LITERACY BOOST TOOLKIT

MATERIALS GUIDE
Published by

Save the Children International

St Vincent’s House
30 Orange Street
London
WC2H 7HH
United Kingdom
+44 (0)20 3272-0300
www.savethechildren.net

First published in 2017

© Save the Children 2017

This publication is copyrighted, but may be reproduced by any method without fee
for teaching purposes, but not for resale. For copying in any other circumstances, prior written
permission must be obtained from the publisher, and a fee may be payable.

Front cover photo: Literacy Boost, Reading Camp Rajipur Village of Katatulsipur Village
Development Committee in Kailalia, Nepal. Grandfather Makuram Dangaura, 55 encourages his
grandchild, Radhika 9 to read. Credit: Save the Children.
INTRODUCTION
This guide describes the importance of accessing and using reading materials other than textbooks to help children learn to read
and write. It provides guidance on many types of reading materials, how to make or obtain them, how to store and display them,
and how to choose them and use them with children in the classroom, community, and home. It provides specific information
on the role of Book Banks in the successful implementation of Literacy Boost; these are collections of reading materials used by
students and community members that are stored in trunks, chests, or other mobile storage options. This guide is intended for use
with Save the Children country office staff, teacher trainers, and teachers.

Why reading materials are important to learning to read and write

Children must have access to reading materials to learn to read and write. From birth, parents and caregivers can show children
reading materials and read them aloud to help prepare children to learn to read on their own. As children enter preschool or in
the early years of basic education, teachers, parents, and caregivers can help children learn to read and write by offering them
many opportunities to practice reading books that are interesting and appropriate for their reading levels (See Box 1).

BOX 1
Simple Description of Reading Levels
Emergent Readers (approx. ages 4-7; Preschool-Grade 1)
These are children at the early stages of reading ability. Ideally, they are familiar with the letters of
the alphabet and their sounds, they have seen print before and know what it is, and they have many
words in their oral vocabularies. However, some children may be experiencing print for the very first
time. These readers should be supported with read-alouds and other activities that introduce them
to books and print. In addition, children’s learning is not limited to what they see and hear: let them
touch books, and explore them fully!

Beginning Readers (approx. ages 6-9; Grades 1-3)

Readers in this stage are able to read some words on their own. They can sound out many
words and can recognize at least a few upon sight. They have had enough exposure to books to
understand how stories work (with a beginning, middle, and end, and with characters, etc.) and they
can explore books on their own even if they cannot read every word.

Independent Readers (approx. ages 8-11; Grades 2-5)

These readers are able to read short chapter books on their own. They are generally able to
choose books for themselves and can read them independently. These children know strategies for
guessing the meaning of new words from context or how to use reference resources to look up the
meaning. Even capable readers may grow tired of books that are too long.

Experienced Readers (approx. ages 10 & up; Grades 5 & up)

Strong or Experienced Readers may need help with new or difficult words and concepts, but they
are generally able to read any children’s text by themselves. Many are able to choose their own
books and to determine whether the subject and level of difficulty is appropriate, while some may
still need encouragement and guidance that will help them to avoid frustration and discouragement.

3 Literacy Boost Toolkit – Materials Guide

Types of reading materials
Children should have the opportunity to read many types of reading materials. Reading materials are often divided into two
categories: fiction (or narrative) and non-fiction (or informational). Fiction texts are stories that are invented or untrue, such
as myths. In contrast, non-fiction texts are factual or informational, such as recipes or biographies. Box 2 includes a list of some
reading materials by category.

BOX 2
Reading Materials by Category (Fiction and Non-Fiction)
Fiction Non-Fiction
Fables Newspaper articles
Folk tales Informative texts
Fairy tales Biographies
Poetry Speeches
Myths Recipes
Drama (such as a script of a play) Poetry
Health pamphlets
Flyers or signs in our environment

Another way to categorize reading materials is by their learning purpose. Some of the most useful types of reading materials
used to help children learn to read and write include: decodable readers, leveled readers, and big books or picture books.

