Hello, you're listening to Get Booked for Women's and Men's Radio Station. I'm Hazel Butterfield and an absolute huge book fan, so I love doing this show. Get Booked is all about talking to authors, chatting about anything and everything books related, and all the joy, enlightenment, and escape that good books can provide. Sit back and let us entertain you with a different guest each week, sharing who they are, what they do, and what inspires them. Just remember, you can check out all our previous shows if you pop on to womensradiostation.com/shows/getbooked and on our SoundCloud, so you don't have to miss any show. Now today we have Lizzie Lamont joining us from Book Club Buddies, which is an online book club specifically aimed at primary school children in order to ignite their passion for reading whilst also improving their literacy skills. Their book club provides an opportunity for children to have fun exploring, discussing, and reading a complete book with a small group. These fun group discussions will be guided by a teacher and will be run weekly over 5 weeks, allowing the children to complete independent reading between sessions and also just having a little bit of fun and getting involved and using tech for something other than Roblox and Minecraft and whatnot. Absolutely. Absolutely. I absolutely love this idea and I'm super excited to talk to you today, Lizzie, about reading, the benefits to children, which is becoming a bit lost and, you know, I think we just need to reignite everybody's love of reading. Lizzie, thank you so much for joining us here Oh, thank you so much, Hazel, for having me. It's really, really exciting to be on here and to be able to talk about Book Club Buddies and to share my passion for trying to promote a love of reading for pleasure in children. Well, you're speaking to the right person because not only do I love reading, but my kids love reading, or at least they used to. And it's just, I'm already, you're already talking to the converted, I think. It's absolutely, yay! If you start off by just telling our listeners a little bit about yourself and why you started the Book Club Buddies? Sure, well, I am a primary school teacher and I've been working and teaching for over 15 years, and I myself love reading and I love encouraging and promoting a love of reading in children because I can see how beneficial it is to them, and I've always wanted to run a book club And then the pandemic hit, and I was teaching online, and I could see how incredibly versatile and amazing the children were at using technology to be able to interact and talk with each other. And so I realized that actually I could start these book clubs and run them online, which would then reach a much greater audience and allow more children to be, you know, joining in with this and being part of book clubs and reading books. Which really got me excited. And so it kind of, it started from there really. Now interesting, I went on to bookclubbuddies.com and I was just leafing through. Now my kids now are 12 and 15, used to be absolutely huge book fans. My 15-year-old was that, he used to be up until about 2 years ago, he'd be that kid on World Book Day, do you know when they give out the free vouchers? For a book that you can go and get, he'd be the one like picking them up off the floor and going to Waterstones and go, "I'll have all 7, please." And he'd finish them all in one sitting. And, you know, amazing. It was amazing. It's absolutely fantastic. And the thing is, he's already got that there. He was— he would be that kid at like 10 going into Waterstones saying, "Um, I love reading, but I'm kind of not into the 10-year-old stuff. I'm kind of gone into the young Bond." arena, and you'd have like people in small bookshops, independent bookshops, and Waterstones who would literally be frothing at the mouth going, "Yes, a kid that's excited about books, let me start!" And it's so lovely to see, and it's a little bit sad that they kind of, they don't want to do it as much anymore, but they've already had that start, and they've read hundreds and thousands of books. My youngest, who's, who kind of moved away from it a little bit earlier than my eldest, he's now into comics and I take him to the local comic shop. He's like, but Mum, it's like £20, how come you're letting me get this? I'm like, because it's still reading, sweetheart, it's not a game. Absolutely. And it's still the same though, isn't it? It's still, it's still reading, it's still creativity and engaging with something that's not a blue flashing light. Absolutely, it is, it's promoting that love of reading. However, it's not always with a book, it can be in lots of different ways. It can just be about, it could be, for example, even when you're cooking together and they're reading recipes, or you're playing a game together and they're reading the instructions on playing that game, or as you said, you know, comics, magazines, reading poems. It doesn't have to just be reading a book. Well, there are lots of ways to sort of, you know, promote or to support reluctant readers? Well, it was interesting actually, just after Easter there was lots of spare chocolate and my son's like, right, I'm going to make some brownies, how do I do it? I'm like, well, you're 12 and a half, you can read a recipe and you completely know how to use YouTube and read, so you can figure it out. He's like, yeah, what, you're just gonna let me do it myself? 'But it's reading, sweetheart, you're capable of this.' And then when he finished it, he went, 'I did that all on my own.' Yeah, that's brilliant. So there's so many different elements to it, and of course there are some children out there that do struggle sometimes, especially if they're dyslexic or they have certain other special educational needs. Yeah. And this is why Book Club Buddies is good, because it's interactive and they're actually talking to somebody, and it's a little bit more of a a group mentality. Absolutely, it is. It's all about talking to each other and sharing their thoughts and their ideas, and, you know, communicating, as you said, that's key. That's why being part of a book club really does enhance their social skills, and it's definitely a massive benefit to being part of a book club, is that. Yeah, and as I was reading about what you do on Book Club Buddies, and I was just thinking See, I'm a huge book fan. Regular listeners will know I do a show all about it. But even— and I would read with my kids every single night. My kids were like that light switch. Until they've had a book, it doesn't matter whether it's 7:30 or 10:30, until they've had that 5-10 minutes of reading, they don't fall asleep. And I love reading. And yeah, but there are so many people who just do not, for whatever reason, and yet enjoy this. I mean, I don't know whether I'm hugely patient, but I definitely do love reading. But that whole time in raising your children when they're in Reception and Years 1 and 2, where you've got to start