Children at nurseries and schools in Southwark got a special visit from publisher Penguin Random House on World Book Day.
The publisher’s staff delivered interactive sessions with storytelling for children aged up to five, interactive quizzes for primary school pupils, and careers workshops with sixth form students considering a career in publishing at ten nurseries and schools across Southwark.
The official message for this year’s World Book Day on March 1 was ‘share a story’.
Penguin also gifted about 4,000 books through book prizes and donations to the schools it visited across London, including Burgess Park Community Nursery, Grove Nursery School, Kintore Way Nursery School, Bellenden Primary School, and Hollydale Primary School in Southwark.
A spokesperson for Grove Nursery School in Peckham said: “It is really important that we regularly read and share stories with young children.
“World Book day provides a wonderful opportunity to bring stories to life and the staff and children have made a fantastic effort to bring their favourite story characters to life through dressing up today.”
Burgess Park Community Nursery said: “This means a lot to us as it supports our pedagogical approach to literacy; our aim is for all our children to become confident talkers so they will be able to be confident readers.
“Parents reading with their children is key to their children’s success.”
Farhana Sultana, assistant headteacher at Hollydale Primary School, added: “Our children love stories, they love adventures, and most of all they love to talk about books and ask questions.
“Books are freedom bound within paper walls so World Book Day for us is about letting children discover books while highlighting that books are still important in our 21st century.”