Our first ever “Big Wilson’s Read” event took place on 7 March, celebrating World Book Day and our newly refurbished library.

Pupils and staff across the school have been eagerly reading SF Said’s Tyger, longlisted this year for the Carnegie medal for writing and the Kate Greenaway medal for illustration. The novel follows a young boy called Adam in an alternative London in a universe in which slavery was never abolished, which has left the UK in a sorry state with rich overlords ruling over a sprawling poor and people with origins anywhere apart from the UK particularly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. That includes Adam’s family of shopkeepers. Adam finds a mysterious Tyger and must save both the Tyger and the world from the forces of destruction.

Our group of eager readers met at lunchtime in the library, supported by Dr Johnstone, Mme Mulcahy and Miss Norris, all of whom had read the novel and enjoyed discussing the story with pupils from years Seven to Ten. Conversation was stimulating, covering Empire, art, imagination, and even the multi-verse!

Pupils particularly enjoyed the opportunity to discuss the novel critically, identifying parts of the text they enjoyed and others they were less convinced by. Some readers even changed their minds, re-evaluating the story as mythical rather than simple. The opportunity to share views and hear from others was richly grasped by the group.

The session finished with pupils and staff selecting their favourite illustration. The end of the novel was a popular choice, with the writer and illustrator merging text and graphics together. Dr Johnstone pointed out the illustrations inspired by the artwork of the Alhambra palace, which also provided the surname of the main character, Adam.

We also ran a cover design competition to redesign the artwork for the novel (photo, below right). Mrs Cowell received beautiful entries to the competition, which are on display in the library. Kaan (Year Eight) was the pupils’ choice winner, voted on by the reading group, and Shravan (Year Eight) was the staff choice winner. Congratulations to them and to all our entrants, all of whom have won points for their respective Houses.

Our new Library book club will meet again next term—Mrs Fletcher and Mrs Cowell are currently choosing the next novel. We hope to read one of the novels shortlisted for the Carnegie award; the final eight were announced this week and can be seen here: The Yoto Carnegies.

Well done to all our readers, especially those who attended our book club, and thank you to the staff who supported the event.