are 18 species of penguins!  The penguins are always having so much fun swimming and waddling around, one day I hope to see them in the wild. Maybe I could be a wildlife photographer?

 

What are colour bands?

Colour banding gives you a guide to which books are suitable for your child's age.

Bands are selected based on the complexity of the book. Factors considered include the vocabulary, sentence structure and of course the content. Colour bands are applied to both fiction and non fiction.

The colours start with Lilac (no words) which is the very first stage of learning to read, all the way through to Dark Red. This handy chart will help you work out the band your child should be at based on the National Curriculum.

Like all schemes for reading this is just a guide for the 'average' child in mainstream school. As we all know children develop at different stages so you may find you may need to move up or down the list accordingly.

We have had  a wonderful month of events partnered with Perrygrove Railway in the Forest of Dean. At our weekend event we enjoyed a visit from Train Driver Fran and she delivered several storytimes, we coloured our giant train, played with trains and took part in our 2 family quizzes. Ceph Bug has all the answers in the video below for anyone who missed the posts on social media.

At our Mini Bug and Big Bug sessions we had more train themed storytimes and the Big Bugs waved their flags when they saw the train in the story. We also had lots of singing of our favourite train songs then we played peekaboo in the train and we had fun with the train table.

We hope you all enjoyed your visits and your goody bags. Don't forget to take a trip to Perrygrove with your free tickets before they expire!

 

Have you ever been to a Halloween party in a bookshop?

Well now's your chance!

Join us for Halloween crafts, spooky games and lots of fun! There will be prizes too and we have a goody bag for the best homemade Halloween costume! (Dressing up is of course optional.)

This event must be pre booked and there is a small charge of £2 per participating child payable on the day. Please note parents must stay within the showroom but are welcome to shop whilst games etc are taking place.

There will be two sessions,

Friday 29th October 3.30- 5pm

Friday 29th October 6.30-8pm it will be even darker outside by then!

You can book your child's place here- please book per participating child rather than per family.

Please note: We will have prizes during both sessions and there will be sweets/chocolate at the end, because what is Halloween without a trick or treat! If you do not wish for your child to have sweets/chocolate or if they have allergies etc we need to be aware of please drop us a quick message so we can make alternative arrangements for them so they don't miss out.

This event will be at our showroom. If you haven't been before here's the link with a video of how to find us.

 

*Post event update*

Wow, wow, wow! What an incredible turnout. We are thrilled to announce that this summer we have listen to 209 children read at our Friday/Saturday morning sessions.

And what an amazing bunch of young readers you all were 😍
That also means we have given away 209 books too!
This is the first time we have run this 'Read for a free book' offer but we will certainly do it again.
However, none of this would have been possible with out our amazing volunteers. Big, big THANK YOU to you all but an extra special thanks to Tracie, Becky, Jade, Di, Sasha & Ellie who all did multiple sessions.
Well done everyone xx

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Free books for children who read this summer!

This summer we want to encourage children to keep reading aloud so every Friday and Saturday we have an army of volunteers at our showroom ready to listen to your little ones read! If your child comes and reads to us for 15 minutes they can pick any book they like in our shop to take home absolutely FREE! (Excludes £5 books)

Making it memorable

We don't want this opportunity to feel like a school activity so we have now built a brand new reading den like the one in this picture! (Photos to follow) We hope this will add an element of fun for those children who are maybe more shy about reading. We also have 2 sofa based reading areas and we can utilise the cosy seating in our teen area if we are busy.

Please note the den is large enough for one child and one adult to sit in and still be socially distanced. All volunteer listeners will still be wearing masks at this time.

When and Where?

These sessions will take place every Friday and Saturday until September. We will be open 10-12 in the Showroom.

The showroom is located in Building 7, Vantage Point Business Village, Mitcheldean, GL17 0DD. If you are walking to us from the village please note that the back gates by the Mew will be open during these sessions. More info about our showroom, including direction can be found here

What do children need to read?

Children are very welcome to bring a book with them to read or we will have a selection of both fiction and non fiction they can choose from.

T's and C's

The boring but necessary bits-

  • To ensure we can reach as many children as possible we will only be giving away one book per child.
  • If you have already had a free book via our website offer then that is your free book and you cannot claim another at our showroom at this time but we hope you are enjoy it.
  • We have lots of helpers for these sessions but in the unlikely event that there are more children than we have ears for we will stay open longer or you can visit us another day.
  • The 'Read to us for 15mins' is just a guide time. If it is quiet we are more than happy to listen longer. If your child struggles with reading and can only manage 5 minutes that is fine too.
  • Each child will be given a voucher after they have read. They can redeem this voucher at the checkout on the day or save it for another visit.
  • Covid: All staff are vaccinated and will be wearing masks still. Mask wearing is no longer compulsory but we encourage all adults and teenagers visiting to wear one if possible. Hand sanitiser will be available at the door and we still have our track and trace QR code available. If you or anyone in your household has had any symptoms please, please visit us another day- especially as many of you know we have a child with complex medical needs, we really don't want to be taking Covid home with us!