reading with them and you need to do 5 minutes every evening, that 5 minutes can feel like 3 hours. It can do, especially if they're struggling with their phonics. That can be quite tricky and painful at times. But as parents, as parents, we tend to read and listen to our children reading a lot more when they're younger, and it's quite an enjoyable experience because, you know, the Julia Donaldsons of the world write amazing books, and, you know, you can sit there at the end of an evening and you're putting them to bed at 6, 7 o'clock, and you're reading that whole book with them, and you can talk about it, and it takes 10, 15 minutes, and it's a lovely experience, and you put them to bed, and it's wonderful, a wonderful time that you can spend with your child. But I think the difficulty comes in when they become sort of more independent in their reading and they're starting to read chapter books. And we as parents don't have so much time to give and to listen to the children. And we're like, well, you can read now, so off you go, just spend 10, 15 minutes reading. And you kind of think that you've done your bit, but actually engaging and talking about books is so important. And as parents, it's not always that easy to do, which is partly why I started up Book Club Buddies, because it's about talking about the books engaging with the children about it that makes it so exciting for them. And that shared experience that we talked about earlier, because, you know, whenever we experience things in life, I mean, even if we're, I don't know, away somewhere and we're standing atop a mountain and you can see this incredible view in front of you, you know, you can appreciate it when you're on your own, but if someone's standing next to you and you can share that and talk about it together and it kind of sort of amplifies the experience, it makes it even greater. And I feel that, you know, when you're reading, you can share that. See, I used to be— when I actually had my first child, I was still working through my psychology degree. And so even though kids just, especially as babies, they just want to hear you talking, they want to feel like they're engaging with you. And I've been Starbucks reading about cognitive psychology, and I'd have like these, these women looking at me going, 'Are you aware of what you're reading to your child?' 'Well, he just wants to hear my voice, but it means I can get through my coursework, get through my reading, so I've always done it.' But even like, they just— it is just about engaging. I've read books about— I once read this rather bizarre book about the main chef in the White House and everything that he went through and the intricate details, but yet how he'd have to appease all these various different presidents and their families, and the kids were just lapping it up, and they're at at that point they were 9 months and 3 years old, and it's just any form of reading, it's still engaging rather than just kind of going off into a tech world where it's, it's not really the same, is it? Yeah, no, absolutely, it is. As you said, it's about engaging with them and communicating with them, and the children love that. And also engaging with peers as well, because although these book clubs with Book Club Buddies are guided by teachers, they also communicate, the children talk with each other, we know when we're discussing the book, and that's really wonderful to see the sort of how it's sort of, you know, they kind of have an idea and then somebody else joins in with that and, you know, how it grows as a conversation. Yeah, do you know what I used to do when my youngest son was at that stage where they're expected to do quite a bit of reading in the day and the teachers, it's hard work for them, they've got 30 kids in a class and to give a child more than 5 minutes is virtually impossible, which means that you don't get into a rhythm. So I used to do at least an hour a week where I'd just go and sit and I'd say which kids are struggling the most and I'd go off and I give them 20-30 minutes each and I'd have the parents going, 'Oh, you've been reading with my child and they really appreciate it now because you have the time.' Absolutely. Additional time and it— and yeah, there's so much— sorry, I was just saying there's so many kids these days that are like constantly bored if they're not 100% stimulated all the time. But if they can read and have a love of reading, you can say, go for a book, or do you know what, get on Amazon, choose a book, we'll have it delivered by this evening. And that's something exciting. It is, it is. And that's part of what we do as well with Book Club Buddies. We send them the book in the post, so they actually get, um, in this Book Club Buddy pack, they actually get the book itself which is an exciting thing for them because often they don't really receive much in the post for them, so to actually get the book that's all wrapped up for them is part of the experience of this. So yeah, no, I think that that's quite important. I think it's something else that we need to point out as well. Even if people do love reading, for the last 2 years parents have been expected to go above and beyond in terms of getting involved with their kids' education. Yes, we should be part of their education, but had to do so much homeschooling that the idea of doing any more reading with our children fills us with absolute dread as to how much Merlot we're going to have to get through just to deal with the read. But we've all been there. But absolutely, and it's hard. And so sometimes, you know, if it was hard before doing the reading, because it doesn't matter how much we love our children, when you've got to tell them what D-O-G spells for like the 86 billionth time, you kind of, you're on the edge a little bit. But I think if there's some way, like Book Club Buddies, where people can just give themselves a little bit more of a break, where we're already possibly still verging on the edge of, okay, I've just finished doing homeschooling, the last thing I want to do is sit down with a book, which we shouldn't feel guilty about at all. So many parents are just sitting there going, that was an interesting 2 years. And I like it that this is an alternative or an additional amount of help, whether your kids need it or whether they just enjoy it, or you want to go back to enjoying your children again rather than teaching them because it was quite stressful. Stressful. It was incredibly stressful. And, you know, I'm a teacher and, you know, teaching my own child was incredibly stressful. They didn't want to listen to me and he was in primary school. So, you know, I'm experienced and I know exactly what he needs to know, but obviously it was impossible. It was really difficult. So it is so stressful. And yeah, absolutely, by joining up to the Book Club Buddies, it takes that stress away because we help to promote that reading for pleasure in children. And it breaks down the book so it becomes manageable