Hannah Rix is the Co-founder of Little Reads, a digital reading library of 3,000+ hand-picked books for 5- to 11-year-olds. With the summer holidays coming, the former English teacher explains all
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Hannah Rix, avid bookworm, big fan of baked goods, beaches and spending as much time outside as possible. I’m a former English teacher, and I’ve since co-founded Little Reads with my husband James. It’s a digital reading library for 5- to 11-year-olds, with over 3,000 books in the app, and I’ve hand-picked every single one (which is either a dream job or a mild obsession depending on who you ask).
What led you to setting up the Little Reads App? What is your background?
I’m a Bungay girl born and raised, and a lifelong bookworm. I did my PGCE at the UEA and taught English around Norfolk and Suffolk for the best part of ten years, the last three as Head of English at a SEND specialist school.
The idea came from a problem I had as a book-loving child myself, and one I came across again and again while teaching: keeping keen readers supplied with books they actually want to read. Little Reads isn’t a teaching tool or a learn-to-read app, and it isn’t gamified either. It’s built for children who already love reading, and for the parents frustrated with waiting lists at the library or the cost of keeping a young bookworm stocked up (it gets expensive fast).
As a reader I like a hybrid approach myself, a mix of digital and physical. So, I wanted kids to have that option too, without the risk of them falling into a dopamine hole or making an accidental purchase because of an unexpected ad.
I also know screen time is a big concern for parents, which is why we’ve made the app just about the books. I like to say it’s screen time you can feel good about, because it’s intentional rather than passive, and there are no nasty surprises.
We know it’s not for everyone. It isn’t for parents trying to get a child reading in the first place (unless the only thing missing is access to good books, in which case we can help with that).
What is the thinking behind Little Reads and how does it work?
Little Reads is a library, not a classroom. It isn’t about teaching children to read or hitting levels, it’s for children who already love books and need a steady supply of good ones.
We’ve kept it very simple as it’s a child-led app. You download the app on iOS or Android, create an account, find a book and start reading. A free account comes with 100+ free books. The full 3,000+ library is £7.99 a month after a 7-day free trial, and you can cancel anytime. There are no ads anywhere in the app, and no games or gimmicks either. Just books, everyone chosen by me.
We’re approaching the school holidays. What would your advice be to parents/carers ahead of the six weeks?
As I’m not a parent myself, I’m reluctant to give parenting advice, I can’t speak to that experience. What I can speak to are my teaching years and the conversations I had with parents before, during and after every summer.
I saw firsthand the juggle and struggle parents face during the summer holidays. It’s a huge stretch of time to reorganise your whole life around.
I’d start by saying be super kind to yourself.
On the reading side, my advice is the same for every child: let them choose. The quickest way to flatten a child’s attitude towards reading is to turn it into a task, so hand the choosing over completely, even if they pick the same series for the fourth time. Re-reading is still reading.
And if your child races through books and you usually find yourself scrambling halfway through the holidays, sort the supply out before they start (if possible). A book-loving child can get through a lot in six weeks, so line up more than you think you’ll need: the library, charity shops, swaps with friends, a digital shelf like ours if that helps. Then let them read wherever the summer takes them, no targets, no book reports, just reading for pleasure.
What are your hopes and dreams for Little Reads?
To keep adding brilliant books to the library and get them into the hands of families who want them, without the cost or the waiting list.
In a dream world, Little Reads is the name parents think of when their child asks what they can read next. Not the biggest app going, just the best-stocked shelf, still hand-picked, still ad-free. And at the smallest scale: a child somewhere finding a book in the app they’d never have met otherwise and disappearing into it for an afternoon. Everything else is a bonus.
Littler Reads is on the App Store and Google Play. Follow @littlereadsapp on Instagram. And for Folk Features readers, the code FOLK30 gives 30 days of the full library free instead of the usual 7. Visit readingmate.co.uk/littlereads
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