• Decodable Books support a child’s knowledge of sounds, letters, and simple vocabulary. They should contain only sounds/
letters and vocabulary words that students have already learned, to allow them to practice reading with success. They
usually include a limited number of sounds and letters, and repeat vocabulary words. Decodable Books are generally
used in grades 1 and 2 to provide reading practice for emergent and beginning readers. Because Decodable Books are
specifically intended to help children develop decoding skills, they are not that useful for teaching comprehension.

• Leveled Books provide text at varying levels of difficulty to help students of all reading stages to learn and practice
reading. The number of words, sentence structure, content, illustrations, size and type of font, and other factors help to
determine the grade level appropriateness of a book. Leveled Books contain content that is familiar to students, vocabulary
words that are common in oral and written language, and illustrations that support comprehension. They are different from
Decodable Books because they include some content (such as vocabulary or syntax) that students have not already
learned. Save the Children suggests a leveling system that includes four levels: emergent, beginning, independent, and
experienced (See Box 1), but other leveling systems exist.

• Big Books or Picture Books are books that are intended for a teacher, parent, or experienced reader to read aloud
to a child or group of children. The purposes of Big Books are to expose children to books they might not be able to read
independently, to model good reading fluency by the teacher, parent, or experienced reader, to motivate students to read
and enjoy books, and to expand their interests and knowledge. Independent and experienced readers may also read these
books alone. They generally include illustrations and sounds, letters, or vocabulary words that children may or may not
already know.

Strategies for Creating a Print-Rich Environment at Home, in the Community or in

the Classroom
For many children, their earliest understanding of reading comes from incidental exposure to print materials in their environment.
When resources are available, Save the Children encourages teachers, parents and caregivers, and community members to create
print-rich environments to support children’s reading and writing development. Box 1 describes some simple ways to do this in the
home, the community, or the classroom.

Literacy Boost Toolkit – Materials Guide 4

 BOX 3
Tips to Create a Print-Rich Environment
• Create a reading corner with a bookshelf and a chair in the corner of the classroom.
• Create a reading basket, with three or four books that children can choose from.
• Create a reading line, using a clothesline or just a long piece of rope and some laundry pins
hung at a level children can reach against one wall one of the room, with books or
magazines hanging from the line.
• Create a school-wide mobile library or library-in-a-box, with a rolling cart that can be
moved day-to-day from one classroom to the next.

Literacy Boost Book Banks

The most important step Literacy Boost program staff can take to create a print-rich environment is to establish Book Banks.
Prior to implementing Literacy Boost activities in schools and the community, all program sites must establish Book Banks, or
mini-libraries. At least one Book Bank should be available for every 30 children participating in a Literacy Boost site and Book
Banks should be available in both schools and the community.

Book Banks provide children, teachers, and parents and caregivers access to a range of interesting reading materials suited to
the local context, culture, and early grades learning needs. Each Literacy Boost site will need to conduct an initial analysis to
understand what types and number of reading materials are appropriate to include in Book Banks for that particular context.
However, Save the Children has established a set of basic guidelines to help establish the contents of Book Banks (See Box 4).

BOX 4
Suggested Guidelines for Contents of Literacy Boost Book Banks
• 60 or more different titles of books available for each Book Bank
• Includes a mix of materials for emergent, beginning, independent, and experienced level readers
• Includes a mix of fiction and non-fiction materials
• Includes a mix of books in all languages spoken in the school and community
• Includes a mix of decodable readers, leveled readers, and picture books
• Includes books that are gender sensitive and have a mix of books that highlight male and
female characters
• Includes books that are inclusive and positively depict characters or individuals with different
physical, mental, and emotional abilities
• Includes books that positively reflect the local culture and traditions and also promote the
rights of all children and families
• Includes books that are interesting and engaging to young children

5 Literacy Boost Toolkit – Materials Guide

Appendix C includes a brief case study illustrating the contents of a Literacy Boost Book Bank for reference. The following section
provides suggestions for the location and management of Book Banks.

Book Bank Location

• The School Book Bank should be located in a place where all teachers and students can access it. Locked rooms or cabinets
or high shelves are not suitable locations for School Book Banks.

