Meet Your Next Read: The Junior Fiction Series Built to Keep Kids Turning Pages

What turns a child who can read into a child who wants to read? It's a question close to the heart of Megan Daley - our Head of Education, acclaimed author, and host of one of Australia's favourite kidlit podcasts. In today's guest blog, Megan takes us behind the scenes of the Your Next Read junior fiction series, co-created with authors Allison Tait and Allison Rushby. Together, this trio set out to celebrate the very best of Australian children's literature and place a smorgasbord of irresistible stories into the hands of young readers. Read on as Megan shares why motivation is the missing piece in so many reading journeys - and how Your Next Read is helping to bridge the gap.

Your Next Read’ Junior Fiction series was created with one clear goal: helping children want to keep reading. Why is motivation such a critical - and sometimes overlooked - part of a child’s reading journey?

Young People need to develop the skills of reading and classroom teachers, guided by the Science of Reading, systematically teach the skills required to lift words off the page and decode text. Alongside the skills required to read, is the will to read, the motivation. This is where school libraries come into play, where families supporting young readers is crucial and why we began Your Kid's Next Read, we sit firmly in the 'motivation' space of the learn to read journey. To create a lifelong reader you need the skills of reading and the will to read - and this will is nurtured in a multitude of different ways. We like to say that it takes a village to raise a motivated reader. No one person has all the answers in a child’s journey to becoming a reader. No one person can know exactly the right book for the right child at the right time. But when you have a group of people with different experiences - life, professional and reading - who are willing and able to offer advice and recommendations just when parents, caregivers, educators and other adults need it, then you have a much better chance of finding the book that will keep a child reading.

You created the Your Next Read Junior Fiction series alongside Allison Tait and Allison Rushby. How did your background as a teacher librarian and author influence the design and direction of Your Next Read?- and what makes it different from other junior fiction collections?

I think one of the strengths of our Your Next Read series is the different strands of expertise that Allison Tait, Allison Rushby and I bring to the mix. We are all passionate about children’s literature - and Australian children’s literature, in particular - but between us we have a wealth of knowledge and experience across writing, publishing, education, libraries, parenting and, of course,we’re all lifelong readers. Allison Tait and Allison Rushby are well known authors and my experience as a teacher librarian and educator means I am seeing, in real time, what kids are reading - fun, super engaging, representation of self and their peers. All three of us adored the Aussie Bites series and of course it is still popular today - although mostly out of print and only available in school libraries - the last few were published around 2012. Your Next Read is our homage to that series and what sets it apart from other junior fiction collections. Like the Aussie Bites, ‘Your Next Read’ uses different authors and illustrators and speaks directly to the experiences of Australian kids. It’s a smorgasbord of stories, with something that will appeal to every kid, and have them reaching for the next book and the next book and the next book. It’s a one-stop shop of quality Australian stories by some of our favourite Australian creators for Australian kids.

Your Next Read is built around one powerful belief: that wanting to keep reading is just as important as learning how. How does the series help nurture that desire to reach for ‘the next book, and the next, and the next’?

The icons are a really big part of this actually! You'll see there are icons denoting the genre of book on the cover and throughout the endmatter of the books - genres like friends, school, funny stories, spooky, adventure, mystery. There are some questions at the end of each story which help to engage the reader in deciding what genre to read next - look out for more Silver books, or Gold books if you want a bigger book, look out for icons that match your interest and look for more books by the creators. The idea is that you engage the child in the next book in the series before they close the final page. They are also super collectable books (if you have the physical books you'll notice they are designed to look like a trading card - how cool would trading cards of the books be?!)

Many parents and children find it surprisingly hard to discover the right books at the right time. Why is book discovery such a challenge today, and how does Your Next Read help bridge that gap?

With the demise of teacher librarians in schools across the country, many children do not have access to that person and place in the school to be able to nurture a love of reading by guiding them and having available the books that are just right for them. Teacher librarians are experts in matching books to children and fanning the spark for a love of reading. Teacher librarians also support classroom teachers and families within their community to find the right book for their students or own children. It's one of the reasons we began Your Kid's Next Read, to surround a child with a village of readers. Parents are often at a loss as to where to go for help. Many understand the importance of reading for their children, but are not necessarily readers themselves, and so don’t know where to turn. With school libraries and specialist bookshops under pressure, they need other trusted sources of information to help their young readers find those books that might not be as ‘popular’ but are just what that young reader needs.

‘Your Next Read’ showcases a wide range of Australian authors, illustrators, genres and perspectives. Why was it important that the series reflect such variety - and what does this offer young readers and the adults guiding them?

We have a wealth of incredible talent in the Australian kidlit space and it was so important to us that we showcase these people! With our 40,000 strong community on Facebook in the Your Kid's Next Read group we see names of favourite authors and illustrators popping up regularly and we are across the popular reading genres - and you'll see these names and genres reflected in the Your Next Read series, as well as up and coming creators to watch. We have also been very strategic in using so many creators - if your young reader really enjoyed the book by Maddy Mara, they will search out other books by Maddy Mara. If they really enjoyed the book by Jane Godwin they will remember her name and search out her books when they are ready for middle grade (of course she writes across all age groups and genres) and if they adore the Tom Jellet illustrations - well they will find him everywhere!

Find Your Next Read Silver: The Lonely Lunch Club here.