Vanessa Reilly receives the British Council Award for Innovation 2005.

Vanessa Reilly is the author of Cookie and Friends. She taught children for over ten years and also ran courses for teachers in Spain. She has an M.A. in ELT specializing in young learners. She is currently training primary EFL teachers in the UK.

Vanessa is the author of two children's coursebooks, Zap! and Cool! Starter, both published by Oxford University Press. She is the co-author of Writing with Children and Very Young Learners in the Primary Resource Books for Teachers series.

Routines help the teacher organize a class of 20 small children! Routines also help pupils feel secure and to know what the teacher wants. The units in Cookie and Friends help teachers establish some routines for their class such as 'Circle time' (when the class sits on the carpet to sing, play or share a story) and 'Table time' (when pupils work quietly with a worksheet).

It's important to have a variety of resources. They must be useful and not just decorative. All the resources available with Cookie and Friends have a use in class. Songs help children learn and remember language, and we've made it easier to learn them, choosing catchy, traditional tunes which children often know already.

I enjoy a story much more when I don't know how it's going to end and I think my pupils do as well. Sharing the experience of telling or listening to a story is an important activity for the class. The stories in Cookie and Friends have been written so that the language and the contexts are accessible to very young learners – which means the children can relax and enjoy the story. Keeping the ending a surprise just adds to the fun!