for the children, because I think a lot of the time as well, you know, you want your child to read these chapter books but actually a child will look at it and go, 'Oh my goodness, that's, that's so difficult to read,' and it becomes sort of a chore for them. So by breaking it up into sections and, you know, we read part of the book and then they go off and do some independent reading, they're not having to read too much, and then they come back and get to discuss that independent reading together as a group, which again just makes it much more fun. And, you know, children learn when they're having fun and they're happy. I really believe that as a teacher, if they're enjoying the experience, they're going to be learning much more. And the great thing is that like over 80% of people are rebooking onto book clubs each time we run book clubs. Oh, that's good to hear. Yeah, no, it's fantastic. And it just, you know, I get such great feedback from the parents and the children as well, actually. I've had them communicate with me saying how much they love it, so. Well, I think the point that you made about it sometimes being a chore, that's when you don't get to actually get to the nitty-gritty of the joy of reading. Sometimes it's just, it's ticking a box, right, we've read that page, off we go. If you have the time to break it down and get involved with actually what's happening, then they're excited to see what happens next. Absolutely. I used to say to my kids, do you know what, you only have to do a page today, and because you didn't overwhelm them, they'd be like, oh, but I actually want to know what what happens on the next page, before you knew it they're doing 10 pages. But if you told them they had to do 10 pages, they'd be like, "We don't like you anymore." Yeah, absolutely. No, absolutely, it is breaking it down into sort of manageable chunks for them. And then it's not just reading the book, it's talking about the book, it's discussing the book, it's looking at why characters are doing things in a certain way, why they may have said certain things, what might happen next. And these book clubs are guided by teachers, but they're not actually run by teachers. So the children, you know, they can take these book clubs in all different directions, which is what I really love about it. So I run book clubs, often the same book on different days, but they're completely different experiences because different children will mention different things and ask different questions. Which is what makes it so exciting, I think, you know, guiding these book clubs. Well, if you think about it, there's so— it's increasing popularity for the adult book clubs, and it's not just for the amount of, you know, wine and cheese that's consumed, it is actually engaging with a book and having a discussion about it. It's completely the same concept with children as well, it's just engaging and finding something in common. But firstly, I've got to tell you about something amazing that a friend of mine did. She wanted she came up with this fantastic idea for her friend's baby shower where everybody that attended the baby shower— actually it was in COVID, so it was kind of attended via Zoom— but they all sent a gift, and everybody that attended the baby shower sent their favourite book to kickstart the book collection. So it's lovely. So instead of something that it was, it couldn't just be something that had been released in the last 12 months or something, it was like 'each peach, pear, plum, we're going on a bear hunt.' 'Peace at last.' 'Peace at last.' Oh, I love that. 'Peace at last.' Oh, one of my favourites. Whenever I work in the reception classrooms, I'm always digging around looking for that book to read to the children because I absolutely love, love that book. Well, I just, I thought that concept, because it ignited, like, so many people were on the WhatsApp group going, 'This is quite nostalgic,' because they're thinking about— and my friend then got to you know, when she starts reading with her child, she's like, "Now this is Auntie Soundso's favourite book that she read 30 years ago and it was her favourite book, and this is Soundso's and Soundso's," and it kind of again engages the child more because they can say, "Oh, I read this book the other day, evidently it was your favourite when you were a baby ages ago." And you could even, you know, it's lovely to receive books I think with notes written, personalised notes, you know, that you could then say, you know, 'Dear whoever, and this is why you've got this book,' and, you know, I think that's a nice thing to do, to personalise books. Oh yeah, absolutely. When you're giving them as gifts. Yeah, absolutely. It was quite interesting, as I was saying, that my eldest kind of came out of reading a little bit about a year and a half ago, which was bang smack at the beginning of the pandemic, and I just said, 'Do you know what? We're about to move house, there's no point actually packing all these books up, you've read them about 12 times each, why don't we put them on Facebook Marketplace and say to people who can't go to bookshops, who are hugely skint because they're all panicking about being furloughed or losing their jobs and whatnot. And so we just put the thing saying there's hundreds of books outside, come and help yourself, and people were like leaving bottles of wine and being saying it's so kind of you, we've just had like 40 books. I'm like, but I'd rather them be used Absolutely, I think sharing books is fantastic. I think it's, you know, and using libraries now, they are opening up more. We've just had a new library open up locally to us, so, you know, and I do often, I often go and visit libraries when I can as well because, you know, it's an amazing resource. If people don't, people are forgetting about libraries, and if we don't use them, this free resource. Well, exactly. Taken away. I mean, the classes, the reading classes, the dancing classes, it is all completely free, and we need to remind people to utilize it, especially if you're a little bit skint, then why wouldn't you get books for free? And also it's the passion as well. People don't go and work in a library if they don't absolutely love reading, and it's nice to just kind of engage and go in and say, "I can do something a bit like this," and they go, Right, well, that's the thing, isn't it? They have the knowledge, you know, and you can get that obviously when you go into bookstores. And, you know, I've got local Waterstones and other, other independent bookshops, and, and they do have the knowledge there, but so do libraries. Um, and, you know, reading is free entertainment. You can go there and you can, you can be transported into different worlds, into different places through these incredible authors, um, and their writing and their skills. And, and yeah, it's just, it's just wonderful. So I will, I will often be found in a bookshop or in a library. I quite often take my kids to some of the bigger