World Book Day 2022

For World Book Day 2022, Faringdon Learning Trust CEO Duncan Millard has shared his love of reading and gathered the top book recommendations from Trust staff.

“I am an avid reader of books. For me reading is a form of escapism, I can get lost in a book and forget everything else, it is simply a wonderful way to relax. My reading choice is like my preference for music, eclectic. It’s whatever captures my interest and imagination. I will read anything, as long as it makes me want to turn the page to know more. One of my favourite books is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I have read it many times and it always leaves a significant impression on me. Although it is a young adult book, with the simplest of language, the ideas and emotions within it are remarkable. The story centres around the power of books and words, I would highly recommend it. A line from the book that always resonates with me is

The best word shakers were the ones who understood the true power of words. They were the ones who could climb the highest.

All schools in the Trust work so hard to teach and promote reading. As educators, we all understand the benefits of reading and books. For our pupils being able to read means,

  1. Their vocabulary is larger and more extensive.
  2. They perform better academically.
  3. Their imagination can run wild.
  4. Their creativity skills develop.
  5. They develop empathy.
  6. They gain a deeper understanding of their world.
  7. Their concentration levels improve.
  8. The parent and child bond improves.
  9. Their cognitive development is supported.
  10. Their social skills and interaction improve.

Thank you for everyone who took the time to reflect on and share their favourite book. It was a privilege to read each one. All the recommendations are below. I hope this small summary encourages even more reading and sharing. I have certainly added a few more titles to my future reading list”.

There is no such thing as a child who hates to read; there are only children who have not found the right book

Frank Serafini

We read to know we are not alone

C.S. Lewis

The greatest gift is a passion for reading

Elizabeth Hardwick

Trust staff book recommendations:

  • Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

  • Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall

  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

  • The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

  • Excession by Iain M Banks

  • The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

  • Memory, Sorrow and Thorn by Tad Williams

  • Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

  • The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

  • Du Iz Tak? by Carson Ellis

  • The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

  • The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton

  • The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

  • A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

  • Once Morris Gleitzman by Sarah Wilson

  • Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

  • The Crow Road by Iain M Banks

  • The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson

  • A Taste of Home by Heidi Swain

  • The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

  • Dracula by Bram Stoker

  • Dibs in Search of Self by Virginia Axline

  • Eat, Drink, Run by Bryony Gordon

  • The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

  • 1984 by George Orwell

  • The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

  • The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

  • Autopsy by Patricia Cornwell

  • The Mindless Ferocity of Sharks: A Novel by Brett d’Arcy

  • The Christmasaurus and the Naughty List by Tom Fletcher

  • The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

  • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

  • Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

  • Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte 

  • The Green Mile by Stephen King 

  • A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

  • Lady in Waiting by Anne Glenconne

  • Windrush Child by Benjamin Zephaniah

  • Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

  • Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

  • The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

  • My Grandmother Sends Her Regards And Apologises by Fredrik Backman

  • The Secret History by Donna Tartt 

  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

  • All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

  • The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

  • An Innocent Baby by Cathy Glass

  • Journey’s End by RC Sherriff

  • Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafon

  • The Long Silence of Mario Salviati by Etienne van Heerden

  • The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini

  • Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins

  • A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

  • El Otro Árbol de Guernica by Luis de Castresana

  • Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

  • Petit Bleu et petit jaune by Léo Lionni

  • Legacy by James Kerr

  • Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

  • The Glass Bird Girl by Esme Kerr

  • A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

  • Persuasion by Jane Austen

  • Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

  • If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino

  • Bounce by Matthew Syed

  • Oh the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss

  • Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

  • Hunting Unicorns by Bella Pollen

  • Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

  • The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

  • The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

  • The End to End Cycle Route by Nick Mitchell

  • Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

  • The World Before Us by Thomas Higham

  • Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

  • Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Duncan Millard

Registered Office: Faringdon Learning Trust, Fernham Road, Faringdon, Oxfordshire SN7 7LB

Email: academyqueries@faringdonlearningtrust.org

Tel: 01367 240375

Please note some calls may be recorded for safeguarding, training and monitoring purposes.

Registered in England and Wales: Company number 7977368

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