• The Community Book Bank should be centrally located in the community, so that all members can visit it. Hard to reach
places, such as at the tops of steep hills or across streams/rivers may keep younger or elder community members from
visiting and using the books.

Book Bank Management,Tracking and Monitoring

• School-based Book Banks can be monitored by school directors, head teachers, teachers or trained volunteers. It is useful
to have at least two individuals responsible for monitoring Book Banks to ensure that teachers and children are using them
regularly and that books are well-maintained, returned, and replenished, as necessary.

• Community-based Book Banks will need volunteers from the community to track and monitor the books (such as the
Reading Camp leaders and Community Workshop facilitators described in the Community Action Toolkit).

• The volunteers responsible for maintaining Book Banks will have a system of monitoring book use and return, and should
understand that it is better to have books that are torn and dirty from use than books that are perfectly neat and pristine.
Often, neat books are books that have never been read!
• Teachers and/or Community Facilitators should regularly monitor the contents and use of both school-based and
community-based Book Banks. Tracking and monitoring forms are available in Appendix A of Literacy Boost Toolkit –
Community Action: A Guide for Volunteers.

• A poster chart may be set up to mark the frequency that a student or a parent/child pair (or sibling pair, etc.) read a story.
Gold stars recording books read and returned, or a similar system, can be used as motivation to encourage students to
borrow books.

Selecting a storage container

• When not in use, books should be stored in a sturdy container in a dry area.

• Metal trunks are best for storing books, as these keep out pests (rodents and insects) most effectively. Waterproof plastic
containers with tight fitting lids are also acceptable.

• Cardboard boxes/paper bags are not recommended, as they are easily damaged/destroyed.

How to Obtain Reading Materials to Fill Literacy Boost Book Banks

A. Conducting an assessment of existing reading materials

Countries implementing Literacy Boost should conduct two, related assessments of existing reading materials: 1) a market
survey and 2) a text-level assessment. The goal of the market survey is to determine the overall quantity and type of reading
materials available in the environment. The results of the survey will help determine whether SC needs to take steps to directly
produce or procure additional reading materials to support the implementation of literacy boost and enhance the overall reading
environment. The text-level assessment is a review of each of the existing texts, to determine if the content and quality of the texts
are appropriate for children learning to read and write.

Market Survey
In order to adequately plan for Book Banks, a children’s literacy market survey should be performed. SC Country Offices or
Literacy Boost Program Staff must decide at what level to conduct this survey (e.g. national, regional, district, or community level).
Depending on the level, the human and financial resources necessary to complete the survey will vary. Box 5 describes some of
the steps to take when conducting a community-level market survey, and Table 1 is an example of a market survey form.

Literacy Boost Toolkit – Materials Guide 6

 BOX 5
Reading Materials Market Survey
Instructions: Take a day to examine what (if any) children’s books are available in Literacy Boost
target community.Visit the school, shops, health centers, community gathering places, or other
locations where books, newspapers, magazines, flyers, signs, and other reading materials might be
available. Gather information about their price, language, etc. This research will determine next
steps in filling the Book Banks. Table 1 below shows a sample table for collecting the Market Survey
information.

Table 1. Sample Table to Collect Reading Materials Market Survey Data

Language Publisher Description of books Difficulty Average # # of titles Cost/

Level of pages available Book

Spanish Penguin Alphabet Books: Easy 10 50 $1.00

A is for Apple,
B is for Ball, etc.

Spanish MacMillan Short Stories: Advanced 40 20 $0.50

One illustration per
story, about 200 words
per story, 20 stories
total

Quiche Heinemann Storybook: Medium 20 100 $3.99

Each page has one
illustration and
3 lines of text, 1 story
per book

Tam Heinemann Chapter Book: Easy 15 20 $4.00

1 illustration per
every 3 pages of text

Text-Level Assessment
To ensure that children can effectively learn to read and write using the materials available in Literacy Boost Book Banks, each
reading material must be carefully evaluated. A useful guide to understanding the many criteria for evaluating and selecting
appropriate children’s reading materials is Books That Children Can Read1. Here we have summarized and adapted some key
guidelines that Country Offices and Literacy Boost program sites can use to assess the quality of existing reading materials and
use to guide the development of new reading materials. SC Country Offices and Literacy Boost program sites should discuss and
adapt these guidelines to their local context before using them, as text quality differs according to local language, curriculum, and
other factors.
1 USAID. 2013. Books That Children Can Read: Decodable Books and Book Leveling.

