A NEW website has opened the door to the world of Welsh literature for youngsters during the coronavirus crisis.

Created by Bangor University PhD student Morgan Dafydd, the Sôn am Lyfra - Talk About Books - website offers bilingual reviews of Welsh children’s books to help them develop a passion for reading in Welsh.

The aim of the website is to make it easier for parents and young people to find the perfect book and has been launched amid the lockdown as parents struggle to entertain their children and deliver home-based learning.

North Wales Chronicle:

The site aims to help pair children with books they will actually enjoy

A former teacher at Ysgol Dolgarrog - as well as an RNLI volunteer at the Conwy station - Dafydd found children studying Welsh as a second language often struggled to grasp Welsh literature which affected their confidence and enjoyment of reading.

Dafydd, aged 29 of Llandudno Junction said: “It’s all stemmed from my background as a teacher,” he explained.

“There are lots of children and parents who don’t engage with Welsh literature at all. It can be a confusing area for them.

“The children I taught were from non-Welsh speaking backgrounds and they found reading in Welsh difficult. I once did a show of hands and nobody in the class had ever been to the Welsh book shop down the road.

“It’s essentially a ‘good reads’ website providing reviews of Welsh language books for children and young people.”

North Wales Chronicle:

Llio Mai Hughes and Morgan Dafydd

Morgan built the website - which has amassed more than 100 reviews - with the help of his partner, Llio Mai Hughes, a Welsh language officer with Gwynedd Council, without any external funding.

The project dovetails with this course at the School of Education and Human Development, where he is working on a three-year research project examining the extent to which different types of bilingual books contribute to children’s enjoyment, understanding and willingness to read in Welsh as well as improve their vocabulary.

The free resource has also been created in support of the Welsh Government’s ambitious goal to achieve a million Welsh speakers by 2050.

“My aim is to help children understand the book so they enjoy what they’re reading and are reading for pleasure” he added.

The website is available at sonamlyfra.cymru.