Parental and Community Involvement

Given that research has identified the importance of the home environment in shaping a child’s literate identity and promoting their engagement with reading, this chapter explains how two schools in the UK developed activities and events to work in partnership with parents to promote reading for pleasure. This chapter reflects on these strategies, in light of research, to demonstrate how schools can work with parents and communities to create a connected home-school environment that supports children’s enjoyment of reading. We argue that successful engagement with families must begin with a genuine desire to understand the ways in which reading operates within the home. Only then will schools be in a position to develop activities and events that fit with the everyday reading practices of the families within their communities and empower parents to work comfortably and confidently with schools to promote reading for pleasure in their children’s lives.