bookshops now up in town, and they're like, "Oh my God, Mum's taking us to a bookshop," and then half an hour later I'm like, "Are you ready to go yet?" "No." I've got two children, one of them is an avid reader, in fact it's her birthday coming up soon and she's asked for Waterstones vouchers for her birthday because she absolutely loves reading and choosing books and the experience of of buying a book as well. She loves that. But my other child is more of a reluctant reader, but yeah, and he joins all my book clubs, and he actually really loves being part of the book club and completes the books when he is, which is great. So, you know, you never know with children how they're going to be, and I, you know, I brought them up both the same way, reading in the same way when I was younger, but you know, when they were younger, sorry. You just never know. I think the thing is, the more we kind of push something onto them, the more they'll kind of go in the opposite direction. And that's why I like the idea of Book Buddies, because it's kind of a fun idea rather than, "We've got you a tutor because you need help with your reading." That's not the way to kind of get across to them predominantly. Absolutely. So I think, now something that Again, I think we need to just draw to people's attention as well something that I've come across with my own children, especially in the pandemic, and just, just in general to be sociable. Kids are on tech so much. They had to be on tech in the pandemic because it's the only way they were going to get school. They weren't allowed to see their friends, so they either just didn't speak to their friends for 2 years or they engaged with them on Xbox or on Snapchat and whatnot. And you know, my kids are excessively use tech, but it was either that or they were completely isolated from their peers. Yeah, there are definite benefits to it, but it's trying to get them off it and, you know, to show them other ways of spending their time that's important. But it's very hard to do, you know, it's not easy. As a parent myself, you know, it's something that I struggle with, like most other parents, I think. Well, There's something that I mean, I use reading and board games. There's some science about it. I think I've told you in the past, but I can't remember the exact science, but it's to do with how the brain is programmed and tech kind of does one part and reading and actually engaging with something with, you know, with words written down and leafing through something tangible, it kind of reprograms the brain. It's a little bit of a and my kids, they go to their dad's every other weekend. This isn't a slight against their father. He doesn't see them often, so when he does, he wants to have fun with them and let them do what they want to do because he wants it to be a happy time. But they come up, they come back quite wired because it's been a different kind of experience to mummy at home making them do work and reading and whatnot. And they, they, we have a Sunday whenever they come back we play board games and we read because it kind of gives them that control-alt-delete, and it's so important. And it helps to reduce stress as well. It's relaxing. You know, it's— yeah, I think, I think it's very important. It's like when you're reading, it takes— it's like taking your brain to the gym. That's how, how I see it. You're having to sort of follow words, pay attention to things, and it improves your memory. It's kind of keeping it active and making it stronger by reading. 100%. And actually yesterday was quite a big day on social media. There was a lot I needed to do to promote shows, to promote other little various bits and pieces. And I remember sitting there going, I feel like I've had about 4 espresso martinis and I hadn't touched coffee all day. It's because my brain was wired because I'd been in front of social media and tech for such an incredibly larger amount of time. And I was sitting there going, when did I have those espressos? And I hadn't. It's just my brain was going bing, bing, bing, bing. And you don't realize how long you can be on it for either. You know, you can, you can sort of start, you know, the kids can be playing a game and, you know, you can be calling them off like 2 hours later and they don't even realize 2 hours have passed. Yeah, completely. I did actually, I went through a stage with my youngest who plays a lot of football and I was saying to him, listen, you seem to be getting quite stressed at certain elements at certain times of the week and I think it's to do with tech and I want you to kind of try something for a couple of weeks and see if it improves how you play football because I think it's engaging a different part of your brain and putting you in a better mindset and he actually did it for a few weeks and now he actually says to me, "Oh, I'm gonna go do this for a bit because I know that it's going to change my mindset and make me play better and not necessarily respond badly when I do." And it's just— I was just trying to get it across to him in an as least patronising way as possible. And it's just— it's invaluable. And but again, it does benefit them in so many ways, doesn't it? Yeah. So yeah, Book Club Buddies, definitely the way forward. And you know, You can pass it off to your kids and say, 'Look what I bought you, I bought you a present,' when in fact it gives you a good half an hour off. 45 minutes actually each week. Oh, is it? Oh right, so 45 minutes. Some of them, Year 1 and 2 are half an hour, they're 30 minutes each week, and the Years 3, 4, 5, and 6, they're 45-minute Zooms. And then obviously they're doing their independent reading as well, in between each session. So, yeah. Right, okay, so are there different elements that people can get involved with on Book Club Buddies? Talk us through how people can get involved because they can buy, they can buy like 5 sessions and it's all, it's slightly different depending on need, is it? Yeah, well, you go on to the website and you choose with your child and you choose the book club you'd like to join up to, so you look at the different book options and you choose the book, and then a week before the Zoom sessions start, we send out the Book Club Buddy Pack with the book all wrapped up and a special pen with a highlighter at the end and a bookmark. And then you have the 5 Zoom sessions, and these Zoom sessions are one a week, and we start the book together in session 1 and we finish the book together in session 5, and in between each session they do their independent reading. In session 1, we have like an icebreaker question just to get to know each other and to meet each other, and as I said, we start the book, and I do quite a lot of the reading at the beginning because there's no pressure on the children. I say to them right from the beginning, 'This is all about having fun, and I want you to really enjoy the experience.' And then they do their independent reading in between the sessions, and then