School children in Burngreave are turning over a new leaf by becoming budding bookworms.
Four primary schools and the local library each held a book fair where every child could pick up two free books of their choice.
Funded by Burngreave New Deal for Communities (BNDfC) in association with Waterstones bookstore in Orchard Square, Sheffield City Centre, Firshill, Pye Bank, Byron Wood and St Catherine's primary schools, as well as Burngreave Library, all took part.
A wide-range of books were available but best sellers such as Harry Potter proved to be particular favourites. As Karen Allott, deputy-head and English team-leader at Byron Wood School, explains approximately 880 books had been given out at her school alone which is of huge benefit to the children.
She said: "This has been a wonderful opportunity for our children – they have been so excited about it! We spend a lot of time within school encouraging reading, writing and good literacy – so this compliments our school improvement plan nicely.
“When the books are taken home, parents are also encouraged to read to their children – having dual-language books on offer is also great because it can help parents whose first language isn't English to do this too,” she added.
Jon Cowley, education theme manager at BNDfC, said: “BNDfC are really pleased to support these book fairs because they help our efforts to encourage learning.”