We cannot wait to see you all over summer and share some amazing books with you.

Hello everyone,

If you have found this page then it is likely your school is having a book fair with us this week.

Here is a little video on how to order and a few common Q&A that should help you order. If you  have any queries not covered on this post please do get in touch.

 

 

How do I order?

Shop the extensive range on our website and just add all the item you want to your basket. You can then pay at the checkout stage so no money needs to be taken to school. Shop our full range here

 

How do we get free shipping?

When you get to the checkout stage you add your details to the billing section. Then for the shipping add your child's name, your child's class, the name of the school and the school's address. The school's postcode is the bit that activates the free shipping.

 

I have got to the checkout and it is charging me postage?

This is normally one of two reasons.

  1. The postcode we have set on our system is different to the one you are using- please refer to your school email which should have the correct postcode. Sometime two schools work together but use 1 postcode for example an infant school and a junior school on the same site.
  2. Your fair may not have started yet. Fairs typically run Monday to (midnight) Sunday or Wednesday to Midnight the following Tuesday. The postcodes are activated at the start of your fair and are deactivated at the end. This is so that all orders are sent to school together at the end of the fair. The dates of your fair should be on the email from your school.

Do school earn from my purchases?

Yes! School get a free £2.99 book for every 5 books purchased. But if Daisy orders 2 and Thomas orders 2 and Veda orders 1 that still counts so you don't have to personally buy 5, every book counts!

 

When will we get our books?

We aim to dispatch all orders the next working day after your school fair ends. This is on a 24hr delivery service so if your fair ends on a Sunday they should arrive at school on Tuesday. All orders are individually wrapped in paper bags and labelled with each child's name and class on so quick to hand out once they arrive.

 

Can I order after the fair

100% yes, lots of our customers first found out about us through the school fair. Books for Bugs is about making books affordable to everyone 24/7 so outside of your school fair you are welcome to order as a regular customer.

You can also join our mailing list for updates on sales, special offer and if you are local our open days too. Join our mailing list here

 

 

We are very proud at Books for Bugs to be stocking Barrington Stoke books. We found these books when looking for something for our own son (Bug3) who really struggled with reading. Well all I can say is they are amazing! We went from having a stressed out, virtually non reader to a willing, happy reader in a very short space of time. For us it was the spread out text that really helped and more importantly the fact that the content of these books were of interest to him. Previously he was reading books for far younger children which put him off further. To be able to read what he considered a 'real' chapter book for his age gave him much needed confidence.

Bug3 isn't diagnosed as dyslexic, I think for him it was more a reluctant reader situation. When he was younger he wanted to concentrate on other things mainly sport and outdoor activities, he never really sat still long enough for reading so quickly got a bit left behind! But these books did the trick. He is never going to be a bookworm like his brothers but he can now read with ease and that is 100% down to these books.

But what makes these books Dyslexia and Reluctant Reader Friendly? How are they different to a standard chapter book?

  • Unique, dyslexia-friendly font specially created to make reading easier
  • Accessible layouts and spacing stop the page from becoming overcrowded
  • Heavier paper with a gentle tint helps reduce visual stresses
  • Award-winning authors ensure well-written texts with plenty to engage and discuss
  • Bestselling names that readers will recognise and their friends already love
  • Award-winning illustrators help bring the stories to life and aid comprehension
  • Expertly edited to ensure unnecessary words don’t hinder comprehension while the text will still challenge the reader
  • Lots of illustration to break up the text and keep the story moving
  • Short, sharp, unpatronising content matched to the age of the reader not their reading level
  • There is also a link to the first chapter of each book so you can 'try before you buy'

Our Price

Traditionally all our books at Books for Bugs are just £2.50 each. Understandably these books aren't available at such a low price but we knew we had to stock them as we know they are essential to some children's reading journey. After a bit of negotiating and an exception to our pricing rule we are delighted to announce that we can stock them at just half the RRP across the whole range. We will get a monthly shipment of these and will announce on our Facebook and Instagram page as soon as they arrive. They do go super quick though and it varies which ones we get so do keep your eyes peeled!

Shop our dyslexia range here

March 2021

I am thrilled to announce that we have now extended our Barrington Stoke range and now stock a range of dyslexia friendly books for Teens. You can find these here

 

 

What’s the point in wordless picture books?

