A partnership between Read Manchester, Manchester Libraries and the national World Book Day organisation ensured that children from across the city celebrated World Book Day in style this year. Seven hundred children from eleven primary schools were selected to attend the event at the Runway Visitor Park which houses Concorde. Children were treated to a show with five best-selling authors, including Cressdia Cowell, the author of the How to Train your Dragon series, and Rob Biddulph, the official illustrator for World Book Day. Tom Fletcher had the audience screaming (in the right places) as he played his guitar and raised the roof for reading.
Children also had the opportunity to meet the authors after the show and get books signed. Each child went home with three free books (over 2,000 were gifted in total) and a goody bag from Read Manchester. The event received excellent coverage on both the BBC and ITV and showcased Manchester as a city working together to promote literacy and reading for pleasure.
One teacher commented that the event had given them ‘lots of ideas to ignite the children’s passion [for reading]’ and another said ‘Thank you so much for this incredible opportunity – our children will remember this for a long time to come’.