St. Mary’s College in Crosby is backing a national campaign to encourage children to do more reading for pleasure.

Year 7 pupils were poring over brand new books this week after the school signed up again for the annual Booked Up programme which provides a free book from a choice of titles to 11-year-olds in England.

The programme - established in 2007 - is run by reading charity Booktrust and supported by children’s book publishers and the Department for Education.

The selected books include thrillers, ghost stories, historical fiction, science fiction and comedy titles by leading authors, and a poetry anthology from former Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen.

As well as reading the books - and swapping them between themselves afterwards - pupils can log on to the Booked Up website to vote for their favourite title, submit reviews,enter competitions and play book-related games.

St. Mary’s College Librarian, Cath Howard, commented: “I’m delighted that the school is involved again with this initiative which will help to generate even more enthusiasm for books amongst our pupils.

“This is very important for those of us who love reading, and want young people to get as much pleasure from it too.”

Page boys and girls - some of the St. Mary’s pupils with their Booked Up titles.