HarperCollins and Reading Agency to give away 5,000 copies of Morpurgo book for jubilee

HarperCollins Children’s Books (HCCB) is teaming up with the Reading Agency to give away 5,000 copies of Michael Morpurgo’s There Once is a Queen to libraries across the UK and Northern Ireland to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.   

The book, which is illustrated by Michael Foreman, publishes on 12th May and libraries are expected to receive their books on and around that date.  

Cally Poplak, executive publisher of HCCB and Farshore, said: “There Once is a Queen  is a book for all ages to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and we are delighted to partner with the Reading Agency to gift copies to libraries so that all families have the chance to share this wonderful book and a unique moment in history.”  

Karen Napier, c.e.o. of the Reading Agency, said she was thrilled to be working on the initiative. “The Reading Agency’s vision is for a world where everyone is reading their way to a better life,” she said. "The generous donation of Michael Morpurgo’s brilliant book by HarperCollins to libraries will help children discover the joy of reading this summer.”  

There Once is a Queen begins with the Queen as a child planting an oak tree with her father and follows her life story.  

Morpurgo said he was delighted by the initiative. “Libraries have been and continue to be a constant in our communities, our schools, and lives,” he said. “Libraries, and particularly the librarians who work in them, are vital for us all but especially for those who need them most: those with least, young and old.”