““Consider a small child sitting on his mother’s lap while she reads him a picture book. The picture book opens to a width that effectively places the child at the center of a closed circle - that of mother’s body, arms, and the picture book... That circle, so private and intimate, is a place apart from the demands and stresses of daily life, a sanctuary in and from which the child can explore the many worlds offered in picture books. Despite all of our society’s technological advances, it still just takes one child, one book, and one reader, to create this unique space, to work this everyday magic.””

— Martha Parravano

Landmark children of critical workers enjoy remote activities from the classroom Students

Every year Landmark takes part in World Book Day, a chance for us to come together, to share and discover a love of reading, and to celebrate our community. Last year it was the last big event before we went into lockdown, while this year it was the last big event before we came back from lockdown, and it felt like a fitting time to spend some time reading, reflecting and relaxing. We have been through a time of confinement, and reading has brought relief and broadened our horizons. Shakespeare’s Hamlet says: "I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space" as he ponders on the nature of the journeys our minds can go on, even when we are confined: journeys that we take when we read.

This year Mrs Bordoli-Marsh and Mrs Roche thought that it would be a great idea to make the most of the opportunity presented to the school and take a whole day to celebrate reading for pleasure. Emma, Hannah and Laila from Eagle Class wrote: “Book days at Landmark are always fun, exciting and enjoyable. We look forward to them every year, because of the fun activities that the teachers organise, in dressing up a potato, dressing up as your favourite book character, (and one of our favourites!) the book swap. Unfortunately since Covid-19 and how the schools were unable to open until March 8th, we were unable to do it this year, instead we had a whole school assembly and the teachers shared some of their favourite books that they read as a child with the seniors and primary.”

The sharing of favourite books encouraged our students of all ages. Rosie from Year 8 said that she “was so inspired by reading that day, that I bought a new book!”, and many reported spending the whole day reading. Lola in Year 9 wrote: “While at home we had much more freedom and independence to read alone and do what you truly enjoy about books. My brother happily spent the entire day reading ...for some people spending the whole day solitary, reading a book is unbeatable.” Rafay felt that “the thing I liked about online world book day is that you could read all day if you want”. This idea was echoed by many of the students. Claire in Year 10 wrote: “I spent the day reading books I had always wanted to read. The immersive experience of reading books the whole day was rewarding and marvelous.”, and Alicia reported that “being online allowed me to just snuggle up in my blanket and read for the whole day - something that I have never done before.” The joys of reading alone, or sharing a book or film with a loved one were highly praised, and a bonus of being at home. Sam from Year 7 said: “My favourite part of the day was when me and my mum sat down to read some and also watch a movie about a Dr Suess book.” Students at school spent time with each other and teachers, reading and doing the activities. Some helped out in the library whilst others explored the surroundings and read perched against trees, returning to a welcome hot chocolate.

Students in primary and secondary took part in an extreme reading competition

There were lots of activities to take part in, as Maisie explained: “Online World Book Day was a strange thought. No-one expected to be able to do any activities, and it made the longing to be back at school even greater. However, the day arrived, and the whole school came to a virtual assembly, in which it was announced that there were lots of activities and competitions to take part in! There was an ENORMOUS crossword, a challenging kahoot quiz, and much, much more. I especially enjoyed calling with my friends, and competing against Izzy in the kahoot. We are both so competitive! At the end of the day, there was another assembly to announce the winners, and then the school day was over! It went so quickly!” Sara enjoyed the cooking. “My personal favourite activity of the day was baking book-themed recipes. We were given the chance to make iconic foods such as Lembas bread (from Lord of the Rings), the apple pie from the Railway Children, Butter-beer (from Harry Potter) and Bubble and Squeak eaten by Toad in The Wind in the Willows. I chose to bake the apple pie and it was definitely a culinary success!”

Primary students take part in the yearly dress your potato competition

Dressing up is always an important part of World Book Day with every Primary class getting involved, and we were so impressed with the students’ imagination. Camilo enjoyed the experience, writing that he “dressed up as a minecraft block... yes.. yes.. I know it's the first thing that came to mind. The fact that if I ripped the foil on my costume it would reveal my gran's old prosecco box is.. just.. so.. EMBARRASSING! So I obviously tried not to rip it..” There were so many wonderful costumes, from Ford Prefect to Mary Poppins to Obelix to the BFG. Hannah wrote: “I loved dressing up, this year I dressed up as Hercule Poirot, a detective from the book series written by Agatha Christie, I chose to dress up as the Belgian (not French!) detective because I had read a Hercule Poirot book a few days back. Everyone's costumes were amazing, and this year, Jasper (Year 5) won the 'Dressing up Award for the Best Costume (Primary)' he was dressed as the BFG, and it was really good. Although I didn't see my friends, I had a World Book Day blast!” It was fabulous to see the pictures of costumes and activities which were posted on our World Book Day padlet over the day, and helped us to all feel connected. It wasn’t only the students who dressed up however, as the Primary staff and Vicky went to great lengths to dress the part. We had “The Tiger who came to Tea”, Paddington Bear, and a variety of crayons from ‘The Day the Crayons Quit.” The attention to detail was wonderful, and really added to the celebration of the day.

Primary team at Landmark enjoyed dressing up as crayons

All in all it was a fabulous day, and we celebrated reading and books in a truly Landmark way. Roald Dahl writes in Matilda:“So Matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone.” It’s a message to us all that we hope is nurtured by our World Book Day celebrations.