Cross-country reading roadshow begins in Banbury next week

The campaign will see a campervan filled with books and activities touring schools and bookshops of England.

A nationwide tour of England that hopes to encourage children to read more will begin its epic journey in Banbury.

The Raise a Reader campaign, led by the Oxford University Press, will visit Dashwood Academy in Banbury with Alex Falase-Koya and Paula Bowles, the writer and illustrator of the popular superhero series Marv on Monday October 31.

The campaign, which is supported by celebrities Alesha Dixon and Louise Pentland, aims to provide children and young people with the tools and opportunities to become lifelong readers in the wake of the pandemic.

The Raise a Reader campervan will visit ten locations across England with lower levels of literacy. The campervan will be packed full of free books, exciting activities, and engaging reading resources and will stop off at schools, bookshops and public spaces over the next few weeks.

Visiting Banbury on Monday will be author of the Marv series Alex Falase-Koya.

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Author and TV personality Alesha Dixon said: “Reading has been a passion for me ever since I was a girl at school, and becoming a mum has been an inspiration to pass that love of books on to my own children. I’m proud to support the Raise a Reader initiative so that all children will have the opportunity to get as excited about reading as I am!”

Louise Pentland ,author and Raise a Reader ambassador, said: "I am absolutely thrilled to be working with Raise a Reader. Reading and children’s literacy has been a passion project of mine for many years . Ultimately the goal is to help as many children as possible become lifelong readers – and there are many ways to do this – from education, to access, to understanding.”

The roadshow will continue on to visit Brighton, Cornwall, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Doncaster, Nottingham, Cambridge and London with a wide selection of authors, including illustrator of the iconic Winnie and Wilbur picture books Korky Paul and Harriet Muncaster author of the global best-selling Isadora Moon series.