HarperCollins rolls out Little Big Book Club project to 65 schools

HarperCollins is rolling out its Little Big Book Club project with the National Literacy Trust (NLT) to 65 schools across the country after a successful pilot last year. 

The project is set to begin after the school holidays and will see HarperCollins donate more than 3,250 books to schools in 14 of the NLT’s hub areas, including Manchester, Doncaster and Stoke-on-Trent. 

The club aims to foster a love of reading in children from low socio-economic backgrounds by giving them access to books. The Little Big Book Club particularly focuses on those who are able to read but who show little evidence of reading for pleasure at home or in the classroom. The main part of the project sees five students from each school choose four books from a catalogue of 25 titles selected by HarperCollins. 

Former Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo is the project’s featured author. He has two titles on the list: The Birthday Duck and Boy Giant: Son of Gulliver . Another of his titles, A Medal for Leroy, is the featured audio title to which all participating students will have access and receive as a physical copy. 

Morpurgo said: “I’m so pleased that my publishers are supporting the National Literacy Trust’s wonderful Little Big Book Club initiative. There is nothing more important than encouraging a love of stories at an early age and getting books into the hands of readers.” 

Sarah McPhee, head of events and corporate social responsibility at HarperCollins, said she hoped the project would “go a long way to turn more children into enthusiastic readers”, while Jonathan Douglas, chief executive of the NLT, highlighted the ways in which reading for pleasure improved academic success and mental wellbeing. 

He said: “The Little Big Book Club speaks to the National Literacy Trust’s core mission: reaching children from disadvantaged communities and supporting their journey towards reading for pleasure, resulting in improved academic success and mental wellbeing. We are delighted that HarperCollins has continued to partner with us on this incredible project that will have a tangible and long-lasting effect on the lives of 325 children and their families.”