The hotly contested front cover competition was won by Ehi O, Capsar M and Thomas H-P, with Henry S a worthy runner up; Years 5 and 6 had a virtual author visit from Tom Palmer, who showed us how he plans his stories with pictures, postcard time lines and mind maps; Book Club (more commonly known as 'Cake Break' among the boys) was enjoyed by all Years, with passionate discussion ranging from the symbolism of natural imagery to whether lemon and lime squash is the ultimate pairing with cupcakes.

It is always such a pleasure to see the popularity of the library as a wonderful resource of inspiration, creativity and knowledge. I had to agree with one young man who eulogised on the delights of 'new book smell', as he explored the theme of 'Student Recommendations' in our current Special Selection Box. Naturally, with this popularity comes the inevitable chasing for overdue books: as we near Easter, please may you help your sons to repatriate their library loans by Thursday 27 March, ready for the holiday stock take. We understand that sometimes books do get lost - in this eventuality, the cost of the missing book will need to be added to the boy's bill for repeat offenders or multiple losses.

We've got some new books for the shelves ready for the Summer Term, which we think the boys will love, including 'Tiger Wars', by Steve Backshall, 'Cut -Throat Celts', by Terry Deary and 'The Elemental Detectives', by Patrice Lawrence, as well as lots of ongoing magazine subscriptions, including, 'The Week Junior', 'Eco Kids' and Whizz, Pop, Bang', which always prove popular. 

Those looking for all things literary over the holiday might like to check out the Winchester Books Festival: Winchester Books Festival

Alternatively, there's always lots going on for children at the RSC, including celebrations for Shakespeare's birthday on 26 April: What's On and Book Tickets | Royal Shakespeare Company

Bethan Butcher
Librarian and English Teacher