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World Book Day

07 March 2019

The Morrisons Foundation and the National Literacy Trust will give 125,000 children the chance to discover a love of reading this World Book Day by donating more than 7,300 brand new books to primary schools across the UK.

Following research from the National Literacy Trust, which shows that children who enjoy reading and use their school library do better at school1 and are happier with their lives2, every Morrisons store in the UK will donate a bundle of 15 books to a local primary school this week.

The partnership will fill the bookshelves of primary school libraries and reading spaces across the country with a collection of colourful, exciting and engaging new books published by Penguin Random House1.

Every book bundle will include a copy of The Story of Tracy Beaker by beloved children’s author Jacqueline Wilson, who is also an ambassador for the partnership. Wilson delighted pupils at Shinewater Primary School in Eastbourne by hand delivering their brand new book bundle, donated by local supermarket Morrisons.

Kate Jarman, Year 6 teacher at Shinewater Primary School, said: “Our pupils had one of the best days of their school lives. They couldn't get over the fact that Jacqueline Wilson was with us! We're very grateful for the book donation from Morrisons and the National Literacy Trust. As a school, we've been working hard to promote reading and improve our library, and the children are now just so enthused by books.”

Jacqueline Wilson said: “World Book Day is a wonderful way to help children discover the joy of books. It's so important that they're introduced to a variety of exciting and engaging stories, which is why I'm so happy to support Morrisons and the National Literacy Trust to get 7,300 new books into the primary schools across the UK where they're really needed. I'm thrilled that ‘The Story of Tracy Beaker’ will be in primary school libraries. I hope children have fun reading about Tracy, chuckle at her naughty antics yet empathise with her situation – and then go on to explore many more stories.”

David Scott, Morrisons Foundation Trustee, said: “We are delighted to be working with the National Literacy Trust to provide new books for school libraries across the country. There’s a great selection of books and we hope this project will help children to fall in love with reading this World Book Day.”

Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust, said: “We are thrilled to be working with Morrisons to bring the gift of reading to 125,000 children across the UK by getting brand new books into primary schools. School budgets are stretched, many school libraries are struggling and 1 in 8 disadvantaged children don’t have a single book of their own at home; so it has never been more important to get books into the schools that need them most. When children discover a love of reading, they do better at school and later in life, so we must do everything we can to inspire children to fall in love with reading for a lifetime.”

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