World Book Day 2023 celebrations

We're really looking forward to celebrating World Book Day next Friday, 3rd March!  World Book Day is a great opportunity to promote reading for pleasure and offers every child/young person the opportunity to choose a book of their own.

As well as our ever popular Match the Teacher to the Book competition, all EPHS students have been sent a digital £1 World Book Day Token, valid until Sunday, 26th March via email to their parent/carer. 

This can be exchanged for one fabulous £1 World Book Day books in participating bookshops or supermarkets or to get a £1 any full price book costing £2.99 or more. 

 

Your Librarians will also be giving away a selection of the £1 World Book Day books to all Year 7 students.

On the day, our Year 7 students and all EPHS staff will also have the opportunity to dress up as their favourite book characters and take part in exciting reading activities!

Match the Teacher to the Book competition

We are delighted to announce the launch of our latest Library competition, ‘Match the Teacher to the Book’, as part of our World Book Day celebrations.

To enter, simply complete the entry form and link the teacher with the book you think they are reading.  Don't forget that you can ask the featured teachers for clues!

>Please remember to include your full name and your form on your entry.  You can only enter once.

The closing date is Monday, 6th March and there will be prizes for correct entries.  Good Luck!

Children's Book Awards 2023

Below is a round up of some of the long and short lists of some of our favourite children's and YA book awards.   The Diverse Book Awards and Bookseller YA Book Prize are open for 2023 submissions now. Watch this space for the announcement of the winners later in the year!  

Yoto Carnegies 2023

Formerly know as the CILIP Carnegie and Greenaway Awards, this year's Medal for Writing longlist features an interesting mix of books covering historical, mythical and societal themes.  They include the feminist retelling of the Medusa myth by Jessie Burton and the late, great Marcus Sedgwick's gripping tale of teen life, Wrath. There are also books by other former Carnegie Medal nominated authors including Ruta Sepetys, Katya Balen and Patrice Lawrence.  The shortlist of eight books will be announced on 17th March.

EPHS students will be shadowing the Carnegie Award again this year - we can't wait!

Waterstones Children's Book Awards

The Waterstones Children's Book Prize shortlist 2023 has been announced. The award is split into three categories - illustrated books, books for younger and books for older readers. There are a great selection of books on the lists including All That's Left in the World by Erik J. Brown and If You Still Recognise Me by Cythia So, both of which are available to borrow from the Upper Library.

The Lollies Laugh Out Loud Book Awards 2023

The shortlists have been announced for the seven categories and readers are invited to vote for their favourites by 12th May 2023.  The winners of each category will be announced in Summer 2023. The teen shortlist features the hilarious, award-winning Not My Problem by Ciara Smythe, available to borrow now from the Upper Library.

The Branford Boase Awards 2023

The longlist has been announced and features some great titles, including If You Still Recognise Me by Cythia So.
Awarded for an outstanding debut novel for children to the author and their editor, the shortlist will be revealed on 27th April and the winner announced on 13th July.

Fall in Love with a Good Book!

With Valentine's Day and half term coming up, now is a perfect opportunity to fall in love with a good book and do some reading for pleasure!  We have some fantastic books for you to borrow and browse.

If you need some encouragement to rekindle your love of reading, here are a couple of tips:

Make time to read every day - it may sound obvious but even if you don’t like reading, with the right book reading will become a habit and something to enjoy.  

Turn everything off. Leave your gadgets in another room. Stay far away from screens and other things that may take your attention. It's only for a short time, nobody is going to miss you, and you aren't going to miss them!

Choose carefully - think about what you are interested in reading, there is no right or wrong.  Something funny? Something short? Something satisfying? Romance? Crime? Thriller? Get ahead by picking something you think you might love or ask your Librarians, teacher or friend for recommendations.

LGBT+ History Month

February is LBGT+ history month, an annual celebration and remembrance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history. The aims of the month are to promote equality and diversity, and remember how changes have been made over the years about people's rights. It is also an opportunity to think about what we can do to promote inclusiveness.  

This year's theme is #behindthelense and so we have selected books with an LGBT+ theme that have been made into films for you to browse and borrow.  This includes the phenomenally popular Heartstopper series, adapted for Netflix from Alice Osman's brave, funny and heart-warming graphic novels about Nick and Charlie.