Read with all people
Because they feed the pleasure and the desire for stories, reading aloud is beneficial for everyone, from birth to old age!
Read with baby,
an endless story
From the beginning, we read with toddlers (0-3 years old) and their families.
All places are possible, and this from birth, in particular PMI (Maternal and Child Protection) consultations, libraries and childcare facilities, both collective and individual.
We read children’s picture books, sing nursery rhymes and nursery rhymes, individually and in small groups.
We make families and professionals aware of the benefits of these privileged relationship moments.
Thus this mother who testifies in the nursery: “We feel that the stories, he is interested. When he plays, there are a lot of things that come back. We even hear words, sentences, which he takes up and puts back in his own stories afterwards. I think it feeds his imagination well.“
From the beginning, we read with toddlers (0-3 years old) and their families.
All places are possible, and this from birth, in particular PMI (Maternal and Child Protection) consultations, libraries and childcare facilities, both collective and individual.
We read children’s picture books, sing nursery rhymes and nursery rhymes, individually and in small groups.
We make families and professionals aware of the benefits of these privileged relationship moments.
Committed and thoughtful practices
Reading with babies? Committed and thoughtful practices.
Advocacy on our fundamentals, written by Read with me for the symposium “Reading with baby, an endless story”, organized jointly with The Agency when books connect in 2016.
Readings in a “PMI” consultation create a great bond!
Read with me offers shared readings in the waiting rooms of many PMI (Maternal and Child Protection) consultations in two French departments Le Nord and Le Pas-de-Calais, as part of departmental policies for Early Childhood and the Family.
PMIs are privileged places for an encounter with books, because in France they are often the only places frequented by toddlers and their families.
Mums, and sometimes dads or other referring adults, come to the PMI to have their baby examined and to get advice from a doctor, a child care nurse or a psychologist.
Reading in PMI consultation is demanding. This requires regular intervention over time and permanent adjustment to families and professionals.
Readings in a “PMI” consultation create a great bond!
Read with me offers shared readings in the waiting rooms of many PMI (Maternal and Child Protection) consultations in the departments of Le Nord and Le Pas-de-Calais.
PMIs are privileged places for an encounter with books, because they are often the only places frequented by toddlers and their families.
Reading in PMI consultation requires regularity of intervention over time and permanent adjustment to families and professionals.
Read with children and their families
Children and their families
Growing up
in stories
We read aloud with children (3-10 years old), paying particular attention to those who need it most.
We offer collective and individual readings, always involving the referring professionals.
Where possible, we invite families to listen to stories with their child and to (re)discover the pleasure experienced with children’s books.
With older children, we can also accompany them to go read with younger children.
Once upon a time at school
In nursery and elementary schools, we encourage reading in small groups of 3 to 4 children, for an individualized approach.
Reading children’s books at school, in addition to the readings transmitted by teachers, means accompanying children in universes that are real spaces of dreams and thoughts where the real and the imaginary intermingle.
The reception and the investment of the teachers are essential so that the child feels a coherence between the different proposals, whether cultural or educational. Their presence during the readings also allows them to discover the attitudes of the children, different from the context of the class.
Once upon a time at school
In nursery and elementary schools, we encourage reading in small groups of 3 to 4 children, for an individualized approach.
Reading children’s books at school, in addition to the readings transmitted by teachers, means accompanying children in universes that are real spaces of dreams and thoughts where the real and the imaginary intermingle.
Read with parents
Read with parents
Parents,
children,
books
For Read with me, it is essential to meet not only children but also the family environment.
Reading with parents or refering adults allows them to discover that their child likes to listen to stories, that the contents of books are familiar to them, that they can be moved or laugh and rediscover something from their childhood. The intention is that they in turn can share books with their child.
Any adult, parent or professional can transmit literary texts provided they have appropriated them. Read with me offers different meetings to raise awareness and learn about sharing readings.
TO SEE
Film “Parents, children, books”:
words of parents who talk about their encounter with children’s books and readings.
TO SEE
Film “Parents, children, books”:
words of parents who talk about their encounter with children’s books and readings.
Reading reception in classroom
The reading reception are meetings conducive to raising awareness of parents with readings and illustrated books.
In schools, parents are invited by the teacher and by the reader to take part in shared readings, most often during the reception, in the morning.
During these reading receptions, parents can discover with their child the children’s books brought by the reader; a discovery with the family and/or during group readings.
The action takes place over several regular sessions to allow parents to come and the media library is associated.
Reading reception in classroom
The reading reception are meetings conducive to raising awareness of parents with readings and illustrated books.
In schools, parents are invited by the teacher and by the reader to take part in shared readings, most often during the reception, in the morning.
The action takes place over several regular sessions to allow parents to come and the media library is associated.
Volunteer parents readers
For many years, Read with me has supported the setting up of groups of volunteer parents readers in social centers and schools.
These parents agree to come regularly throughout the year to share stories with the children in small groups or individually. Children can thus have the book they have chosen read and reread at their own pace thanks to the presence of several adults.
Read with me offers them specific half-day or full-day courses to introduce them to reading aloud and children’s books.
In connection with the media library, Read with me supports them in the choice of illustrated books.
Volunteer parents readers
For many years, Read with Me has been setting up and training groups of volunteer parents readers in social centers and schools.
These parents agree to come regularly throughout the year to share stories with the children of a class in small groups or individually.
Children can thus have the book they have chosen read and reread at their own pace, thanks to the presence of several adults.
Read with teenagers
Read with teenagers
Children’s books
for teenagers
Read with me shares picture books aloud with teenagers in schools, social centers, homes for unaccompanied minors, social and medico-social establishments, and any other place that welcomes and accompanies them.
And they listen!
