As part of our Book Week in 1999, because it was the National Year of Reading, Class 6J decided to write to some famous people to ask them about their favourite books.
We chose to write to people like politicians, authors, television personalities, actors and sports stars. We also wrote to some local people.
We asked people to tell us about their favourite books when they were children and said that we planned to put the information on our school internet site.....and this is it!
Here is a list of the people who were kind enough to write back to us: (Click on the person's name to find the title and author of their favourite book.)
We wrote to the presenters of Live and Kickin'.
We received back some
photos and stickers and a note to tell us about Zoe's and Jamie's favourite books.
Zoe Balls's favourite children's book was:
"Where the Wild Things are" by Maurice Sendak
Jamie's favourite children's book was:
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl
We wrote to the presenters of Blue Peter.
We received back some
stickers and a letter from Steve Hocking, the Blue Peter Editor, to tell us
the presenters' favourite books
Stuart's and Konnie's favourite children's book is:
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl
Katy's favourite children's book is:
"The Faraway Tree" by Enid Blyton
Simon's favourite children's books are:
The Narnia stories by C. S. Lewis
Lord Bath wrote that he was...
a great admirer of Roald Dahl's work. But I think I'll select Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings".
Mr Qasim, the Correspondence Secretary at 10 Downing Street, wrote back on behalf of Mr. Blair thanking us for our letter and interest in the National Year of Reading. He continued:
When he was a child the Prime Minister enjoyed "Kidnapped" by Robert Louis Stevenson. He also enjoyed "The Lord of the Rings" by J R R Tolkien, a book of great imagination and surprise which he has, in recent years, been able to read again with his children. "Ivanhoe" by Sir Walter Scott is another of his favourites.
A few people in our class have read "Lord of the Rings".
Mr. Brown wrote a long letter back to us. He was said he was sure we would enjoy our book week and then told us about his favourite children's books. He wrote:
You asked me to name my favourite children's book. I actually have a few favourites. When I was very young I always enjoyed the Thomas the Tank Engine books. Another wonderful children's book is The Sneetches by Dr Seuss where all the Sneetches learn to live together happily after worrying about who has a green star and who doesn't!Recently I have discovered the Harry Potter books that were written in Edinburgh close to where I live in Scotland....I think my favourite is Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone which is the first one.
Mr. Brown also said he is a big fan of the internet.
Mrs. Reynolds, the Civic Services Team Leader, wrote on behalf of the Lord Mayor to thank us for our letter and to wish us well with our project. She reported that the Lord Mayor wanted her to tell us that:
her favourite book which she read as a child was "Little Women". She read this and the follow up books again and again and all the characters became like real people to her.
Mr. Hague was kind enough to reply in person. He sent his best wishes for our book week and wrote:
As a boy, one of my favourite books was "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame.
We have read parts of "The Wind in the Willows" this year in our literacy lessons.
We received a reply from the office of the Damon Hill Supporters Club. It wished us well with our Book Week and said:
I can tell you that one of Damon Hill's favourite books when a child was "My Family and Other Animals" by Gerald Durrell.
We received a lot of printed information from Dick King-Smith including biographical information and answers to questions that he is frequently asked. He added a P.S. personally to tell us:
My favourite children's book: "Tarka the Otter" by Henry Williamson.
Mr. Maddon is the head teacher of The Wheldon School. This is the secondary school where many of us will go when we leave Westdale at the end of Year 6. He said that his school was going to have a book week soon. He continued:
My favourite children's book has always been "The Hobbit" written by J R R Tolkien.
Michael Owen said that he is often asked about his favourite book. He wrote:
My own favourite books are any autobiographies, particularly those written by famous sporting personalities. I do enjoy reading them particularly on long trips abroad.
Jack Rider said that his favourite children's book is:
"Matilda" by Roald Dahl
We wrote to several members of the Royal Family including Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Charles. We received very nice letters back from their offices but, perhaps being diplomatic, they declined to tell us what their favourite children's books were!
We received a printed newsheet from Scholastic, the publisher of R. L. Stine's "Goosebumps" books. It said that he receives over 1000 letters a week so it is hard to reply to them personally. The newsheet includes the following as an item in a list of facts about R. L. Stine:
Favourite books as a kid: Norse Legends, Greek Myths and baseball stories
THANK YOU!
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