Well, I’m sure you’ll have heard the saying ‘A picture is worth a thousand words.’ Here are four reasons why picture books, that have no words, are so important to explore with your child:

 

1) They build children’s confidence

These books can be explored by ANY child; they aren’t just beneficial for non-readers. For reluctant readers or those who struggle with reading, it removes the pressure and barrier of being able to physically read. For more-able readers, it helps them to follow contextual clues to understand what is happening in the story.

 

2) They develop children’s imaginations

Wordless books can leave a lot to the imagination. They have a story line but this is told through the vivid illustrations instead. This allows your child to interpret the plot.

 

3) They develop children’s vocabulary

Even though there are no words, by discussing the story together, your child will develop their vocabulary.

 

4) They develop children’s comprehension skills

By exploring the illustrations within wordless books, children become ‘reading detectives’, answering questions about the story’s plot line and characters.

 

By Guest Writer: S. Davis (Year 6 Teacher)

So you see there is a whole world to explore in wordless picture books! Why not give one a try today? View our wordless picture book range here.

What is Accelerated Reader?

Accelerated Reader (AR) is a computer-based program that some schools use to monitor reading practice and progress. It helps teachers guide children to books that are on the right level for that child. After reading each book children can take a short quiz to test their understanding.

So in our shop this section is for teachers and parents who's children are using the Accelerated Reader scheme. Books are sectioned into bands (i.e Lower Years 1.0-1.9) to check a specific books exact level click on the image which will take you to more information about that book. You can also search specific levels using the AR search icon on the home page.

If you are a school just transitioning to this scheme we are able to put together selections for you. If you would find this helpful please do get in touch to discuss your schools requirements.

Our aim is to make Accelerated Reader books affordable for parents and schools alike. cheap children's books

What is a Book Advent?

Just like Christmas eve boxes and Elf on the Shelf, book advents are a fairly new idea but one that many people have welcomed into their homes over the last few years and are certainly growing in popularity.

The idea is simple, choose 24 books which you wrap up ready for the 1st Dec, then each day on your count down to Christmas your child can open a surprise book for you to share. Children love the excitement but I feel the real benefit is that it encourages you both to snuggle down and share a special story each and every bedtime for the whole of December.

What book do you need?

You don't have to choose Christmas themed books at all. Any books work. We choose to mix it up with a few Christmas stories, a few rhyming stories, a couple of classics and one or two favourites.

 

Does it have to be expensive?

No. Absolutely not in fact you can do this without spending a penny if, like my children you have lots of book already. There are several options and no right one do what works for you and your budget. The important thing is sharing that quality time together.

You can:

  • Buy new books, there our lots of budget ranges this time of year, especially here. We do a £1 range every year to help make reading affordable.
  • Buy second hand books- why not take a peep in your local charity shops, Facebook Market Place, carboots or school jumble sales you can pick up some great used books for pennies!
  • Use books you already have! The excitement is in the surprise. We only read our Christmas books really in December then they get put away for the following year. We have 8 or so that we bring out and wrap up again the rest of the books are from their bookcase. I tend to pick a few I know they love but haven't read for a while. You can always add a few new ones too so low cost but adds a little extra to the excitement.

How do you wrap them?

Firstly you don't have to wrap them  it just adds to the fun. A lot of people just use normal wrapping paper but if like us you are more eco conscious then their are more planet friendly alternatives that keep the surprise element. You could wrap them in-

  • Brown Paper, maybe get your children to decorate the paper first for an extra arty activity
  • Newspaper
  • Fabric wrap such as Cotton. I have a friend who hides a book each day in an old pillow case which is hung by the Christmas tree. The elves drop off a book each day whilst her children are at school!
  • A bag or box. Similar to above a bag or box can be left out and each day pop in a new book.

 

What if you have older children who are past picture books so 24 chapter books a day is going to be too much!

I have come up with 2 options for this.

For our middle Bugs we pick a special chapter book and each night read a chapter (or 2) together. Top tip look for a book with around 24 chapters! 🙂 Made more special with a hot chocolate or a Christmassy ginger biscuit as a treat.

For our eldest Bug we have adopted the Icelanders Jolabokaflod 'Christmas Book Flood' A good book with chocolate! Sounds perfect right!

Giving a book at Christmas is a tradition in Iceland dating back to World War II where paper was one of the only things not rationed.

The idea is to have a new book Christmas eve, snuggle up with a warm blanket in a book nook with a hot chocolate and simply read! This is the perfect alternative for older children and teens... and mums and dads!

Whatever book traditions you choose in your house it will be wonderful because its just you, your children and a good book - what more do you need!