A Little, Aloud

A unique anthology of prose and poetry especially selected for reading aloud - with a foreword by Blake Morrison.We are on the cusp of a reading revolution. Increasingly, research is uncovering an intimate connection between reading and wellbeing. The seemingly simple act of being read to brings remarkable health and happiness benefits. It stimulates thought and memory, encourages the sharing of ideas and feelings, hopes and fears. It enriches our lives and minds.This unique book offers a selection of prose and poetry especially suitable for reading aloud - to your husband or wife, a sick parent or child, an elderly relative. With short introductions and discussion topics for each piece there's something here for everyone - from Shakespeare and Black Beauty to Elizabeth Jennings and Bruce Chatwin.All royalties in full will go to The Reader Organisation, the leading UK charity for reading and health.

“I've always known that reading aloud was one of the paths to greater happiness in life. It's rather pleasing to hear of research backing this up convincingly. But reading aloud isn't medicine to be swallowed to make one feel better. It's pleasure. Pure pleasure”

-- Stephen Fry
Reading aloud is an activity that everyone can take part in. It sharpens the intellect, invigorates the imagination and enlarges the scope of human sympathy. If we all read aloud every day, the world would be a better place -- Philip Pullman
Being read to is the beguiling beginning of learning to love reading - it opens the door to absolutely everything and anything we might want to do in life -- Joanna Trollope
Reading aloud brings health and happiness: guaranteed! I urge you to buy this book, read the wonderful (and funny, surprising, thought-provoking) pieces collected here to someone you care for and see the results for yourself -- Fiona Phillips
I read to stroke victims so know first-hand the power of good that reading aloud can do. This first-rate collection is a real treasure trove and I can't recommend it highly enough -- Richard Briers
This book is an incredible invention, and like all great inventions, you'll wonder how you ever managed without it -- Maureen Lipman
A Little, Aloud is wonderful...a luscious, challenging enticement to read and hear and share the love of doing both. We don't read with the eye only. Until we hear literature we don't possess it. This anthology is more than a collection of good writing, it wakens the ear to what good writing is -- Howard Jacobson
There's no doubt that reading aloud together about other's lives makes it possible to think and talk about our own in new ways... All the better if what is read is gracefully and perceptively written ... To bring together, as this anthology does, pieces that lend themselves to reading aloud, the editors have made a most generous and welcome contribution -- Tim Parks
The Reader Organisation is doing something no one else is doing on a such a scale and in such an inventive and thoughtful way: bringing books to people and people to books in a way that will change their lives for the better -- Raymond Tallis
Reading aloud you give a voice - your voice - to the text on the page. You bring the page to life. And being read to - what an abundantly enriching pleasure that is! All those other lives entering your own. -- David Constantine

The Reader Organisation (TRO), founded by the charismatic Jane Davis, is a national charity dedicated to bringing about a reading revolution by making it possible for people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to enjoy and engage with literature on a deep and personal level. Their 'Get Into Reading' read-aloud groups reach people who may not otherwise read, including people living in deprived areas, the mentally or chronically ill, older people living in Care Homes, prisoners, recovering addicts and excluded children. The organisation started on Merseyside but has since expanded across the UK and beyond. Angela Macmillan has worked at The Reader Organisation since its inception and runs several 'Get Into Reading' groups.

We remember it from childhood. The unique comfort of being read to - at bedtime, when we were ill, as a salve for the bumps and bruises of life. We knew it, we felt it. And now, science is showing it to be true. We are on the cusp of a reading revolution. Increasingly, research is uncovering an intimate connection between reading and wellbeing. The seemingly simple act of being read to brings remarkable health and happiness benefits. It stimulates thought and memory, encourages the sharing of ideas and feelings, hopes and fears. It enriches our lives and minds. This unique book offers a selection of prose and poetry especially suitable for reading aloud - to your husband or wife, a sick parent or child, an elderly relative. Or to someone who finds it hard to concentrate for long, someone who finds reading difficult or simply someone who has never been given the chance to get into a really good book. With short introductions and discussion topics for each piece there's something here for everyone - from Shakespeare and Black Beauty to Elizabeth Jennings and Bruce Chatwin. It puts great books in the hands and minds of people who need them. Proceeds from this book will go to The Reader Organisation, the leading UK agency for reading and health.

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