PARS CPd

PARS Book Club

The aim of the PARS Book Club is to share a wide range of literature relevant to the theory and practice of working with children and young people. PARS Book Club is for anybody who wants to develop their knowledge of literature about children and childhood.
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About Book Club

Global sharing

Each PARS Book Club includes  international speakers talking about different pieces of literature, such as academic papers, practitioner blogs, novels, textbooks and even cartoon strips! This enables you to sample a diverse range of literature which may be helpful to follow up in your own work and to discuss the literature with the presenters and other participants.

Meet the authors

Each Book Club opens with a talk from a guest author about their own work. Two other presenters review a piece of literature which has affected their practice. There will be plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion.

Get involved!

If you are an author on children and childhood, or if you have a favourite piece of literature you would love to share with an international audience, you are very welcome to present at a future PARS Book Club - please do get in touch.

Meet our Presenters

Dr Tracey Martin-Millward, UK

Tracey is a Senior Lecturer in Education at Oxford Brookes, with over 25 years' experience as an educator. Originally a chemistry teacher, she moved into a local authority role implementing science subject developments and delivering national training for teachers. Recently, she worked as teacher-educator in higher education institutions before completing her doctorate in 2020. Her current research interests include the mechanisms of learning; through adult-child dialogue, out-of-classroom contexts, and the nature of (and role of adult in) young children's play. She completed the PARS Level 3 in 2024. Her passion (and doctoral thesis) focuses on the pedagogy and theorisation of the UK Forest School approach.

Tracey will be presenting:
The Essential Guide to Forest School and Nature Pedagogy 
(Cree, J. and Robb, M. 2021) 
Mike Weimann, Germany 

Mike has been campaigning for equal rights for children and adults since the 1980s. He was active with the children’s rights group K.R.Ä.T.Z.Ä. in Berlin, Germany. One of the main aims of this group was to abolish the voting age. Later he became the author of the book "Voting Rights for Children – a polemic“ which is soon to be published in English by Common Threads Press in England. He is co-founder of a Democratic School in Berlin, Germany (2008). The association behind these activities is Netzwerk Spiel/Kultur in Berlin – where he is a board member for many years now. He has been a member of the European Democratic Education Community (EUDEC) from its very beginning and is currently a Council Member.


Mike will be presenting his book:
Wahlrecht fur Kinder / Voting rights for children - a polemic.
(2002) 
Joana Ascenso, Portugal

Joana is an astrophysicist who, after almost 20 years studying the impact of environmental conditions on the birth and early evolution of stars, started to research into human childhood instead. After a few years of informal research and scattered actions, she founded "Manga a Pé, an organisation to reconnect adults with the experience of childhood in Portugal, promoting opportunities for free play and autonomous experiences for children across different contexts. Manga a Pé is beginning to partner with schools, other public entities and local communities to advocate for children's right to free time and assist with developing the necessary conditions to implement it in children's lives. Joana is currently undertaking the PARS Level 3 training.

Joana will be presenting: 
City of Children by Francesco Tonucci

Meet our Book Club Host

Dr Linda Shaw, UK 
Senior Lecturer in Child Development and Education

Linda Shaw (PhD) is a senior lecturer in early childhood and education studies. She is a qualified teacher with experience of primary, post 16 and family learning. Previous roles also include leading early years care and education projects at a local authority as well as carrying out training, development and support as an early years' teacher consultant. Her Masters and PhD focus on work relating to public and third sector policy and practice. Her research and publications focus on play, playwork and ethics with a current interest in intergenerational and multigenerational play spaces.