Because the children’s books, the stories, the tales but also the poems that are offered, are sufficiently rich and emotional thanks to their humor, their evocative power, the universality of their themes, to fascinate young and big.
Middle school students, stories’ passers
Read with me has been working for a long time in middle school, in particular with adolescents with school difficulties, and in particular with reading difficulties, in conjunction with school teachers, French teachers and librarians.
The aim here is to feed them stories aloud from ilustrated books adapted to their age, and to prepare and accompany them to go and read chilkdren’s books in the neighbourhood, in particular with children from nursery school and/or the elderly.
Sessions in nursery school or in homes for the elderly are an opportunity for middle school students to feel expert and valued with this book object that scared them so much.
And this positive experience can give rise to the idea that what seems insurmountable is accessible, and that if this is true for reading, it can also be true for other school learning.
Interview with Isabelle Stella – 26th Symposium of the Incorruptible – Oct 2015
Middle school students, stories’ passers
Read with me has been working for a long time in colleges, in particular with teenagers with learning difficulties, and in particular with reading difficulties.
The aim here is to feed them stories aloud from illustrated books adapted to their age, and to prepare and accompany them to go and read children’s books in the neighborhood, in particular with children from nursery school and/or the elderly.
And this positive experience can give rise to the idea that what seems insurmountable is accessible, and that if this is true for reading, it can also be true for other school learning.
Interview Isabelle Stella – 26th Symposium of the Incorruptible – Oct 2015
Read with adults
Read with adults
Picture book
at all ages of life
We share children’s picture books with a wide variety of adults: illiterate, in literacy classes, with disabilities, in professional reintegration workshops, in second-chance schools, in penitentiary settings ( library in the men’s or women’s quarters, “reading fathers in prison”, nursery), in a home for the elderly.
We read them stories aloud and accompany those who can and wish to read in turn.
We choose suitable picture books in addition to other types of texts. Even adults, we like to listen to stories, which is even more so when we ourselves are impeded. Picture books are now a literature in their own right, rich with text and illustrations that both touch us as adults and offer us “a break from childhood”.
Read in an EHPAD
(institution for dependent elderly people)
We offer group read-aloud sessions to residents. Many have difficulty hearing and seeing. We are committed to choosing works that we want to share, picture books, short stories, poems that lend themselves well to reading aloud by their evocative power, their liveliness, their humor.
We favor short texts that can be read in a single session and that lead to exchanges thanks to the emotions they arouse. Songs and fables are also highly appreciated for the joy they bring and the memory they revive.
The Ehpad is a closed world. The interventions of people who come from outside bring a breath. “We sometimes feel locked in, but the readings take us out of ourselves, we forget the problems of everyday life, they elevate us with all the questions they raise”.
Read in an EHPAD
(institution for dependent elderly people)
We offer group read-aloud sessions to residents. Many have difficulty hearing and seeing. We are committed to choosing works that we want to share, picture books, short stories, poems that lend themselves well to reading aloud by their evocative power, their liveliness, their humor.
We favor short texts that can be read in a single session and that lead to exchanges thanks to the emotions they arouse. Songs and fables are also highly appreciated for the joy they bring and the memory they revive.
VIDEO
Interview with Juliette Campagnefounder of Read with meReading with the elderlyBy the association Libre comme Lire
Read with "remote" or "impeded" audiences
Read with "remote" or "impeded" audiences
Specialized
places
We read in specific places, charities, solidarity, care, accommodation, social support, integration… whatever the age.
Whether you have a disability, whether you are sick, a victim of violence, deficiencies, whether you are illiterate, impeded, whether you encounter a trial in your life, whether you are destitute, isolated, rejected, homeless stationary, marginalized, separated from loved ones, insecure or faced with traumatic events, the sharing of stories read aloud individually or in small groups offers breathing space and resources to better grow, cultivate one’s abilities and better live with what makes us vulnerable.
And nourish our inner world.
Read in a home, an encounter with the other
In a home for adults with disabilities, we are asked to offer moments of storytelling. We read in groups, with attention paid to everyone, in the presence of a professional who can read if he wishes.
We read all kinds of stories: very rhythmic picture books, tales written to be read aloud, game books, riddle books, interactive, texts with repetitions of which the adults repeat the refrain with us, books that play with sounds and language, like picture books with onomatopoeia. And we sing songs that they know and enjoy singing with us.
We are in a shared jubilation around joyful and light books, in presence with each other, whatever their way of being and their communication skills. We do not ask questions after the readings but everyone reacts in their own way, to express their feelings and thoughts. Their psychic and cultural activity is recognized.
Image taken from our film The Breakaway
Read outside the walls
Read outside the walls
Let’s read
outside!
To go with the picture book to meet everyone, change the usual framework of readings.
With a carpet, cushions and books, we settle down under the trees, in the park, under the arbor, in the courtyard, on the lawn, at the foot of the building, in the square, in the street, on the beach, at a festival and even on a hike. We listen, we observe, we sing, we leaf through, we share images and words, stories between young and old…
More than forty days of outdoor readings are thus organized each year, most often with libraries: sessions for the general public and specific sessions for the local structures of the municipalities concerned.
In summer, read outside…
Every summer, on the occasion of the national operation Leave in book [Partir en Livre], Read with me offers libraries outdoor readings: “Beaches and Pastures on the page” in the department of Pas-de-Calais and “Let’s read outside” on Lille Metropolis and elsewhere in the Nord department.
Two operations in partnership: 
Readings with ATD Fourth World
As part of a partnership with ATD Fourth World in Pas-de-Calais and Nord, Read with me leads readings and participates in street libraries in disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Free and joyful reading sharing, open to all, to feed stories to children and their families, who are often far from books, to forge links between people and encourage them to discover the cultural spaces made available to them.
Read with me is also asked by ATD to train volunteers and committed volunteers in these territories.
