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Hello and welcome to the Falkirk Libraries podcast with Tanya and Scott (from Edinburgh Libraries). Today’s episode is all about myths, legends and fairy tales and the books they have inspired.

What we have been reading and listening to:

Tanya has been reading:

• Betsan Corkhill and Lynne Rowe – Knit yourself calm
• Rhys Bowen – Royal Pain

Scott has been reading:

• The Name of the wind by Patrick Rothfuss
• I am a strange Loop by Douglas Hofstadter
• Square by Mac Barnett with the able assistance of his 2 year old son.

And listening to:

Library love..obviously😊 Radio Lab

New and forthcoming adult books:

• Dead at First Sight by Peter James
• A Book of Bones by John Connolly
• Big Sky by Kate Atkinson
• The Last Widow by Karin Slaughter
• Her Husband’s Mistake by Sheila O’Flanagan

New and forthcoming children’s titles:

• There’s an Alien in Your Book by Tom Fletcher,  Illustrator Greg Abbott (0-5 years)
• Wild Things by Fiona Danks and Jo Schofield (5 – 8 yrs)
• Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid by Jeff Kinney (8 – 11yrs)
• The Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu (Teen)

DVD recommendations:

• Spiderman : Into the spider verse  (PG)
• Aquaman (12)

Our Reading Agony this week: ‘My 9 year old daughter has dyslexia and I want to support her with her reading as she’s really behind the others in her class’.

• In the junior section of the library, look for books published by Barrington Stoke – they make books that are appropriate for different ages, from quite young, up to teen, but that use simpler language, a very readable font and yellow paper, which have been shown to help people with dyslexia to read more easily.  They look like other junior books, and we keep them with the other junior books so that kids reading them don’t feel singled out as different, but the publisher’s name is on the spine of the book or you can ask staff to help you find some
• Depending on her reading level, she might also enjoy some picture books designed for older kids or some of the comics suitable for children that we have in the junior graphic novel section.  Have a look through the comics and find ones with fewer words per page
• She might also enjoy some of the simpler non fiction books we have on a subject she’s interested in.  Ask staff about where to find the areas she’s interested in – if that’s dogs or sport or pc gaming or whatever
• It’s really important for you to keep up her interest in books and reading, so take out books that you think she’ll enjoy – maybe Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer or the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books by Jeff Kinney – and read to her every day.  Research has shown that it’s still important to read to kids of your daughter’s age so she’s exposed to more advanced vocabulary and concepts – read to her and then have a chat about the book.  It’s a lovely way to spend time with your child

Finally, how about spoken word books – books read onto cd or online – to help her enjoy books in a different way?  We have a small selection of books for kids on cd in our libraries and a big selection in our eaudiobooks service, which can be found by downloading our rb digital app (either onto your desktop or onto your phone or tablet) and looking for Falkirk Libraries.  I know you have a big selection in Edinburgh Libraries too, and most library services now offer this.  All you’ll need is your library card and pin number – if you don’t know your pin number, then ask staff at your local library.

Staff quote of the day “The answer is always Bob”

Our Discussion was all about Myths, legends and fairy tales in books – both novels and non fiction, adult and child

• Neil Gaiman – American Gods, Anansi Boys, Norse Mythology
• Stephen Fry – Heroes, Mythos
• Original Grimm’s tales – for adults or read before reading to children
• Children’s versions of fairy tales
• Jim Butcher’s Dresden novels
• Charles de Lint novels
• Urban fantasy
• Theresa Breslin – An illustrated treasury of Scottish folk and fairy tales
• The marriage of Cadmus and Harmony
• Fairy tales, Glass bead game by Herman Hesse
• Gravity’s Rainbow, The Mason Dixon line by Thomas Pynchon
• Angela Carter’s short stories
• Women who run with the wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
• The Iliad and the Odyssey by Marcia Williams (for children)
• Atticus the storyteller 100 Greek myths by Lucy Coates (for children)

Did You Know? If you enjoyed today’s podcast, then you might also like our videos – we’re on You Tube as Falkirk Libraries.  Our most recent videos are some lovely picture books that I read, with a wonderful BSL interpreter signing beside me, finishing up with a rhyme or song – the videos are suitable for hearing or Deaf / deaf little people and adults and we also think they might be useful for autistic kids so they can have a look at the type of thing that happens in our fun weekly storytime sessions.  I had a lot of fun recording them

Coming Soon – Writing Rammy

The Rammy Returns! Falkirk Libraries annual short fiction competition, The Writing Rammy, is back for its third year.

The competition is open to all ages, whether you’re 5 or 105! Taking part couldn’t be easier; all you have to do is write a short piece of fiction or poetry about anything you choose. You can even send in entries from your whole family for a chance to claim our Family Rammy prize!

Age categories this year

• Junior 12 and under (250 Words)
• Teen 13 -17 (up to 500 words)
• Adult
• Family

Look out for writing workshops in libraries this summer. All the entry details are available in libraries and on our website

Thank you for listening to the Library Love podcast, we hope you’ve enjoyed yourself and if you did, then rate and review us on Apple so that more people can find out about us.  We love to hear from you and if you’d like to get in touch with us, or if you’ve got a Reader Agony of your very own then go to www.librarylovefalkirk.com, Falkirk Libraries on Facebook, Instagram and You Tube or @LibFalkirk on Twitter