What’s new at Brilliant Publications? (28 April 2022)
| Dear Brilliant customer, Here is what has been happening in the office this week. We are going to be bringing out more Boost Spelling Skills books We have been very pleased with the success of Judy Arden’s book, Boost Spelling Skills, which provides fun strategies for improving children’s spelling skills. It focuses especially on the spelling skills introduced in Key Stage 1 and is great for use both in Years 1 and 2 as well as with older slower learners. Several customers have asked us if we had anything which could help higher up the school. Therefore we are delighted that Judy has agreed to write two more Boost Spelling Skills books, one for lower Key Stage 2 and one for upper Key Stage 2. These will be coming out later this year. To find out more about the Boost Spelling Skills book that has already been published, please click here.  This week the IPA Education Publisher of the Year 2022 was announced As you will know from previous newsletters, we were the IPA Education Publisher of the Year in 2021. We were thrilled to be shortlisted again this year, along with Bloomsbury and Crown House. The judges highlighted our great work in supporting teachers, children and parents. They said we showed an excellent understanding of users’ needs, and that we helped to fill in the gaps in education that lockdowns opened up. “Brilliant has done all it could to make children’s lives and learning easier, and that’s very commendable,” said the judges. Unfortunately, we didn’t win at the Awards Ceremony which was held yesterday – that honour goes to Bloomsbury. Well done to them!  Graphic novels are growing in popularity I was interested to read in the recently published What Kids Are Reading report, written by Professor Keith Topping of the University of Dundee, that graphic novels have made it into the top ten favourites for secondary school pupils for the first time. Worryingly, the report also highlights that overall reading comprehension of primary school children is better than that of secondary school pupils. The authors of the report said: “In primary school, pupils read harder books as they get older, but during secondary school this declines. Older pupils in secondary school were still reading the same difficulty of books as upper primary pupils. “Pupils in primary schools also consistently showed a much higher quality of comprehension when reading than pupils in secondary schools. And this comes despite secondary pupils reading books that were only as difficult as those the primary school pupils were reading.” The lack of reading comprehension skills in secondary school pupils often causes difficulties when they come to tackle longer novels for GCSE. Our series of Graphic Revision Guides aims to capitalise on children’s love of graphic novels, while at the same time help to develop their comprehension skills. The books summarise the story in graphic format and then provide activities to help students develop a deeper understanding of the characters, plot and themes in classic novels.  You can find out more about our Graphic Revision Guides by clicking here. And, finally I couldn’t resist sending you another distracting view from our window. This one shows our noisy four-legged neighbours with Ivinghoe Beacon in the distance.  We love to hear from our customers. If you have any comments or queries about any of our products, please get in touch. If you would like to receive more information from us, please tell us what interests you by clicking this link so that we can tailor the emails you receive – http://eepurl.com/gKMnqf. With best wishes for next week! Priscilla Publisher  https://www.brilliantpublications.co.uk |