Celebrating the Joy of Reading

March was a book-filled month at Peaslake Free School, as we marked World Book Day with a week of exciting activities celebrating our shared love of reading.

At our school, we place great importance on reading and storytelling, and it was wonderful to see this enthusiasm reflected across the entire school community. Classrooms—and even the playground—were alive with imagination throughout the week.

A particular highlight was a visit from children’s author Catherine Cawthorn, who led an engaging and interactive session titled Big Bad Wolf Investigates. The children took on the role of detectives, working together to solve a mystery while exploring storytelling techniques and thinking carefully about clues. It was a fantastic opportunity for them to meet a real author and experience how stories are created and brought to life.

Our staff also joined in the fun by creating a series of “Masked Reader” videos, released daily throughout the week. Each featured a mystery reader in disguise, reading a story in character. The children thoroughly enjoyed trying to guess both the book and the staff member behind the mask!

We were also delighted to welcome many parents into school to share their favourite childhood books with the children. These moments of shared reading across generations are so valuable in nurturing a lifelong love of books. One memorable highlight was Miss Lock’s reading of On the Ning Nang Nong by Spike Milligan, which had everyone laughing with its playful language and rhythm.

The week culminated in our much-anticipated dressing-up day. The children arrived in an incredible array of costumes inspired by their favourite book characters, bringing colour and creativity to the playground. Meanwhile, staff dressed as characters from The Jolly Postman by Allan Ahlberg. Throughout the week, children had also been discovering letters from the Jolly Postman hidden around the playground, adding an extra layer of excitement and adventure to their playtime.

It was a joyful and memorable week that reminded us of the power of reading to spark imagination, build confidence, and bring people together.