‘Stories On Saturday’ is a monthly opportunity to share stories with me through picturebooks, poems and songs at Ledbury Library (HR8 1EA). Ledbury Library Development Group are kindly sponsoring the event, from 10:00 – 10:30 am, on Saturday 10th October, Saturday 14th November, and Saturday 5th December 2026. There are no age limits and I’ve designed it to be free and relaxed fun for everyone.
My Advertising Campaign
I put a lot of thought and effort into spreading the word about my new initiative. Playing on the ‘swirly gold’ frame idea from Peter H. Reynold’s picturebook, ‘The Dot’, I created handwritten invitations, which I posted around Ledbury and shared on social media:
Saturday 10th October (Launch Day…)
My handmade posters received a zero response rate on the day. Thankfully, all was not lost. A young mum and her little one visited the library on Friday 9th October and received a word-of-mouth invitation from one of the Ledbury librarians.
I was delighted when Alethea and Emrys joined me. I gave them a warm welcome and, as Emrys cuddled up on his mum’s lap, I gently pulled ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?’ out of my bag.
I began reading , inviting Emrys to turn the pages (which he did). We took in the details from Eric Carle’s eye-catching illustrations and, by the end, Emrys was joining in with the animal noises and sharing his thoughts and observations with me.
We stretched our legs, stood up and sang ‘1 2 3 4 5, Once I Caught a Fish Alive’ and ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ (using Eric Carle’s illustrations as prompts), before sharing ‘Cock-a-Moo-Moo’ by Alison Bartlett and Juliet Dallas Conté. This book is an ideal read-aloud and it was perfect for the repertoire of animal noises we’d been rehearsing.
We sang some more, before sharing a simple, little, action poem from ‘Catch a Kiss, Blow a Kiss’ (which I’d spotted in one of the library book boxes):
We rounded up our 30 minutes together with Emma Chichester Clark’s ‘Melrose and Croc Find a Smile’, a heart-warming celebration of friendship, fresh air and exercise.
❤️📚❤️
I’m Julia Warren and I’m seeking a future where young and old bond through books, where relationships are strengthened through shared reading, where obstacles to literacy are removed, and where reading becomes irresistible.
I’ve been teaching children and young people to read and write for over 30 years and I’m passionate about the whole process. I’m a firm believer in the power of shared reading and I’m bonkers about picturebooks.
❤️📚❤️
An little Friday photo shoot at Ledbury Library
With thanks to the wonderfully multi-skilled Ledbury librarian/photographer, Liz!
Which photo would you choose for my next attempt at advertising?
(I’m wearing my Volunteer lanyard from The Reader organisation because these photos were taken at Ledbury Library just before the Read Aloud Ledbury shared reading group. The group meets every Friday from 11:30 am until 12:45 pm.)
If at first you don’t succeed…
I’m going to persevere with the handmade angle and I’m planning to give my handwriting another outing any day now.
Watch this space…
