Read Manchester’s #BigRead – The Kid Who Came from Space

Following the success of last year’s first ever Manchester-wide Transition Read for year 6 pupils in the City, the scheme is running again in 2021.  A free book was given to every child leaving primary school in Manchester to help prepare them for starting high school in September and give them a shared experience to discuss.

At the end of April, over 7,500 copies of award-winning author Ross Welford’s ‘The Kid who came from Space’ (HarperCollins Children’s Books) were sent out to Manchester primaries for each year 6 pupil, funded by Manchester City Council Education.  Each child has also received an enrichment resource pack full of creative ideas around the book, from out-of-this-world cookery and craft ideas to a story starter competition. Through Manchester Libraries, 1500 pupils from 26 schools were also able to join in online meet-the-author sessions with Ross in June.

The book is a science fiction adventure full of humour and celebrating the joy of friendship and love, with an underlying message of striving to do your best.  A perfect choice for this summer!  The #BigRead encourages children to keep reading throughout the summer following a disrupted year for them at school, and aims to help them make the transition to their new high schools.

Ross Welford, author of The Kid Who Came From Space, said:

“It’s a pleasure to support pupils as they make the move to secondary school, through what has been a challenging time for everybody. I hope the story will give them the chance to build new friendships as they reach this exciting milestone!”

Year 6 pupils from St John Bosco R.C. Primary School enjoyed reading the book.  Here are some of their comments:

“I like how you can visualise where the book is set and you can feel the emotions of how the characters feel and I also like how every year 6 is reading it.”

“I like that when I go to high school everyone will be reading the same book as me.”

“I think that it shows a life lesson to always tell the people who you love that you love them.”

Dommy B recommends our #BigRead too

If you’re interested in doing your own Enrichment Activities, you can download our resource pack.  If you’d like to read the book, visit your local library or borrow a copy online here.

Don’t forget that if you’re a Year 6 leaver in July 2021, you can enter our StoryStarter competition with Ross Welford as judge! Closing date is 30 September. The #BigRead scheme is led by Read Manchester – a Manchester City Council campaign in partnership with the National Literacy Trust.