Information School News

  It's World Book Day, and some of our staff have put together a list of their favourite books and characters to celebrate. Kate Miltner - Lecturer in Data, AI and Society "One of my favorite book characters is Eloise from Eloise by Kay Thompson. She's funny, adventurous, imaginative, and certainly keeps the adults around her on their toes. As a child growing up in the suburbs of New York City, I couldn't imagine a better life than having the full run of The Plaza hotel to myself!" Itzelle Medina Perea - Postdoctoral Researcher "Three of my favourite books are Lanny by Max Porter, Our Share of the Night by Mariana Enriquez and A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende. The last two are by female Latin American authors, originally published in Spanish but translated into English." Harriet Godfrey-Holmes - Departmental Manager "Dido Twite from Joan Aiken's wonderful Wolves Chronicles books was a childhood hero for me -  a plucky child who travell...

For World Book Day 2021, Information School Lecturer Dr Pam McKinney shares her thoughts. As a parent I have spent the last 8 years participating in world book day, making costumes for my children to wear to primary school based on their favourite characters. But WBD is far more that a glorified dressing up competition (although I won’t lie about the competitive aspect of making a good costume!). WBD encourages children to engage in reading for pleasure, and numerous studies have shown that reading for pleasure is directly related to academic success, through increasing vocabulary and confidence in reading, and affecting performance across all subjects, not just English. As my kids get older and are at secondary school I can see the importance placed on reading in this context, with tests of reading age informing assessments of progress and ability, and the central role that a school library, staffed by a qualified librarian in supporting reading for pleasure. So I will continue to get...