we talk about that the following session and then do some more reading together again. And then they go off and read some more and come back and until we complete the book and then at the end of it all I send them a certificate for completing the book club which they all love. Oh, I love that, like yeah, I mean it's about the whole library thing as well, they used to do that in the Easter and the summer holidays, didn't they, where you had to get through 5 books and you've got a sticker and a little bit of a— Yeah, we all love to have that, we all love to feel that sort of sense of achievement and they have done very well, they've completed a book club, they've talked about the book and they've, you know, you know, learnt a great deal, you know, on that journey, you know, whether it's the vocabulary they've learnt about or they've learnt about sort of creative typography in the book. Discussing and exploring the books with the children is such fun, and it's been so incredible to get fantastic feedback and support from the authors as well. Michael Rosen wrote to us and he said how he thought Book Club Buddies was a terrific route to get children into the world of books. And we've even had authors join us on our final Zoom sessions to chat with the children, who were then able to sort of ask them questions, and it really was a magical experience for them. I love that. And we were talking about books in our youth. What's your favourite book? What was your favourite one that you basically bored your parents to death with reading? I don't know if you remember these books, but I— we used to have a collection well, I've still got it because I can never get rid of the books. I've got so many books. The Read It Yourself Ladybird books. Do you ever— did you ever have those? And my favourite book, which I still read even now to children when I go out and about, because I take it in my bag with me when I'm teaching the younger children, which was called The Magic Stone. That was probably my favourite book. I love that book. I don't know why I loved it so much, but I loved that book. And it was all about somebody who tricked a lady and said, "I've got a magic stone, I can make this soup." And he said, "Oh, but the lady—" I do know that one, yeah. Do you know the story? Yeah, that was one of my favourites. And also Mr. Magnolia. I loved that book. Oh, I don't think I read Mr. Magnolia. I mean, I was an Each Peach Pear Plum girl. You couldn't beat— I just loved that one. Yeah. And that— no, bizarrely, those Ladybird books. Have you seen the slightly adapted adult version ones of them that you can get now? I have. I haven't ever bought one, but I have seen them in the bookshops. Yes, I have. I think, yeah, they're very funny. I like it how there's so many choices out there, but there's some rather ridiculous ones where it's still speaking to you in that same kind of tone, but it's about how 'How to Deal with Your Ex-Boyfriend' and whatnot. 'How to Get Through an Evening Without Having a Glass of Wine.' Yes, yeah, that's just as helpful as they were in your youth, but just different. Yeah, no, I used to read those books and enjoy those, and then I think when I got older I sort of read sort of Millie Molly Mandys and 'My Naughty Little Sister' and I read quite a few of those. I was a huge fan of, well, actually when my kids started, when I've had my children, the crayon ones, the crayons that come to life, you just gotta, I love those ones to pieces. Yeah, what's it called? The crayons that come to life and they're all chatting about and they're getting jealous of each other's colours and what they do. I can't remember the name of it. I told you I say the crayons quit. Yes! That's the one. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Oliver Jeffers, the Oliver Jeffers one, that's a brilliant book. Yes, I love them, absolutely love them. But in terms of like some of the more inappropriate styles of the kids' book, I don't know if you've read like the Time to Bed and The Tiger That Came to Tea that have been slightly reworded by the likes of Samuel L. Jackson and Jennifer Garner, have you heard those? No, I mean, I know The Tiger Who Came to Tea very well, but no, I haven't read the new— the different versions, no. Well, adults only, go and check out Samuel L. Jackson's Please Go to Sleep, and he does it in his own unimitable sound and style, but there's a lot of swearing in it, and it's very ridiculous. Not one for my book clubs then. Definitely not one for the book. Definitely. But they are very funny because he's just got this— well, both him and Jennifer Garner, they've just got this fantastic personable edge, and then all of a sudden they're slipping in the odd swear word and it's completely inappropriate but absolutely hilarious for adults. Ah, excellent. Did you ever read the Judy Blume books when you were sort of— when you were younger, sort of teenager, young teenager? Judy Blume, which ones are those? Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, those sort of— yeah, I used to read quite a few of her books. Do you know what I did read? I was a Point Horror. Ah, right, okay. I read every single one of them. My mum would buy them and she'd be like, she'd be absolutely despairing because I'd read them all in one— I'd read a book in one day and she'd be like, but Hazel, I can't afford to buy you a book every single day, and I just sat there for absolutely I've always been a book fan, you know. Sometimes— I've read some of those Point Horror books when I was younger, I do remember that. Oh, they were so huge. It came across, you know, sometimes they do something on social media where they try and remind you of things in your '80s and '90s and Point Horror, and I was like, I've completely forgotten about Point Horror. Yeah, yeah, it's funny, isn't it? I'm just trying to remember them now. Oh yeah, they were absolutely brilliant. I'm sure if I gave them to my kids now, they'll be like, "Oh, Mum, that's so passé." Of course, you're a mum, it's never going to be, you know. Yeah, just because I mentioned it, obviously I'm absolutely ridiculous. But you know, that's just— which is another reason why, you know, Book for Buddies, let somebody else kind of— because if somebody else suggests something to your children, they think they're incredible, right? Yeah, no, absolutely right. That's definitely, definitely true. Definitely true. And there are quite a few book, you know, options to choose from, so Yeah, yeah, absolutely brilliant. Now, I mean, something that I do, it's not just for adults, it's for children as well. The joy of reading is just to kind of ignite some creativity, find out about somebody else. I mean, there's some fantastic books out there at the moment that are kind of helping kids deal with life's challenges, whether it's divorce or breakup or dealing with bereavement Or just dealing with like when maybe a friend's possibly not treating you as well and it's kind of looking outside and thinking that possibly