Alexandra J. Pratt's Blog

National Non-Fiction November 2014
National Non-Fiction November is the Federation of Children’s Book Groups’ annual celebration of all things factual. Born out of National Non-Fiction Day, 2014 marks a new departure, with the whole month now being a celebration of all those readers, authors and illustrators who have a passion for information and facts.

One of our projects this year is '30 days of Adventures in the Real World'. On each day of November we will highlight a different aspect of non-fiction for children and young people. Interviews with non-fiction authors and illustrators, competitions, book lists, activity sheets and opinion pieces will be found in a variety of locations including magazines, on the radio, and online across a wide variety of websites. You will be able to take part in your own 30 day adventure by following the daily links on the Federation of Children's Book Group's website (http://www.fcbg.org.uk) and also via other social media outlets, using the hashtags #RealWorldAdventures and #NNFN

National Non-Fiction November is an ideal time to invite a non-fiction author for an event at your local school, library, or youth group. You can find details of many non-fiction authors at Contact an Author and Authors Aloud. FCBG groups also have access to a dedicated directory of non-fiction authors who are keen to visit groups for events.

http://www.fcbg.org.uk/resources/

Download for free an excerpt of my latest book "Shipwrecked! Murder and Mutiny in Remotest Patagonia" right here on Goodreads!

How to get 'reluctant readers' reading?


It's well known that boys make up the majority of reluctant readers, and that they often prefer to read non-fiction. This is a neglected side of publishing for children, but if you explore it, you'll find that there are specialist publishing companies and authors who write books that are designed to help these struggling readers.

What makes these books different from any other book written to engage children? Well, for a start reluctant readers are often reading at a level that is below what is expected for their age. This means that the books they CAN read, they don't want too, as they are too 'babyish'. So, books for reluctant readers will have a 'reading age' of say, 8 years, but an interest level of say 14 years (this is the group I write for). This means they stay engaged with the text, but without getting stalled by language that is so challenging, they discard the book. This is quite a challenge for the author, as it means making the books read in a more adult way in terms of tension, plot, character etc, but using simple language in a manner that is not patronising, or too obviously 'simple'

Secondly, there are a range of other techniques I use to ensure the reader stays with he book. It's about walking a fine line between challenging them enough so their vocabulary grows, but not overwhelming them.Using short sentences and choosing each word carefully, so that more difficult words can be 'sounded out' easily are some of the things I do.

These books, as they are aimed at children in their early teens, or even later, are ideal, as it's impossible to tell from the front cover that the book has simpler language inside. The topic is age appropriate, and, for specific ranges, designed to appeal to boys. For books of this type, try looking at the specialist publisher Barrington Stoke (whose books are printed in a typeface and on a colour of paper that is also designed to help dyslexic readers): www.barringtonstoke.co.uk/alexandra-p... and my own e-book imprint for reluctant readers: http://moriartypress.blogspot.co.uk/
Alexandra Pratt
www.alexandra-pratt.com

http://bookmark-reviews.blogspot.ca/2012/08/review-shipwrecked.html

There's a new piece of research published by the Literacy Trust here in the UK about boys falling behind in reading and how this could be tackled. One of the reasons found is a lack of books of interest to boys. They do tend to prefer non-fiction, but that is so often overlooked by big publishers, schools and even parents. Read the report here http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/0001/4056/Boys_Commission_Report.pdf

Moriarty Press is featured in interview with Shipwrecked! author Alexandra Pratt on http://www.bookengine.blogspot.co.uk/ a blog that's a must for anyone interested in children's books and writing.

Join the conversation! Reluctant Readers at Goodreads.com

See Shipwrecked! and other titles by author Alexandra Pratt on Goodreads.com, for reviews, discussions, news and more!

Goodreads is a on-online community of over 7 million people who love books!

front coverSHIPWRECKED! Murder and mutiny in remotest Patagoniaby Alexandra Pratt
Published by Moriarty Press
It's 1740, and a British warship is wrecked on a remote island in Patagonia. But that is only the first of Midshipman Isaac Morris's problems. When mutiny among the crew leads to murder, Isaac must survive starvation, slavery and imprisonment if he wants to see his home again....

Advance praise for SHIPWRECKED!:


"Mutiny, murder, slavery and adventure on the high seas – and it's all true. What more could a young reader want?  The story of the disastrous voyage of HMS Wager, and its rounding of Cape Horn in 1740, has been told before, but not in a way quite so accessible for kids. Through the eyes of the young midshipman Isaac Morris, Alexandra Pratt takes us straight to the heart of a terrifying yet thrilling tale." Nick Hazlewood, author
BUY NOW! at Amazon or Smashwords

front coverSHIPWRECKED! Murder and mutiny in remotest Patagoniaby Alexandra Pratt
Published by Moriarty Press
It's 1740, and a British warship is wrecked on a remote island in Patagonia. But that is only the first of Midshipman Isaac Morris's problems. When mutiny among the crew leads to murder, Isaac must survive starvation, slavery and imprisonment if he wants to see his home again....

Advance praise for SHIPWRECKED!:


"Mutiny, murder, slavery and adventure on the high seas – and it's all true. What more could a young reader want?  The story of the disastrous voyage of HMS Wager, and its rounding of Cape Horn in 1740, has been told before, but not in a way quite so accessible for kids. Through the eyes of the young midshipman Isaac Morris, Alexandra Pratt takes us straight to the heart of a terrifying yet thrilling tale." Nick Hazlewood, author
BUY NOW! at Amazon or Smashwords