Our Read
On World Book Day, we distributed 50,000 free copies of The Unforgotten Coat, written exclusively for us. Now we want you to tell us what you think of it, and who you have shared it with.
(c) Liverpool Daily Post and Echo
What next for Our Read?
Even though the “big book giveaway” is over, Our Read is still going strong! Not only do we want you to keep reading and sharing your copies of The Unforgotten Coat, we will also be holding a number of events over the coming months. We’ve got some exciting events in the pipeline, including:
- Summer workshops in Toxteth (25th July – 9th August) – We’ll be running six workshops for 10 – 16 year olds, based around the themes of The Unforgotten Coat, including creative writing with Frank Cottrell Boyce, photography with Carl Hunter and orienteering. Places are limited so if you’d like to get involved, get in touch! For more information, email ourread@thereader.org.uk.
- Just So Festival (19th-21st August) – We’ll be at Just So on Friday 19th August, reading from The Unforgotten Coat in a Mongolian yurt.
Did you miss our Light Night event – A Book and a Brew? Find out what happened on our blog.
Want to know what happened at our World Perspectives event at TATE Liverpool? Take a look at our blog.
What Our Readers Think
So far, the response to Our Read has been amazing and it’s all thanks to you! Not only did we enjoy a fantastic launch day with media coverage from (to name a few), BBC North West, Granada Reports, BBC Radio Merseyside and The Guardian, we have also since been inundated with Our Read postcards, requests from schools to get involved and glowing reports of The Unforgotten Coat’s reception with people of all ages. One young reader said,
“Personally I think this book is for anybody because it doesn’t matter whether you are old or young, you will enjoy this book. This book is packed with excitement and Frank Cottrell-Boyce gave it a twist. The story is written in a journal by Julie and it’s like you have jumped in her journal, stepped in her footsteps and met every character yourself.”
ESOL students in Liverpool have also been enjoying the book, and have been really enthusiastic about the idea of passing on their copy to friends and family, provoking discussion. Here are a few of their comments:
“It helps me to improve my English skills. The story was just unbelievable. I also like it because all of the students in the class were happy.”
“The book was fabulous – simple and quick to read and possible to share with my child!”
“It is just very good; it makes me remember so beautiful days.”
Our Read postcards have also been coming into the office thick and fast, and not just from Liverpool – we’ve received postcards from Scotland, Wales and London – and some from a little further afield – Spain, Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria and Hong Kong. Please keep them coming – it’s fantastic discovering the whereabouts of all Our Readers! Send any postcards or comments to Our Read, 19 Abercromby Square, Liverpool, L69 7ZG. Don’t forget, you can still follow us on Twitter (#Our_Read) and make friends with us on Facebook: upload your photos, tell us who you’ve been reading the book with and who you’re going to pass it on to next. You can also get in touch by email: ourread@thereader.org.uk.
Esther McVey: “Last year, tourism was worth £2.8 billion to the Liverpool city region. It is crucial to our region, and it is also a growing sector of our industry. Literature is part of the tourism offer, and as today is world book day and, as I speak, Frank Cottrell Boyce and a team of kids from Merseyside are on their way down to Euston with a local charity, the Reader Organisation, will the Minister extend his gratitude to the charity for the dynamic work that it is doing?”
John Penrose: “I am delighted and happy to praise both world book day and the Reader Organisation. The role of the creative arts in Liverpool’s regeneration and recent economic growth is undoubted, and the city got off to a brilliant start in 2008, when it was the capital of culture.”
(Hansard, 3rd March 2011)
reading resource
You can download The Unforgotten Coat reading guide here. (Many thanks to Get Into Reading Project Worker, Patrick Fisher, for writing this for Our Read.)
We have also developed a resource pack with the Bluecoat, designed to engage children with the themes of photographs and storytelling, prompted from The Unforgotten Coat, which is available on the Bluecoat’s website: www.thebluecoat.org.uk/content/primary-schools
about our read
The Unforgotten Coat has been beautifully produced by children’s publisher Walker Books and features original photography by Liverpool photographers Carl Hunter and Clare Heney. It is primarily a book for young people, especially those between 10-16 years, but everybody, young or old, reader or non-reader, will be able to enjoy this unforgettable story.
From 50,000 giveaway copies, an unlimited number of people can unite in a unique reading experience, and with one another. We encourage the book to be shared: parents with children, by children with siblings and friends, by teachers with their colleagues and own families
If you missed it, you can still see what happened on Our Read launch day on our blog!
the history of our read
Our Read has grown out of the popularity of our annual reading campaign, Liverpool Reads, which started in 2003. The success of Liverpool Reads, and the growing work of The Reader Organisation beyond Merseyside, has meant that we’ve had to expand the reach of our big book giveaway, so now we have Our Read.
2009 saw Liverpool Reads’ most successful year yet, with the distribution of 20,000 copies of The Savage by David Almond. Thousands of people from all different kinds of backgrounds across Merseyside not only read the book but engaged with it in a number of exciting ways through workshops, events and drama, art, music and sporting activities.