The Graded Reader Network in Thailand (GRANT) is happy to announce that 18 new stories are out. All of them are written by Thai or Thai based authors and all are available for you to read and use in your class. The project took around a year from start to finish. It began with a workshop introducing the key principles and tools of storytelling. Participants then developed their own story ideas and left with a solid synopsis and a draft of the first chapter to guide their writ

What happens when a story leaves my hands and finds its way into the lives of young readers? Flesh gets added to the bone and the story no longer just belongs to the author. Readers become co-creators , using their own experience and imagination to bring life to the story. Every reader creates a slightly different version of the story in their mind. They fill in details that are not written on the page and connect events in the story to their own lives. Stories change lives.

Last year I had the pleasure of co-leading the first of two workshops in Thailand which focused on creating homegrown graded readers. Most people carry a story inside them. The challenge is to find a way to turn an idea into a story that can be shared and enjoyed by others. The project was important. At the time, there were no graded readers in English about Thailand written by Thai authors. The aim of the workshop was to help Thai or Thai-based educators to develop stories

One of the things I love about working with artists like Craig Bulloch and Bethany Lacey Freeman, is that when I asked for a picture of a dragonfly, they responded in the following way. 'Which breed of dragonfly do you want, a Scarlet Skimmer or a Common Green Darter?' The picture you see above is of a dragonfly, who is often seen near ponds and rice fields in South East Asia. He is the main character in a story I have been writing for a while. A Vietnamese reader would rec

When I wrote Egghead I thought that even if the story made one child feel less alone it would be worth writing. I had no idea that the story would strike a chord with so many young people. I had no idea that the story would take me all over the world. I entertained the idea that I could take the story with me to schools where I could talk about bullying. But I was wrong. I didn't take the story. The story took me. Even ten years later, people still want me to talk about Egghe

Over the years I've visited hundreds of schools in Italy to talk about bullying. The visits have been face to face or virutal and more often than not we talk about the stories, Egghead or Egghead the Movie, which are largely autobiographical. Through the story, the students often open up about their own world and their own experiences of bullying. It's easier to do that through the eyes of a character in a book. Somehow, a story always works its magic. The first time I went t

I’m working on a new story at the moment. It’s a sequel to the story, Boloro I I'm currently working on a new graded reader. It’s a sequel to the story, Boloroo’s Big Question. The first book, as you might know, is about a Mongolian girl who lives in Italy with her parents. She is a curious girl who is always asking questions. Her biggest question is about happiness. She asks people in her life how she can find happiness. Each person she asks gives her a different answer. The

Receiving an ERF Language Learner Literature Award for The Drum - Sapporo, Japan (September 2025) The Drum has received an ERF Language Learner Literature Award. Writing graded readers often take months or even years to develop. Receiving recognition from the Extensive Reading Foundation for what I do means a great deal to me. The words of the judges touched me deeply: The Drum is a touching and meaningful children's story that addresses grief and healing through a mix of rea