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How do I help someone fall in love with reading? with Nadia Shireen & Jonathan Douglas | Ask Penguin
In this bonus episode of the Ask Penguin podcast, host Rhianna Dhillon sits down with children’s author and illustrator, Nadia Shireen, and Jonathan Douglas CBE, Chief Executive of the National Literacy Trust to discuss the National Year of Reading’s Go All In campaign. Plus, we answer your questions about the reluctant readers in your life and give out more book recommendations to spark a lifelong love of reading.
About the guests:
Nadia Shireen is a writer and illustrator. She enjoyed making homemade magazines and comics as a child. She studied law at university and then worked in magazine journalism; it was during this time that she started to draw again. After a lifetime of doodling in the sidelines, Nadia decided to pay some attention to drawing and in 2007 was accepted onto an MA course in Children's Book Illustration at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. Her debut book Good Little Wolf received a mention in the Bologna Ragazzi Opera Prima Award and won the UKLA Book Award. Nadia has been shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and the Waterstones Children's Book Prize.
Jonathan Douglas CBE is CEO of the National Literacy Trust, a trustee of the Philosophy Foundation and of World Book Day. He is passionate about promoting access to literature and addressing inequality through literacy. He has lobbied and campaigned extensively and led the formation of the Literacy All Party Parliamentary Group. He is a chartered librarian and was Head of Policy Development at the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and previously worked at CILIP and in Westminster Libraries.
For more information about the National Year of Reading, click here: https://goallin.org.uk
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Chapters:
0:00 – Podcast intro by host Rihanna Dillon.
01:23 – What is the National Literacy Trust?
02:08 – Why 2026 was designated as the National Year of Reading?
03:47 – Have there been other National Years of Reading?
04:59 – Nadia Shireen on why she became an ambassador for the campaign and her school visits.
05:46 – What does it mean to be an ambassador for the National Year of Reading?
06:48 – What it means to "Go All In" for the campaign and strategies for behavioural change in reading?
08:08 – Why it's important to break down reading format hierarchy?
09:32 – Why are local stories and community identity is important for encouraging reading?
11:03 – How can book lovers encourage reluctant readers in their lives?
11:59 – How many volunteers are involved in the National Year of Reading?
12:54 – The importance of reading fan fiction, video game communities, and visual literacy/comics.
14:14 – What do children gain from discovering stories?
16:03 – Why is humour important for children's books?
17:01 – Jonathan Douglas's experience as a children's librarian and early funny books (Anthony Horowitz).
18:27 – Illustrating, draw-alongs, and demystifying the creative process for kids.
19:42 – Campaign partnerships (social media influencers, "Summer of Sport and Reading", British Land).
20:53 – Books that sparked the guests' love of reading (Meg and Mog, P.G. Wodehouse, My Name is Peter, A Traveller in Time).
24:32 – Favourite places and habits for reading (bedtime, train journeys, e-readers, and reading in the bath).
25:51 – Listener Request 1: Book recommendations for a partner into PS5, F1, and actuaries (The Formula, Niki Lauda biography).
26:49 – Listener Request 2: Recommendations for a friend into guitar, food, flowers, and birds (Kitchen Confidential, Men of a Certain Age, reading cookbooks as novels, May We Feed the King?).
29:43 – Listener Request 3: Recommendations for a reluctant reader who loves the beach and outdoors (The Beach, The Wedding People, Joseph O'Connor trilogy).
31:26 – Listener Request 4: Recommendations for an 8-year-old girl who loves baking, drawing, and climbing trees (Grimwood, comics/graphic novels, Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes).
33:38 – Outro
#BookRecommendations #BookSuggestions #NYR #PenguinBooks #Podcast #BookPodcast #Booktube #reading #Podcast #BookPodcast #GoAllIn
