Today marks World Book Day 2024, a celebration of reading for pleasure run by the charity World Book Day. I was honoured to be an MP ambassador for this year and the campaign to 'Read Your Way', which encourages children and young people to discover reading on their own terms, as a hobby.
Last month, I wrote to schools in the constituency to find out how they planned to celebrate. I was delighted to hear how many were taking part and some of the creative ways they were marking World Book Day. Dressing up, talks from various authors, quizzes and bake-off competitions are just a few examples.
As part of World Book Day, Northwood School welcomed children's author Cliff McNish to speak to pupils and to answer some of their questions this morning. I was delighted to accept an invitation to this talk, and was grateful for the opportunity to speak with Cliff afterwards about the importance of reading.
It was also a pleasure to be invited to judge the World Book Day bake-off competition at Vyners School in Ickenham. I was impressed by the creativity and imagination behind the story-themed cakes - and they tasted fantastic too.
In Parliament, I attended the World Book Day drop-in, where I had the opportunity to speak with the team about their campaign. I was really pleased to be able to share the many ways in which local schools and libraries were getting involved and promoting the aim of reading for pleasure.
