Halifax bookshop bringing six of country's top authors to meet Calderdale schoolchildren
Calderdale pupils will have chance to meet six of the country’s best known and loved children’s authors thanks to a Halifax bookshop.
The Book Stop, in Skircoat Green, has organised the Golden Bookmark Award, asking youngsters across the borough to vote for their favourite out of six titles published over the past 12 months.
Children have been busy reading and discussing their top choices and on Friday, 360 pupils from 12 Calderdale schools will be able to meet the six authors of those books and hear them speak about their work.
The authors attending the award event are Matt Goodfellow (whose work includes Final Year and Six Weeks), Tolá Okogwu (Onyeka series and Bim Blake’s Hot Takes series), Onjali Q Raúf (The Boy at the Back of the Class and The Game I Will Never Forget), Hannah Gold (The Lost Whale and Lone Husky), Phil Earle (When the Sky Falls and Finn’s Epic Fails series) and Iqbal Hussain (The Night I Borrowed Time and The Day I Stole the Future).
Students have also been creating artwork related to their favourite book, and these will be entered into a contest to be judged by illustrator Chris Mould.
The money for the project comes after The Book Stop was chosen to receive a Penguin Children’s Bookshop Grant as part of the publishing firm’s wider commitment to encourage reading for pleasure during the National Year of Reading.
Amy Moorhouse, who owns The Book Stop with her husband Grant, said: "When I submitted the funding application, Penguin said they loved the idea because it sounded like a mini Booker Prize for children!
"They were also particularly pleased that I'd engaged with local schools before applying, to find out what teachers and pupils would actually like to take part in and what would help get children excited about reading.”
She added: “One of the best things when I’ve been into the schools and launched the award, and told the children who authors are and what the books are, has been to see the children’s reactions.
"They’re just so excited. They know these people, they know their books, they have been loving the books."
She added a huge thank you to Penguin for enabling the award to happen, saying it was an idea she had been hoping to bring into reality since taking on the book shop.
"I'm really hoping this can become an annual event for Calderdale schools,” she said.