7 Literacy Boost Toolkit – Materials Guide

 Table 2. Guidelines for Assessing the Quality of Children’s Reading Materials*
Book Title:

Author:
Publisher: Year Published:

Component Indicator Yes No

Content 1. Is there a clear story line or theme in the reading material?

2. Does the material reflect common experiences of young children?
3. Does the material contain familiar objects, locations, or actions?
4. Does the material contain repetition, patterns, or sequencing?
5. Does the material contain positive depictions of girls and women?
6. Does the material contain positive depictions of characters with
different physical, mental, or emotional abilities?

Illustrations 7. Do the illustrations provide support to the text content?

8. Do the illustrations show familiar objects, locations, or actions?
9. Do the illustrations positively depict girls and women?
10. Do the illustrations positively depict characters with different physical,
mental, or emotional abilities?
11. Are the illustrations colorful?
Language 12. Does the text include high-frequency words common in early grade
Structure learning?
13. Does the text include words with few (one or two) syllables?**
14. Does the text repeat words, phrases, or sentences?
15. Does the text contain familiar, but also grammatically correct language
patterns?

Length 16. Does the material limit the number of words per sentence appropriate
for a young reader?***
17. Does the material limit the number of words per page appropriate for
a young reader?
18. Does the material consist of a limited number of pages overall,
appropriate for a young reader?

Format 19. Does the material use a simple font of appropriate size for a young
reader?
20. Is the print consistently placed on the page throughout the material?
21. Does the material appropriately use common punctuation?
22. Does the material use appropriate spacing between words and lines?

Curriculum 23. Does the material reinforce themes and concepts that are common to
the local/national curriculum?
24. Does the material reflect curricular objectives for early grade readers?
* Each indicator represents a quality that we would like to see in a children’s reading material. Not every book must include each indicator but a preponderance
of indicators suggests a higher quality reading material.
** This is an example of an indicator that will vary depending on the characteristics of the language or languages of the text. Some languages may be comprised
of very long words and one- or two-syllable words may be uncommon.
*** As readers move from emergent levels to experienced, the number of words per sentence and per page can increase.
1 USAID. 2013. Books That Children Can Read: Decodable Books and Book Leveling.

Literacy Boost Toolkit – Materials Guide 8

B. How to Encourage In-country Title Development
Save the Children has developed a set of activities that country offices and programs can take to enhance the book publishing
environment and encourage in-country title development. The International Children’s Book Initiative (ICBI) takes a systems-wide
approach to fulfill a vision of having more children reading more and better books. Save the Children (SC) Rwanda was the first
SC office to successfully take a systems-wide approach to producing children’s books through the Rwandan Children’s Book
Initiative.

There are 4 dimensions to the book gap that the ICBI addresses:

1. Availability: books that are available in country

2. Appropriateness: includes language, context, and age considerations, as well as the quality of writing and
illustration, and the physical production standards
3. Accessibility: Can the end user access the book? Four elements to accessibility:
• Affordability of books and value for money
• Systems in place for schools to purchase the material
• Reliable ways in which materials purchased by schools can be shipped to schools
• Practice of having books in classrooms (and not locked up in head teacher’s office or book store)
4. Effective Use: skills and confidence of teachers (and ideally, caregivers/parents) to use supplementary reading materials

Before beginning, conduct a local book audit. Collect titles or information from book sellers and publishers to understand the
existing capacities of the industry and market demands. The ease with which one can determine what is available (through
catalogues, book shops, etc.) tests the book chain.

ICBI’s approach includes engaging in National Book Policy reform while simultaneously implementing multiple interventions that
can be grouped into three categories: improving supply, increasing demand, and supporting effective use.

