PETER McCARTHY, head of St Mary's RC High School, Blackpool writes:

BOOKS are magic, books are wonderful.

So I was told by Key Stage 1 pupils at St Kentigern's Primary School during their Year of Reading Week.

I was delighted to have been invited by the children to spend an afternoon reading to, and with, the five to seven-year-old pupils together with other adults from various walks of life.

During the afternoon, I read stories to groups of six to nine children of mixed ages in a reading corner of their library.

I had taken along books which I had enjoyed reading to my own children some 25 years ago.

I was surprised that these stories were still current and were great favourites of today's children.

Jane Hissey's Old Bear Stories, Patricia Scorrey's Richard and Pickles and The Three Little Pigs were thoroughly enjoyed.

I found my repertoire of voices well stretched to add vitality and emphasis to the stories.

I was struck by the pupils' excellent behaviour, rapt attention and evident enjoyment in this age of the flickering image and short concentration spans.

One group was even prepared to miss playtime to finish a story.

Talking to the children also gave me a surprise.

It was clear that they all enjoyed reading, even though not all were fluent readers, and being read to.

They had all discovered the joy and magic of attractive books and good stories.

I couldn't help thinking that even in these days of television and computers, a book could still give unsurpassed pleasure.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.