News — M. G. Leonard

M. G. Leonard on Sky News talking about the importance of World Book Day.

It was a delight to be invited to Sky News to talk about the great work World Book Day does to promote reading for pleasure, along with fellow author Will Mabbet.

Right now, growing numbers of children don’t own even one book, and literacy levels are sinking among those struggling in a cost of living crisis. Schools have had budgets slashed to the bone and cannot afford a library, let alone a librarian, and councils are closing public libraries. Is it any wonder that fewer than three in ten children are reading daily?

Reading is the single most beneficial and life-altering skill a person can learn. It certainly changed my life and I’m grateful for it.

A special thanks goes out to Sketchley Hill school who gave me permission to use photographs from my visit on World Book Day this year. I had a great time plotting crimes with their pupils, reading to them, and sharing the joy of reading.

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Come with me to The Island of Brilliant!

There’s a brilliant island, far far away, where the wonderful author illustrator Nadia Shireen lies in a hammock reading books and chatting about them with her cast away friend Frank Cottrell Boyce. This week I jumped on an underground steam train and paid them a visit. I brought a hamper of treats and as we ate them we talked about writing stories, our new favourite reads, and how hard it is to do magic tricks. I would have loved to stay longer, but I had to steam away to get ready for World Book Day,

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World Book Day 2024

Every year, it is a huge joy to see your wonderful costumes on World Book Day.

I like to celebrate readers’ awesomeness by gathering the images I’m sent online into a gallery so that you know that I’ve seen your costumes and how wonderful they are! This year the costumes were off the chart levels of amazing. I’m truly blown away.

I hope you all had a wonderful World Book Day!

If you dressed up as a character from one of my books this year, I would like to thank you, because I am honoured that you have enjoyed my stories enough to make this effort to create a costume, and it makes me so happy to see them.

If you want to send me a picture to add to the gallery, you can post it on a social media platform and @ me in or email it to info@mgleonard.com

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