Improving Supply. There are two ways to improve supply:

1. The local publishing industry has the skills and capacity to produce high quality, age appropriate, local language materials:

a. Offer regular trainings and ongoing mentoring to the publishing industry and its constituent parts (authors,
illustrators, editors, designers, publishers).

b. Support the establishment of communities of practice for each constituent part of the industry. For example, in
Rwanda, a “Writer’s café” became a regular forum where writers met to discuss ideas and drafts with each other.

d. Engage the local education board in capacity-building initiatives so that it can use the elements of quality for children’s
books in its criteria for approving books for classroom use.

2. In addition to populating their lists through publication of original material, publishers can buy rights to translate and
publish existing material:

a. Support the trade in rights by creating an international Public Interest Rights initiative.

b. Support developing country publishers to understand the trade in rights.

c. Identify existing material, appropriate for translation and re-publication, and support negotiations.

9 Literacy Boost Toolkit – Materials Guide

 BOX 6
Training Community Members and Local Authors to Write for Children
As part of a larger effort to encourage title development, Save the Children offers guidance on how
to implement a community or local-led effort to write books for children benefitting from Literacy
Boost. Like all components of Literacy Boost, SC Country and Program Staff should review the
guidance and adapt the suggested approach to best meet the needs of the local context.
Writing for Children is a worthwhile undertaking that capitalizes on the wealth of knowledge
and stories available within a community. It is designed to encourage local people to write oral
traditions and/or to create original stories. This technique both creates text-based material for
children that is appropriate to the local context, and empowers communities through the sharing of
local knowledge and experience.
Writing for Children engages a wide spectrum of people, including writers, students, university
faculty, artists, grandmothers, and many others, and provides support for them to produce materials
for young children. The primary goal of Writing for Children is to create authentic, culturally
relevant, mother-tongue books that engage children and can be widely disseminated.

Suggested Guidelines
• Encourage authors to write traditional stories as well as original stories.
• Involve diverse groups of people to ensure a wide range of subject matter and style.
• In addition to engaging local storytellers, identify local artists willing to illustrate the stories.
• Engage local schools and universities to write or illustrate texts, which can build in-country
capacity for title development.
• Partner with other organizations to produce greater numbers of books with increased variety
at lower costs.

Appendix A outlines Steps to Creating Text that Literacy Boost Staff can use to plan and implement
Writing with Children. SC also encourages Literacy Boost programs to consider integrating
the Writing with Children activity as part of the larger International Children’s Book Initiative
approach, especially targeting local book publishers to participate in Writing with Children events.

Increasing Demand. The ICBI strategies to increase demand of books include:

1. Make an advance market commitment. Purchase an agreed number of titles to be distributed to beneficiary schools.
2. Develop partnerships with other child-focused development actors with reading programs to co-procure titles, thereby
increasing the quantity of the orders and decreasing the unit price of the new title.
3. Require publishers to print a larger quantity than the advance market commitment to stimulate the supply chain.
4. Increase school-based capitation grants and provide schools with guidance on appropriate book selection for children.
5. Support local book sales: book festivals, linking publishers with retailers, exploring potential for micro-enterprise.

Literacy Boost Toolkit – Materials Guide 10

Supporting Effective Use. The ICBI strategies to support the effective use of reading materials include:
1. Ideally, provide support in effective use of supplementary books to schools and communities as part of a comprehensive
program which include teacher training in effective teaching of literacy and community mobilization.

2. A more limited training with a focus on practical skills in managing a book collection and using books in the classroom can
also be done.

3. Provide books to classrooms as classroom book collections, rather than as school sets. This improves the proximity of
the books to teachers and children, and it reduces the problems of access that are often encountered when books are
stored outside classrooms.

4. Supply shelving for books and mats for children to sit on in each classroom so that suggested reading strategies can be
implemented more effectively.

Country offices and programs that are interested in implanting the ICBI approach can access several training resources and
guides on SC OneNet. A Global Training Package is available for adaptation to the national context. There are also two
guides to support the use of reading materials: Enjoying Books Together: a Guide for Teachers and Enjoying Books
Together at Home, a simple, illustrated guide for parents and caregivers. Both are available for adaptation to the local context.

