Little kids love Toodle-oo Ruby Blue so much Garn Press asked Rachel Backshall to turn her wonderful illustrations into coloring pages for little kids to color. Then we took some of the coloring pages to the Brooklyn Book Festival and children spent the whole day coloring them with Rachel who flew all the way from Scotland to New York to be with them.
At the Brooklyn Book Festival many parents talked with Denny Taylor who wrote the story Toodle-oo Ruby Blue about their children’s struggles learning to read in school.
Denny shared with parents that the secret to the success of children’s early literacy experiences is engaging children in joyful reading experiences that encourage children’s positive interactions with books.
"We would stack Toodle-oo Ruby Blue," Denny said, "up against an entire year of workbooks and test prep materials in encouraging young children to love reading and become enthusiastic ‘proficient’ young readers."
At Garn we recommend that children have great stories with illustrations that also tell the story, and coloring books – like this one! – that encourage children to actively engage with the characters as they retell the story – reading the words if they can or re-inventing them if not.
Most importantly, have fun coloring Rachel’s incredible illustrations with your children, and if you would like to know more about young children learning to read and write please go to the end of the book where you will find some more really important information about how children learn to read and write.
Denny Taylor began teaching 5, 6, and 7 year olds in the East End of London in 1968. She has taught many children to read and many beginning teachers how to teach reading. The concept of family literacy originates in her doctoral research on the social context of young children learning to read and write, and she was one of the founders of the field of family literacy.
Taylor’s books about children and reading include: Family Literacy, (1983, 1988), Family Storybook Reading (1986), Growing Up Literate (1988), Learning Denied (1990), From the Child’s Point of View (1993), Toxic Literacies (1996), Teaching and Advocacy (1997), Beginning to Read and the Spin Doctors of Science (1998), Save Our Children, Save Our School, Pearson Broke the Golden Rule (2014), Teaching Without Testing: Assessing the Complexity of Children’s Literacy Learning (2017), the YA novels Rosie’s Umbrella (2015, 2017) and Split Second Solution (2016), and the illustrated children’s beginning reading books Rat-a-tat-tat! I’ve Lost my Cat! (2015) and Toodle-oo Ruby Blue! (2017).
Rachel Backshall, BA Oxon, is a UK artist and illustrator recently graduated from Oxford University. She has exhibited her highly acclaimed silk paintings in London, Oxford and Liverpool – many of which are inspired by her research into specific archaeological sites during her degree.
Her illustrations are inspired by the natural world and focus in particular on the wild and wonderful animals that appear both in reality, and in children's imaginations. She is particularly interested in the concept of imaginative play, looking at the way children visualise and develop games and stories. Acknowledging that human imagination plays such a vital part to all stages of our lives, Rachel hopes to capture some of these moments within her illustrations, and in particular to relate to the magical way that children bring their toys and games to life.
Rachel has recently illustrated the prize winning Pearl of the Seas and Kris and Kate Build a Boat – The Magical Adventure for Garn Press author Ruth Finnegan, and has since been extremely honoured to work with Denny Taylor on Toodle-oo Ruby Blue as part of the Ruby Blue Series. She is currently working with both authors on future projects.
