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#Fiction Friday is Excited for World Book Day!


Welcome to #FictionFriday, where we have been asking Yeovil College staff to share their thoughts, opinions and just plain random tastes in books.

This week, we've been preparing to celebrate World Book Day on Thursday 1st March 2018, which is a worldwide appreciation of reading and books, acknowledging their hugely positive influence, and encouraging everyone to join in with the fun.
Our LRC staff are happiest surrounded by books.


At Yeovil College, the Learning Centre will be celebrating reading we love, and showcasing the Writes of Passage collection, the top 50 fiction books chosen by young adults which have changed their lives and, to quote the official website, rocked their world. These are divided into refreshingly different categories which, rather than being conventional genres, are based around the emotional impact and benefit which the book gives to the reader. So you can explore books that will make you think, make you laugh, thrill you or transport you.

We're planning an exciting cross-campus display, with illustrated posters created by our talented work experience student (who has also been blogging for us, and hopefully will be following up with a second post soon!). We're also decorating the Learning Centre, and my creative colleague Robyn has been very busy making some fantastic bunting. We're surprising staff with a special activity on the day,and finally we will be hosting a World Book Day stall in the Learning Centre from 12 til 1pm on Thursday, where you can explore the Writes of passage collection and other fantastic fiction, join in with our special Reading Challenge (in partnership with South Devon College) and tell us about what books you love or loathe - and, most importantly, what cake you would be.

Our librarian can't wait for World Book Day, so he's reading books about the world. 


We are passionate about the joy and importance of reading, and this year we've been asking staff for their contributions and musings about fiction not only because it's enjoyable but because we believe that by showing our learners how reading has been a transformative, fun, relaxing -sometimes even exciting or moving - part of our lives that it encourages them to also find that reading can be empowering and pleasurable.

We're starting the conversation about books, and inviting everyone to join in by sharing their own experience, and to explore why certain stories, characters and imaginary worlds possess meaning, whether in book form or within media adaptations. We become a  community of readers.



One very popular Fiction Friday question has been the starter for ten - what's the first book you remember reading, or being read? 

Regardless of its privileged position as first question, it is also a question for which everyone has an answer.

Sometimes the answer rushes to the tip of the tongue, or is an instantaneous response. Other times, you find people staring off into the middle distance, dreamy eyed, recalling another place and time, and there is a pleasure in this nostalgia.
The first book that held your imagination, that symbolised time with parents or a personal achievement, always seems to have special significance. From fairy stories to Roald Dahl and classic children's authors and characters, the list of Fiction Friday choices so far reflects the impact our first experience with reading has on us all - what a great place to start a conversation.

Ladybird Series -Cinderella
Squirrel Nutkin - Beatrix Potter
Magic Key – Biff, Chip and Kipper
Just So Stories – Rudyard Kipling
Church Mice – Graham Oakley
The Secret Seven - Enid Blyton
Janet and John - Mabel O'Donnell
Matilda - Roald Dahl
George’s Marvellous Medicine - ROald Dahl
Rainbow Brite
Ladybird series - She Ra
Andy Pandy’s New Pet - Maria Bird
Mr Bump - Roger Hargreaves
The Babysitters Club books - Ann M. Martin
Tim and the Hidden People - Sheila K. McCurragh and Pat Cook


In the UK, World Book Day focusses on encouraging children and teenagers to take delight in reading with the fantastic book tokens and dressing up as their favourite character. Fancy dress has evolved into cosplay and fan fiction and a wider celebration of imaginary worlds and their heroes and villains. Our favourite characters are our avatars, who earn our empathy, amusement and tears, and in who, sometimes, we can recognise ourselves or the people we want to be - the things that matter to us.

So, of course, we had to ask our staff, "Which character in a book do you think is most like you?"

 Spoiler alert - a growing number of us identify as hobbits. Whether that's due to shared qualities such as bravery, honesty, friendship and integrity, or whether we all really love breakfast and have hairy feet, the reader must decide for themselves.
There are also some fantastic female characters - Anne of Green Gables, Hermione Granger, Jo March from Little Women - who exemplify intelligence, courage, compassion and creativity.

These characters are notable for two reasons. Firstly, they all belong to the realm of what has been traditionally deemed children's fiction. This demonstrates the powerful formative influence of fiction, and identification with the strengths and stories of the people within them. Secondly, the values they - and our wonderful staff embody - are positive and empowering. These are characters who face trials, tribulations and - well - Orcs and Voldemort, and thrive doing so.

To quote Neil Gaiman (one of YC_Reading's favourite all-time storytellers), with a line from his 2002 novel "Coraline":

"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." 

So this World Book Day, and every Fiction Friday, we'll be celebrating with hobbits and heroines everywhere, that dragons can be beaten, friendships made and whole worlds explored simply through the turning of a page - or visiting your library to borrow a book.

Visit the Yeovil College Learning Centre on Thursday 1st March to celebrate World Book Day with us - or any time to find a huge range of resources including our Fiction and Wellbeing selections. 


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