C. Making materials at home, in school, and in community with local materials

In this section, you will find additional techniques to create Book Bank materials at the local school or community level, when
commercially published books are unavailable or of poor quality. Some techniques are best led by Literacy Boost staff or
educators, while others can also be learner-generated materials. Appendix B also provides guidance on how to bind locally-made
reading materials.

Technique 1: One-Pagers
Save the Children has an internal Children’s Digital Book Bank on OneNet that is an excellent starting point to download
existing reading materials. This is repository of reading materials to help children develop their literacy skills, often created by
SC members and country officies. The resources in this book bank can be downloaded and printed for use by any country
program. Materials are organized by reading level, themes, sub-themes, language, and material type (book, game, etc.).You can
also search for a resource by category or by name.

One-Pagers are designed to provide durable stories to be read to children. Since the stories must fit onto one page, it is not
recommended that beginning readers try to read these stories alone. Rather, they are meant to be read out loud by an adult or
another fluent reader.

Steps for Creating One-Pagers

1. Identify a set of stories that would be suitable to read to children in your community. Make sure these stories are no
more than 2-3 paragraphs in length.

2. Find one illustration that can accompany the story.

3. Print out the story with the illustration. On the reverse side of the paper, print out another story with illustration.

4. Laminate the piece of paper.

Creating One-Pagers can be the fastest way to create simple reading materials. Save the Digital Book Library on OneNet
includes sample One-Pagers, including 40 Aesop’s Fables. These can be quickly translated, adapted, and printed to provide reading
materials for Book Banks.

Technique 2: Make Your Own Books or Download Existing Books Using Free, Open-Source Software
In recent years, an increasing number of open-source platforms have been created around the world to promote the development
of books to support early grade reading in many languages. For those country offices and programs with access to the internet,
these platforms can be a cost-effective way to produce and replicate reading materials for use in Literacy Boost Book Banks.
Here is a sample of book development sites:

• African Storybook Project: http://africanstorybook.org/

• Bloom Library: http://bloomlibrary.org/landing
• Pratham Books: http://blog.prathambooks.org/p/cc-tracker.html

11 Literacy Boost Toolkit – Materials Guide

Technique 3: Kids 4 Kids Magazine
This activity is the production of a magazine or newsletter that is published periodically by Literacy Boost practitioners and filled
with original content created by program participants. The magazine may include stories, pictures, articles, recipes, etc. The items
can be collected every month or two months, as determined by program staff. The items are edited at the Save the Children
or partner NGO office and suitable work is then featured in the magazine. Once the magazine is laid out, it is printed and
distributed to all Book Banks. This resource allows children of all ages to contribute and practice their literacy skills.

Guidelines

• The magazine is compiled on a regular basis by Literacy Boost staff.

• The magazine is then distributed to program participants via Book Banks.

Steps to Creating a Kids 4 Kids Magazine

1. Explain the project to the Community Workshop facilitators, Reading Camp leaders, teachers, and any other personnel
working with program community children.

2. Have these facilitators/teachers describe the magazine to the children, and begin collecting submissions.

3. Each month or every two months, gather the submissions in the Save the Children office or partner NGO office and sort
through them, selecting the best submissions.

• It is important to select submissions from all age groups, and all impact areas. Even though an eight-year-old might draw
a better picture, it is important to also print a work by a six-year-old to encourage other six-year-olds.

• If one Literacy Boost partner works in one community and another Literacy Boost partner works in another community,
both communities should be represented equally regardless of who is compiling the magazine.

4 Print out the magazine and distribute it to the Book Banks in the schools and communities.

Participants
Children of all ages

Benefits
This activity has three direct benefits for project participants: it increases the amount of reading materials, it encourages students
to practice their writing skills, and it gives children satisfaction in seeing their words in print.

Timeframe
The magazine should be published on a regular basis, with set dates for distribution. This will give students something to look
forward to. The frequency of publication depends on the resources available to the Literacy Boost practitioners. If possible,
practitioners should aim to publish one issue per month, however one issue every six weeks or two months is also acceptable if
there is not enough manpower to collect, edit, and compile the submissions on a monthly basis.

