Appraisals

Super Service!
E-mail - 31 July 2003
I wanted to send you my appreciation and thanks for your excellent service. I live in Austria and teach ESL in Primary and Secondary school. Up until now, it's been very difficult to find the books and materials that I like to use in my classes. When I discovered Jubilee Books online, I wondered if I would receive my materials before the begin of the school year....well, to my surprise, and less than one week later, I have received the entire shipment and it's all in excellent condition. Thank you so much for your excellent customer service and help. I am now making Jubilee Books my main source for purchasing my teaching materials and you will probably receive another order shortly!
With best wishes,
Karen Widl

Books site with a little more
TES Teacher - October 11th 2002
Jubileebooks.co.uk is not just a bookseller's site, it was created for schools and parents. Besides buying books it also offers services for you school including book fairs, book bus, visits from authors and art workshops with resident artists. You can also subscribe to a regular newsletter.

Times Educational Supplement - 22nd December 2000
In the words of children's author Vivian French: "Everything Jubilee Books does is geared towards the celebration of words, both written and spoken."

There is plenty to rejoice about this Christmas. In the summer, the book supplier was relaunched in a converted gym at Eltham Green school in south-east London. It was cheered on by Dan from EastEnders, performance poet Adisa and a hall full of parents and children.

Its website (www. jubileebooks. co.uk) has been expanded and a programme of online and classroom-based creative writing projects will be added to the existing book- related services Jubilee offers to schools. These include author visits, art workshops, book fairs, in-service training and morale-boosting.

The yellow Jubilee book bus, which carries children's fiction on the bottom deck and picture books on top, is a familiar and cheering sight throughout the London boroughs of Lewisham and Greenwich. (It also ventures beyond the M25. Customers for other services come from as far away as Scotland!

Eddie Burnett, co-founder of Jubilee, is usually at the wheel. Eddie is the sort of person the National Reading Campaign had in mind when it started looking for Reading Champions this year. "I started off working in a warehouse for a book distributor. I wanted to be a sales rep, but I didn't get the chance. I kept finding out more about the book trade; asking people for advice; getting more interested. Later I took over a bookstall in Jubilee Market, in Covent Garden and worked seven days a week."

Five years ago. Eddie and his wife, Sally, acquired their first roving book centre. "We began with an old library bus. After a year going into schools and kids saying: 'That isn't a bus', I went out and bought the double-decker.

Jubilee will soon have seven staff, including two part-time school librarians. Sally is the administrator and Eddie remains frontman, spreading the word about the joys and the importance of reading with his story sessions on wheels.

He grew up in Kidbrooke, near his Eltham Green base, and wants to put something back into his community. He is especially committed to easing access to books for families and teachers in under resourced neighbourhoods. This does not always increase his sales and he is likely to end a session by saying: "Tell your mum or your dad to take you to the library.

He says: "Out of school children can encounter a bit of what I call the Millwall attitude among adults: no one likes us, we don't care', and books are one way for children to see there's an alternative to that. He is a business partner in the South Greenwich Education Action Zone, which covers 10 primaries and four secondaries, including Eltham Green, and knits access to quality books into school improvement. Last summer all the primaries in the EAZ had a visit from the book bus, and every pupil took home a dictionary and a new novel.

As an enthusiastic professional who isn't a teacher, he is especially well placed to offer children information about books.

"Everything Jubilee Books does is geared towards the celebration of words, both written and spoken. There's a wonderfully infectious zest and enthusiasm in the air, but don't make the mistake of thinking it's all sparkle and no substance. A real professionalism exists behind the bounce; there's a brilliant display of books, an encyclopaedic knowledge, and a profound respect for children. And, most importantly of all, there's a warmth and a passion that is completely and utterly genuine. There's something quite amazing going on in Eltham. Watch out for those sparkles .... if ever anyone can convince kids of the magic of words it's Jubilee Books."
Vivian French

"The need for the encouragement of literacy in this area is immense. Jubilee Books provide a wide range of children's literature which they back up with hugely important services. The variety and quality of the books we have in stock enable teachers, children and parents to make choices which they cannot make elsewhere.

The storyteller provides an essential link between the spoken and the written word, which enables children to experience a variety of responses to stories and texts which are not otherwise open to them."
Deptford Park Primary School

"We have recently organized with the company the most successful bookweek held since I have been a headteacher at this school. They not only organism visitors to the school who captivated the children's interest in books - authors, musicians, illustrators to name but a few of the events, but also gave tirelessly of their time to ensure that everything ran smoothly. It is an invaluable benefit to be able to not only visit a showroom but also to have their knowledge at one's disposal. Resources in schools are so precious and so thinly spread that it is essential to ensure that they are expended in a way that maximizes their effectiveness. Jubilee Books consultancy service enables schools to feel confident that they are buying books most suited to their pupils' needs"
Ms. M.M. Bates - Headteacher Sherington School

"Jubilee Books… have made a significant impact across Lewisham -particularly in educational establishments where the promotion of literacy and multi-cultural education is paramount. This service provides an exciting and varied range of multi-cultural books and teaching packs."
Bev Clarke-Browne - QAD Business Manager Lewisham

We have found Jubilee Books an invaluable source of materials for use in schools. We were involved in partnership with them recently in providing all schools with a selection of suitable resources. They were able to undertake this difficult task with commitment and hard work in order to meet imposed deadlines.
Pat Keel - Head of Language and Achievement Programme Greenwich Council

The aim of Jubilee Books to raise pupil and parent awareness of the importance of literacy is achieved by getting the children interested and excited about books and to offer parents the opportunity to purchase quality books for their children.
Lynda Hage - Headteacher Invicta Primary School