Dragons, wizards and hungry caterpillars are on the curriculum for 30,000 children across the city as the Liverpool Readathon returns for its third year next month.
More than 100 schools have signed up to take part in this year’s event from 2-13 March which will include a visit from Waterstones Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell.
The Liverpool Readathon will also incorporate a citywide Drop Everything and Read (#DEARLiverpool) at 10am on World Book Day (Thursday 5 March), which is also open to local community groups and businesses as part of the Liverpool City Council-led Year of Reading #LiverpoolReads initiative.
The Readathon is organised by the Liverpool Learning Partnership with the charity Read for Good, which has been running its Readathon in individual schools since 1984. Children taking part in the event will be sponsored to read whatever they like – from comics to classics – with the emphasis on reading what they love.
Money raised will be used for school libraries and by the charities to fund their work in Liverpool, including Read for Good’s mobile bookcase and resident storyteller at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. The first two Liverpool Readathons raised more than £33,000.
How to Train Your Dragon’s author and Waterstones Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell is hosting an event for primary schools at The Epstein Theatre on Wednesday 4 March and then visiting Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in the afternoon.
Read for Good’s storyteller, Wilf Merttens will inspire older children at two secondary school events on Tuesday 10 March.
There’s still time for more schools to sign-up – email liverpool@readforgood.org
For more information visit: http:readforgood.org/dearliverpool
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Read for Good chief executive Justine Daniels said: “Learning to love to read as a child is one of the greatest things you can do for so many reasons: from academic attainment to emotional well-being. For some children our Readathon is the spark that inspires a lifelong love of reading and for many more, it’s a fantastic way to reinforce and revitalise reading habits.
“Liverpool was the first city in the UK to run our much-loved Readathon across its whole school community back in 2017, in a model that’s now been copied by other cities including Manchester and Leicester. We can’t wait to see the creative ways schools will run it for the third time.”
