Well, we had a competition to find a title for our group, and that was the name pulled out of the hat. Are we really rabid? I hear you say! No, we’re actually very nice! But we are really enthusiastic about our books.

We launched our group with a Book Party in October 2006, when local author Patrick Cooper (Wings to Fly, O’Driscoll’s Treasure) came to talk about the inspiration for his books and how he puts thoughts to paper. He then treated us to an anarchic puppet show with furry animals flying all around the library! (Thanks, Patrick, it was great!)

The group is going tremendously well! We've all enjoyed the chosen books so far, and because nobody has yet left, and more people want to join, we reckon we must be doing all right!

We meet at Ivybridge Library on Thursday afternoons between 4.00 – 5.00pm, and after some beautiful artwork making our name badges (which just get better each time), we discuss the book we have read the month before. This is very lively and interesting talk, and we don’t run out of things to say – in fact we usually run out of time.

We ask our Rabid Readers what books they have enjoyed and what they’d recommend to the rest of the group, and choose with their views in mind. We are also having a Friend’s Choice every month, as well as the main title, so readers can swap ideas and try other suggestions. Our recent questionnaire showed that adventure stories, historical fiction and books about magic would all be popular. I guess we can’t wait for the new Harry Potter….

Well we have some wonderful books in mind for the months ahead, with a good mix of the old, the new and the challenging.  We are also going to have activities and quizzes, although how we will fit it all in when we talk so much, it’s hard to say.

and become a Rabid Reader, we aim to make this group for people in school years 4 - 6, so we can pick books for this range. Any confident reader who is enthusiastic and open to new ideas about books, who can make it to Ivybridge Library every fourth Thursday, is very welcome. And we’re not rabid, not really.