Author Spotlight: Julia Jarman
With one in four children leaving primary school unable to read to the expected standard, there’s never been a more important time to help children find the joy of reading, which will inspire them to build literacy skills for life.
That is why we are so pleased to have the support of children’s author Julia Jarman.
A writer of children’s books for forty years, Julia has written over a hundred stories, including the Big Red Bath, Class Two at the Zoo and the Time Travelling Cat series. She loves visiting schools and libraries to encourage children to read and write, but has less time for this since turning her hand to women’s fiction ’which takes a bit longer’.
To her great delight, readers of her adult fiction often say they enjoyed her books when they were young and now read treasured copies to their own children. Her characters have even become part of life in her hometown of Bedford, with the Ben and Bella Trail bringing them to life across the town.
We were delighted to catch up with Julia at our new offices in August to talk about the importance of helping children discover the joy of reading.
At Schoolreaders, our volunteers give children one-to-one time to read every week. We want every child to have the opportunity to build their confidence, find stories they love and develop a lifelong enjoyment of books.
Authors like Julia play an important part in helping us champion that message. Their stories can be the books that children remember, return to and fall in love with.
Julia is one of many brilliant authors supporting Schoolreaders.