it's not necessarily to do with them not liking you, maybe they're having trouble at home, or maybe that person never speaks to you, they're just really shy. There's some fantastic books out there that are helping kids to kind of address other issues and not take things at such face value as well. Have you, have you read Krabbit Chop? Have I read— sorry? Crab It Chops. No. Now Crab It Chops is about this really grumpy crab who just seems to never really fit in in the school playground and he always seems to kind of say the wrong thing and it turns out he's just incredibly shy and then gets really uncomfortable and you know we've all had that situation where possibly we've not said the right thing because we're just nervous and it's just a really sweet way of explaining to to children that sometimes you just need to go up and say hi and just leave it there and just, you know, gently, gently. I mean, that's the power of books, isn't it? It's that ability to be able to then talk about the bigger issues and, you know, the message behind the book. Yeah. And so, I mean, I just did recently, we read Wonder as one of our book clubs. Oh, yes. Which is just the most incredible book that deals with lots of different issues. And The Night Bus Hero as well, and The Last Bear by Hannah Gold. I don't know if you've read that book. It's such an amazing book. I did. Yeah, amazing, amazing book. I did read Wonder, but my son read it quicker than I did, and he started watching the film, and the film is really not like the book at all. Have you watched the film? I have, a long time ago. I mean, I read the book. I've read the book so many times. It's such an amazing book. Book. But yeah, no, I have, I watched the film a while back, a while back. Well, my son was trying to get me to watch it, it was just, we're a highly sarcastic family, and he was trying to get the film on in the background to ruin the end of the film for me, and I was like, but Leo, the end of the book is nothing like the end of the film in this situation, so ha ha ha ha. We have an interesting relationship. So a couple of things that I like to ask all our guests, here on Get Booked. It's just to try and involve people. Arthur, 3 top tips on good mental well-being, and I suspect they're going to be literature-based, but just 3 things that you kind of turn to when you need a little bit of a boost or you want to maintain good mental well-being. Okay, I think for me, I think the first one is probably unsurprisingly reading. For me personally, I find it really does reduce my stress levels, it helps me to sleep a and relax, and kind of by using my brain in the way that the reading does, it kind of makes it stronger, and so I'm kind of at my best mentally. So I definitely think reading is up there for me. The other thing as well is connecting with other people, being sociable with other people, talking. I love, you know, one of the things I love to do is spending time with my friends, whether it's going out for coffee or going shopping, You know, it's interacting with others. I think it enriches the soul, doesn't it? Yeah, it's what life's about, you know, it really is. It's about, you know, being with other people. I think that's really important. And I would say the third thing is doing something that makes me happy or having something to look forward to. I love to have something in my diary that, you know, to look forward to, whether it's going on a day trip somewhere, or going to the theatre, or, you know, even at some point going on a holiday. You know, something that I can look forward to. I think that helps. Yeah, yeah. I would say that would be a top tip. I love that because people kind of forget. And the reason why I kind of ask people for these 3 top tips is that sometimes when we're feeling a bit low, we just forget about the simple things that just make us happy, and it's nice just to have a bit of a reminder. And something else that I often do on this show, because there's— we're on social media a lot, some of us more so than others, and there's some fantastic people out there in the public eye that are doing wonderful things, and sometimes we just get a little bit overconsumed with all the dross, all the stuff that just shouldn't matter So I like to hear who our guests have come across that they just think, I like you, you make me feel good. And who would that be for you? Somebody who you just think, you're great, I like you. Well, it's funny that question because I don't really so much look at people and kind of go— I mean, there are lots of admirable people out there, but I would I would probably say for me, someone that I think is, is very admirable is, is our Queen, believe it or not. Um, and I think, you know, all the time and effort that she's put into serving and representing the country and doing it with such dignity, I think that's, that's, you know, very admirable, should I say. But for me, the most— the person I think, um, I admire the most is, is not someone in the public eye, but Actually, someone closer to home was, was my mum, um, who sadly passed away. And, and I, I look at her and I admire her so much because she was such an incredible person, um, so strong and kind and thoughtful and hardworking. Um, so yeah, I love that. But that's, that's about modeling behavior, isn't it? And teaching you, you kind of see somebody do, and it can be absolutely anybody. I actually have had gay I guess in the past go, my next-door neighbour, they always say hi, they always brighten my day on the way out, and I'm like, yeah, fair enough, I'm on board with that. I think it's, I don't know, I suppose I admire qualities rather than people, so, you know, people who are incredibly strong or people who are incredibly giving. Yeah. No, I wholeheartedly agree with that, and I think it's a nice reminder for all of our listeners that it's not necessarily about how popular you are, it's about what you put out there. I love that, thank you so much. Wow. And do you know what, I've thoroughly enjoyed speaking to you today, Lizzy, and I must say I feel like I'm going to go into my little book area and go read some of the older books. I just, do you know when you just have an urge that you really do want to read each Peach Pear Plum and you really want, you know, Bernard the Monster. I've got such an urge to read Bernard the Monster right now. Oh, that's brilliant. I've currently got two, I'm in the middle of two books at the moment. I've always got books on the go, especially children's books because, you know, I do, I can get through them a little bit quicker. So I've always got new books and it's so exciting to go and find new books and new authors as well. It's, you know, it's lovely to go out there and explore the different sort of different genres that are available. Well, it's also interesting to see what's kind of appealing to children as well. And this is another thing that when my eldest kind of moved away from reading as much, I missed out as well because when