We have teamed up with Bloomsbury Publishing to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Launching on Harry Potter Book Night, today we kicked off a series of events and resources to invite schools across the UK to join the magic.
Live event with Jonny Duddle
Today, thousands of children will be joining an exclusive live event with Jonny Duddle, the illustrator of the Harry Potter 2014 book covers and this year’s silver anniversary edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Pupils will hear how he created his iconic cover and see their favourite Harry Potter characters come to life; drawing along with Jonny to create their very own Hagrid.
The event includes British Sign Language interpretation and is available to watch here on YouTube.
Miles of Magic Reading Challenge
Jonny Duddle also launched the Miles of Magic Reading Challenge, a classroom resource available to all schools to download for free.
The challenge encourages reading for pleasure and develops reading stamina as it takes students on a reading adventure from Privet Drive to Hogwarts, hitting magical locations for every 30 minutes they read! At the end of the 7 week challenge, one lucky school will win a Harry Potter trunk filled with books and treats for their library.
Find out more and download the Miles of Magic Reading Challenge.
Miles of Magic: The Harry Potter Book Relay
To mark 25 years of Harry Potter, 25 schools from across our local area campaigns throughout the UK are taking part in Miles of Magic: The Harry Potter Book Relay which launches today.
Over the next four months, a special copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone will travel from school to school with pupils from each adding their own additions and contributions to the book. Keep an eye on the National Literacy Trust Twitter feed to follow the book's process.
The 25 schools have also been gifted a Harry Potter trunk of goodies to inspire pupils to celebrate the books and support their reading. Each trunk contains a class set of free Harry Potter books, an assembly plan resource from Warner Bros (the production company behind the Harry Potter films), a printed copy of the new Miles of Magic Reading Challenge, stickers, merchandise and more.
The schools have been asked to fill in special postcards to share what the Harry Potter books mean to their pupils and teachers. The postcards will be exhibited in celebration events around the publication of the anniversary edition this summer.
"We are thrilled and feel extremely lucky to be taking part in the Harry Potter Miles of Magic event. The trunk opening was a very exciting moment, for all of us, and we cannot wait to get started with our Reading Challenge and the Book Relay."
Candice Heim-Sarac, Teacher at Our Lady of the Assumption School in Blackpool
