Bookstart Around the World 1
Bookstart Around the World overview, it seems tha
t, in Swedish research on language development in young children, most studies have concentrated on preschool. According to the picture provided by interviews and database searches, there are few studies on the role of the family in language development in young children and bookgifting programmes similar to Bokstart. It seems that the focus that just a few years ago was directed at the family and the role of the home is somewhat on the wane. Although ongoing evaluations are being conducted of several Bokstart projects (such as in Blekinge, Kronoberg and Gävleborg, as presented in this overview, and Gotland’s ongoing evaluation that intends to examine how the attitudes of parents are affected by participation in Bokstart), in addition to these, it seems that most research is concentrated on the preschool world. This is perhaps not particularly surprising, since preschool plays a very central role for language development in children, and most young children in Sweden attend preschool (the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions, 2017). This overview will not delve deeper into educational research relating to early literacy, since our focus in this context is the role of the family for children and in helping them to enjoy reading. There are, however, some interesting studies that we will highlight in light of the role that preschool plays for Bokstart in Sweden. They relate to the way in which preschools engage children in languagestimulating activities and the link between preschool and the home. They also have to do with the way that Bookstart entities can encourage children and their parents to participate in such activities. Reading aloud and promoting reading at preschool Firstly, some authors have taken a closer look at the extent and methods of reading aloud with children in Swedish preschools. Damberg (2015) emphasises that reading aloud is not done often enough and is too unstructured. Additionally, the reading was seen as being insufficiently interactive. According to the picture provided by interviews and database searches, there are few studies on the role of the family in language development in young children and bookgifting programmes similar to Bookstart. Alatalo and Westlund (2019) also examined how preschool staff understand reading aloud as a tool for language development in young children. Like Damberg (2015), they believe that reading aloud competes with a number of other priorities in preschool. As noted by Svensson (2009), literacy activities in preschools can take forms other than reading aloud. For example, Magnusson and Pramling Samuelsson (2019) describe how it is possible to work with language development by playing shop at preschool; it is emphasised that play is a tool for preschools to work with a child’s language development. In the Levande läsning [‘Living Reading’] project in Varberg municipality, preschools developed their systematic work with reading aloud in preschool. By means of several inservice training sessions for the educators, and the establishment of cloakroom libraries, the project resulted in preschool workers gaining greater proficiency in working with reading aloud with the children. Several parents and guardians stated that they had altered their reading habits with their children at home after cloakroom libraries had been introduced (Bengtsson & Mellberg, 2015). The way that preschools must, can, and should work with language development in children has recently been a central discussion. In order to increase knowledge about the importance of reading aloud and other literacy activities, the Swedish National Agency for Education has occasionally offered skillsdevelopment initiatives, such as Läslyftet [‘Reading Uplift’] in preschools. An interesting example from Bokstart is from Sjöbo, where it has been decided to give away the books during the introductory discussion at preschool (which is also done in Härnösand municipality) (Jönsson, 2020). As Nordberg (2019) describes, collegial discussions around the ‘entry hall situation’ can promote language development in children. The entry hall, or cloakroom, is a place where children change their clothes as well as where preschool staff meet the families. The article describes a few ways in which the cloakroom can be made more language friendly and how staff can interact with children. A common way of promoting reading for children in the entry halls of preschools is by means of cloakroom libraries. A cloakroom library is exactly what it sounds like – a library in the cloakroom at preschool (or other educational institution) where children and families can borrow books to take home. Magnusson (2020) describes cloakroom libraries as a method that is applied by the Bokstart initiative in Gävleborg. Several preschools in the region will soon have, or have already, established cloakroom libraries, and several believe that it encourages conversation about language and literature together with parents when they meet to collect or return books. In identifying cloakroom libraries in Sweden, and 33/52