he'd finish with a book, I'd be like, "Okay, was it good?" He'd be like, "It was really good." And so I'd read it as well, and I was reading like this teen fiction. But you know, it's sometimes nice just to have something a little bit different and kind of know a little bit more about the world and what younger kids are into and what kind of things they know about. And sometimes as we get older, we kind of forget— just, they're like sponges— but then what they're actually— what they know about at different stages in life. And yeah, you can definitely learn, absolutely. And you can learn from them. And, you know, often when I'm in school teaching, I'll look at what the children are reading and I'll ask them to, you know, I'll get their reviews and I'll, you know, I'll get them to talk to me about the books and what their thoughts are on it. So, and that's, you know, that's really interesting, and sometimes I'll come across a book that, you know, I haven't heard of before, and I'll go and research it and find the book and then might choose that for a book club. Because although, I mean, obviously I've got the books that I'm running, there are other teachers that run book clubs through Book Club Buddies, and they have to choose books that really inspire them, that they're passionate about. I don't tell the teachers who run book clubs through Book Club Buddies which books to choose. I say to them it's really important that they choose books that they love. Brilliant. So there are all sorts of different books, you know, because, you know, I never know which books I'm going to— I kind of sit down and I pick up lots of different books, and it's only the books that I really, really love and have enjoyed reading that I then choose to run as a book club. Because if I'm not passionate about it, then I'm never going to get the children to be passionate about it. So I've got to be excited, you know, when I read it I'm like, oh my goodness, and I can't wait to share it with them. I mean, I've got book club starting on Monday, that's when our new book clubs are starting, and I'm so excited to start these books with the children. I really, I literally, I can't wait. And this is why you're doing Books with Buddies, because you've got such a passion for it. I think it's absolutely fantastic, and thank you so much for speaking to us today on Get Booked Thank you very much for having me. And just to all of our listeners, I mean, the whole idea of Book Club Buddies, it's a fantastic way to just get your kids involved, but also, you know, it is okay to just say, "That's gonna help me just get through." We're having a little bit of additional help as well. There's so many different reasons why it's a fantastic idea, and you've come across just as having the kind of passion that you want book club leader to have. So yeah, thank you so much for joining me. Absolute pleasure, and it's really lovely to be able to talk about books and about Book Club Buddies. That's great. So thank you so much. You are very welcome, and hopefully we'll have you back on the show another time to talk to us more about Book Club Buddies and how it's progressing. That would be an absolute pleasure. That would be fantastic. Thank you. Wow, I absolutely loved my chat with today's guest, Lizzie Lamond from bookclubbuddies.com. Don't forget to go and check it out. Um, now if you have just joined us, remember that we will be playing today's show out for the rest of the week at 5 PM, and from next week you can listen again on womensradiostation.com. Hazelbutterfield.com/shows/getbooked. Now, if you ever pop on to hazelbutterfield.com, my website, there's lots and lots of book reviews on there, and I've just released my latest lot, and I always entitle them with a fantastic book quote that I've come across. Some you might have heard of, some of them maybe not so, and today Today we have— ta-da! A great book should leave you with many experiences and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading. That is so incredibly true, whether you're reading fiction or non-fiction, and I have an absolutely fantastic selection for you right now. Now, one that I read that it was just— it was brilliant, it's been released On the 29th of April, it is Laura Wolf's book The Girl Before Me. When Rachel moves into an apartment in the city with a 6-year-old daughter, wanting to get a fresh start from an abusive ex and less than supportive mother, she gets that feeling that the previous occupant's departure wasn't as simple as it's been portrayed to be. Is her unease in her new start apartment paranoia or genuine? Why does everyone around her seem to have an ulterior motive to be nice to her? We all have secrets. Many of us have a past that we want to move away from and start anew, but is that ever really possible? How much should we trust our gut when our trust has been compromised so much? Now, when you pop on to my website, I do put various links on the review so you can easily get hold of these books if any of them tickle your fancy. Now another book that I read recently is from a previous guest on Get Booked, Dr. Tim Howard, and he recently sent me his latest book which is called Flying Like Angels and it's based basically a selection of short stories, and I love short stories, the more whimsical the better, and this is such a delightful selection of stories to pique our interest and fulfill our urge to read something fun, thought-provoking, and bizarre without having to invest as much time as a standard novel. It's cleverly and beautifully written. Just a quick reminder, that's a flying Like Angels by Dr. Tim Howard. You can get hold of all of these on Amazon. Now the next one I want to tell you about is a little bit different to the usual reviews. It is called Stuff Happens by Tor Egerlund. He is a journalist who's been a photojournalist for many decades and he's finally put his life's work together. Now, Stuff Happens: The Far from Hundrum Life of a Photojournalist— this is the epitome of a coffee table book, a beautiful display of history in pictures. A good photographer can capture the essence of a culture, place, event in history so succinctly, then it could ignite your soul and help us appreciate so much of this incredible world and the people in it. This is one of those with an undeniable personal edge. Just a quick reminder, that's Stuff Happens by Tor Egerlund. It's just beautiful, one of those ones that you can just keep on going back to, and every now and again when you want a little bit of inspiration and maybe somewhere to go or you just want to look at what is good in the world, he's captured some incredible moments. Absolutely brilliant. Now another one I want to tell you about, especially for those of you that missed last week's show, is The Invisible Parent. It is written by Andrew Keith Walker, the ghostwriter, and is co-authored by Anonymous. 