Materials Needed
Paper, scanner, publishing software
Support Required

1. One Literacy Boost practitioner staff member and/or partner NGO staff member who is familiar with publishing software
or technical assistance (TA) to develop the same.

2. Camp Leaders, facilitators, preschool/primary school teachers, others to encourage children to submit entries.

3. Field officer to oversee collection, deadlines, etc. in each program area.

Conclusion: Using Reading Materials in the Classroom or in the Home

To learn to read and write, children need many opportunities to access and use reading materials both at school and at home or
in their communities. The Literacy Boost Teacher Training and Community Action Toolkits provide guidance on specific strategies
for teachers, parents, caregivers, and community volunteers to use reading materials with children. For Literacy Boost to be
successful in improving student reading outcomes, teachers and caregivers must ensure that children have frequent opportunities
to listen to books read aloud and read a variety of interesting, developmentally-appropriate reading materials.

Literacy Boost Toolkit – Materials Guide 12

Appendix A: Creating a Book In-Country

Steps to Creating Great Text

1. Identify the target group of storytellers/authors from whom you want to collect stories and invite them to a workshop.

2. During the workshop, pair one storyteller/author with one staff member/workshop facilitator/volunteer/illustrator. It is a
great idea to get artists and illustrators involved at this point to get them working in partnership with the storytellers/
authors.

3. Have the storyteller/author tell his/her partner the story once, from beginning to end.

4. Then, have the storyteller tell it a second time, and have the partner write down the story as accurately as possible.

5. Finally, have the recorder read the story back to the teller to check for accuracy.

6. Reconvene the group, and have a few people share the stories they recorded.

7. Ask the participants to list what they think is important for children’s stories.

8. Record the answers on the blackboard.

9. On a flip chart prepared before the session, show the group a list of the important features of texts to help children learn to
read, (e.g., decodables, leveled readers, picture books, etc.).

10. Discuss these guidelines and why they are important. Encourage people to ask questions and discuss.
11. Have the groups split up again and review their stories. Do they fit with the guidelines?

12. Holding a flip chart sheet horizontally, divide it into 12 separate sections, 6 on top and 6 on bottom.

13. Each section represents one page of a story. Give each group one sheet, and see if they can place the story into 12 separate
pages. Have them also sketch out illustration ideas using stick figures. If they cannot draw at all, have them suggest the
illustration in words.

14. Reconvene the group and have each pair read their story. Allow the group to discuss each storyboard, giving positive and
constructive feedback on the stories.

2 Final Steps for books to include in your Book Banks

1. Scan the illustrations onto the computer. Using publishing software, create a book and print it or send it off to the publisher.
2. Distribute books into Book Banks.

Participants
School children (all ages), poets, university/art school students, artists, professors of national literature/folklore, grandmothers and
many others.

Timeframe
The timeframe depends on the type of book produced. For professionally published books, this process can take approximately
6-9 months from collecting stories to publication. For office-produced photocopies, it can take one to two weeks.

Materials Needed
Pen and paper to record stories, art supplies for illustrations, handouts to provide to participants on important features of
children’s literature, flip charts, and marking pens. If printing at the country office, then additional paper will be required.

Support Required
• Staff member knowledge with design/publishing software or TA to develop same
• Trainers to conduct workshops
• Room and board for workshops held outside the community
• Transportation to the community

13 Literacy Boost Toolkit – Materials Guide

Appendix B: Methods for Binding Books

Accompanying these various techniques for creating/adapting reading material, there are many ways to put books together and
bind them, from getting community children busy using local materials to engaging the publishing industry. Here we present four
ideas from which to build.

1. Use a photocopier and stapler. Place durable tape over the staples and around the bound edge to make the binding
last longer.

2. Print books professionally. Often it is much cheaper to have books professionally printed rather than using a
photocopier. Contact a few local printers, and get quotes on how much it would be to print out a large number of books.
Investigate all the options available, including:

• Size of books
• Color vs. black and white
• Turnaround time (how long it takes to print)

3. Stick and elastic book method.

This is a fun book because it is so simple and so clever. The directions start by
folding paper in half the long way. By doing this you can reuse paper as long as it
has writing on only one side.You can also use single sheets of paper. If you use new
paper, you can skip the first step and make a larger book.Your book can have more
pages but it will be harder to punch through all the layers at once. Although the
book is simple, punching the holes and manipulating the elastic can be awkward.
Don’t make it with groups, but it’s perfect with a few children.

