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Anthony Horowitz, author of the Alex Rider books, is visiting a school in Greenwich to answer questions on his latest novel and inspire pupils across the country to enjoy reading through a live-streamed event in a collaborative event between Walker Books, the National Literacy Trust and Facebook.
Horowitz will be at the Thomas Tallis secondary school on 15 June to discuss the eleventh instalment in the Alex Rider series, Never Say Die, which was published this month by Walker Books. Other schools and fans of Anthony Horowitz can join the event and ask the author questions through a Facebook Live webcast, which will take place between 14.00 to 15.00 BST on 15 June via the Alex Rider Facebook page. Teachers can also access exclusive resources to support pupils’ literacy as they transition from primary to secondary school – a time when many students fall behind.
The event will be available to watch back afterwards in order to inspire students of both primary and secondary ages to enjoy reading. This comes in the light of new research from the National Literacy Trust which shows the dramatic fall in reading for enjoyment when children leave primary school.
The event will be chaired by author Steve Cole, who will be joined by an audience of year seven students, as well as year six pupils from local primary schools, many of whom will join the school in September.
Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust said: “Although reading for enjoyment is at a record high among 8 to 11-year-olds, only 36% of boys between 14 and 16 like to read. This means that their reading age can be more than 3 years behind their peers that do enjoy reading. Working with Walker Books and Facebook we’re delighted to be bringing Anthony Horowitz Live to classrooms across the country. The event addresses this gap between primary and secondary school students and shows how fun reading can be.”
Author Anthony Horowitz said: “It’s great that more children are now reading for pleasure, but it’s important that this continues as they move from primary to secondary school. The Alex Rider books aim to capture the imagination of older pupils with action packed plots and topical themes. At my live event, I hope I’ll be able to inspire more students to pick up a book outside the classroom and get into reading.”
Jane Winterbotham, Publishing Director at Walker Books said: “We’re delighted to be working with the National Literacy Trust and Facebook on the welcome return of Alex Rider – Anthony has long been acknowledged as key force in getting reluctant readers excited about stories and we hope that by teaming up with Facebook we’ll engage many more potential readers both in schools and at home.”
For information on the live stream, please click here.