'For obvious reasons' when you find out what the book is about. What happens when the very same system designed to protect children fails? That's exactly what is happening right now in the UK family courts in cases of parental alienation, a form of post-divorce abuse, and this is what The Invisible Parent is about. Kath Kass, Kath Kass, sorry, define parental alienation as when a child's resistance or hostility towards one parent is not justified and is the result of psychological manipulation by the other parent. Yet experts, therapists, social workers are not trained to assess or deal with cases involving parental alienation. Author A spent years making his case to judges, experts, and lawyers, all of whom failed to agree on what was actually happening between his ex-wife, his children, and himself. At the time, it seemed like he was constantly trying to prove a negative, to find a new direction to reach his kids. And while all were promising, all ended in expensive dead ends as his ex-wife pursued her agenda. However, I have been through my own divorce and I'm fully aware that there are two sides to every story. Unfortunately, it is often not the case that both sides are equally heard or represented. Perception is everything and very individualistic. Life is complicated What we hear is happening is not always the motivation for highlighting such behaviour. Anger, being scorned, feeling hard done by can make us act unfairly whether we're conscious of it or not. Regardless of whether you're in pain or you have a pain in the bottom X or you don't agree with their life choices, our After all, you've ended your relationship with them for a reason. How much is too much to justify no contact with your children or develop a feeling of unease about a parent? Children can, will, and should develop their own opinions, not influenced by one of the two people they trust most in the world. Where your Where children are involved, it will always be an emotionally charged subject where even the best of people can behave irrationally. We are only human. Children are easily influenced and pick up on their parents' attitudes. So where is the protective line? Regardless of who did what, unfortunately, the result is the same in parent alienation. The kids do not want want to see the alienated parent, and ultimately their wishes are hugely taken into consideration. The process, no matter how it has developed, has resulted in anxiety around seeing said parent. Now, this book, it's not a vendetta book, but it is about opening discussions, increasing knowledge, and push for reform in whatever way that can be. Knowledge in situations stories such as this can be power. Uh, it is actually Parental Alienation Awareness Day on the 25th of April, and if possibly you're going through a divorce or you know somebody who's going through a divorce, sometimes these kind of situations, as I said, can happen unconsciously. And I think it's great that we all hear about other people's stories so we can make sure that we're making informed decisions about the way that we proceed. A quick reminder there, you can pop on to hazelbutterfield.com and have a look at the latest book reviews. Now I would like to point out to all of our listeners that you can get in touch with me if you have a particular book review you want to tell me about. Maybe you want to do a nice couple of minute recording and send it in and I can get it played out on Get Booked, share Wearing is Caring, or maybe you've just come across a fantastic book, possibly an independent author, which is one of my favourites to kind of sing the praises of those that are lesser known. Please do get in touch and let me know who you think I should be reading. Maybe you are a book blogger yourself and you want to come on the show and have a good old chat to me, as I said in the intro. I just like speaking to anybody and everybody who has a passion for books and writing. Maybe you have a particular course that you're doing, or just something literature-focused that you want to get in touch with me about and come and have a quick old chat on Get Booked for Women's and Men's radio station. I do absolutely love doing this show, and I hope you enjoy listening to it as well. Now, for those of you, just as a quick reminder, maybe there's some parents listening at the moment and you're thinking, "Ah, I love reading, but all my time is taken up reading with my children," which I'm sure you absolutely love, but it can take up our time, our patience, and our tolerance with reading. Our fantastic guest today on Get Booked, Lizzy Le Monde does have a brilliant offering, Book Club Buddies, which is all about an online book club for children, and it does help with Zoom sessions where you have teachers helping your children to read, get involved, understanding the text, something that possibly not all of us have the time to do at the moment, or we're still slightly hungover from homeschooling during the pandemic, and the idea of doing yet more academic work just sends shivers down our spine. Book Club Buddies is a fantastic way to get your children into reading, get them off tech in a way, because they still will be using their iPads and your laptops and whatnot to get them involved, but what a great way to have them use their tech for good and get them involved in literature and create something that is everlasting. They can fall in love with books and just— amazing. Now just before we go, for all you budding authors out there, there is a fantastic publishing house that I absolutely love. Lushnault Press and the Book Reality Experience publishes new authors from Australia, the USA, and the UK. You can check out their latest titles at bookreality.com/ourbooks, and they've got crime fiction to science fiction, self-help guides to poetry anthologies, and from teenage dramas to kindergarten adventures. They're always on the lookout for fresh new stories, and yes, they are open for submissions. Just check out their website, Lational Press and Book Reality. Great stories from great authors. They really do have a fabulous selection. Go and check them out. Thank you for listening today to Get Booked for Women's and Men's Radio Station. I'm Hazel Butterfield. You can find out more details about me at hazelbutterfield.com. I absolutely love doing this show, opening discussions and offering support by the incredible writing community out there. Come and join us, get involved. If you want to catch up on previous shows, quick reminder, you can pop on to womensradiostation.com/shows/get-booked and on our SoundCloud Cloud. Just another reminder that today we were speaking to Lizzie, the founder of bookclubbuddies.com, another one to go and check out and to just ignite the passion of reading for our children from a very young age and give ourselves all that little bit of extra needed and deserved break. Please do join me every week at 5:00 PM on Women's Radio Station and every Tuesday at 4:00 PM on Men's Radio Station. I do hope you enjoy the rest of your day, and I look forward to welcoming you to another of my Get Booked shows. Thank you very much.