You Need:
* 2 sheets paper (it can have writing on one side)
* 1 elastic band (I use ones from vegetables and newspaper delivery)
* 1 stick about the height of the folded paper after step 1
* Hole punch

Making the Book:

1. Fold each paper in half the long way so that it is long and skinny
like a hot dog. If it has writing on it, the writing should be
on the inside.

2. Fold each paper in half the other way.

3. Tuck one folded piece inside the other.

4. Punch two holes through all the layers about

1/4” in from the folded edge of the papers.

Literacy Boost Toolkit – Materials Guide 14

 5. Wrap the elastic around the top of the stick and put the end into and
through the top hole.

6. Turn the book over. At the back of the book, pull the end of the elastic down
and put it through the bottom hole. Insert the other end of the stick into
the loop.

7. Instead of an elastic (rubber) band, you can use a strip of plastic from
a plastic bag,

4. The Hot Dog booklet2.

The Hot Dog Booklet has a front and back cover and six pages inside.You can
use any size paper. For a book from recycled materials, use the front panel of
a grocery bag or any piece of paper with writing on only one side. The writing
should be on the inside when you make the first fold. To make multiple copies of a
book, make a blank book with plain copy paper (no writing on either side). Write
and illustrate your book with black marker or pen. Open the sheet and lay it face
down on a copier. Make as many copies as you want. Fold and cut each one.

1. Fold the paper in half the long way, like a hot dog.

2. Open the paper and fold it in half the short way, like a hamburger.

3. Take one layer of paper, flip the edge back to meet the fold, and crease.

4. Turn the paper over, flip the edge of the paper back to meet the fold, and
crease.

5. Place the paper on the table so that you see a W when you look at the end.

2 Reprinted with permission from Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord (makingbooks.com)

15 Literacy Boost Toolkit – Materials Guide

6. Cut the center of the W along the center fold.You’ll be cutting through two
layers of paper and stopping at the cross fold.

7. With your wrists above your fingers, hold the two halves of the hot dog from
the top.

8. Turn your wrists to the sides.You will have an open book with four sections.

9. Bring three of the sections together. Fold the last section on top of the other
three so that you have a flat book.

Literacy Boost Toolkit – Materials Guide 16

 Appendix C. Case Study of a Literacy Boost Book Bank

Literacy Boost – Allai (Pakistan) Book Bank

When Literacy Boost began as a small pilot in Allai tehsil, Battagram District under the PRDA program, the
team decided that each Book Bank should contain:

• 43 Pashto letter primers;

• 10 Pashto rhyme primers;

• 10 Pashto concept primers (non-fiction);

• 10 Pashto topic primers (non-fiction);

• 40 commercially available illustrated children’s books in Urdu

• 40 Aesop’s Fables laminated one-pagers (double sided: one side Pashto text and the other side Urdu text);

• 20 small chalkboard slates;

• 2 boxes colored chalk;

• 2 balls;

• 10 skipping ropes; and,

• 1 metal trunk to store all of the materials.

The Pashto primers were contracted out to a team in the Provincial Institute for Teacher Education (PITE). The
concept primers focused on early learning concepts such as colors, shapes, numbers, parts of the body, living
things, days of the week, months of the year, opposites. The topic primers focused on interesting themes for
children (e.g., My Family, My School, My Village, My Country Pakistan, My Favorite Foods/ Fruits/ Vegetables, Me
and My Friends, My Favorite Games, Animals, At The Market, Birds, Flowers, Trees, Heroes of Pakistan, etc.)

The 40 commercially available illustrated children’s books were different from the ones contained in the project-
provided library-in-a-box sets provided to schools. The team was instructed to select books with simpler texts,
colorful pictures, larger fonts, and featuring themes that are relevant to rural settings such as Allai.

17 Literacy Boost Toolkit – Materials Guide

LITERACY BOOST TOOLKIT
MATERIALS GUIDE

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