August’s Monthly Stories and Poems

Over the summer, The Reader is running our biggest Shared Reading Awareness campaign in years. See our new video, taking a look inside a Shared Reading group here.

For August’s Monthly Stories and Poems, we've selected some Shared Reading favourites. It wasn’t an easy choice as there are so many stories, extracts and poems that have stood out over the years, but these selections have been particularly well tried and tested in many different groups, reaching readers with varying backgrounds and life situations. They’re also texts that have got a good response from group members, speaking to many of the aspects of Shared Reading that bring about feelings of connection, heritage and friendship.

For longstanding Reader Leaders, some of the choices may be familiar, but we hope there will be something here for everyone to enjoy this month.

August’s stories and extracts are:

The Lumber Room by Saki

The Song of the Family (extract from The Pearl) by John Steinbeck

Faith and Hope Go Shopping by Joanne Harris

My Polish Teacher’s Tie by Helen Dunmore

My Aunt Makes Her Mind Up About Me (extract from David Copperfield) by Charles Dickens

Listen out for a new episode of The Reader Podcast coming later this month which includes readings of poems featured in this month’s selection, including a particular favourite of The Reader’s founder Jane Davis. In the episode we’ll be delving into what we’ve learnt about Shared Reading over the past two decades since the very first Shared Reading groups started up.

August’s poems are:

Idea, or Since there’s no help by Michael Drayton

Walking Away by Cecil Day-Lewis

Everything Changes by Bertolt Brecht

We Wear The Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar

The Way It Is by William Stafford

The quest explained, followed by the first excuse (extract from The Conference of the Birds) by Farid Ud-din Attar, translated by Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis

If you're a Reader Leader head to the Online Community Hub to download this month's selection.