The Pleasure of Reading

To celebrate 10 years of Give a Book, we reached out to all the organisations we work with to share a birthday message. We collated all the messages and recordings into a video which you can watch below:

The Pleasure of Reading is an anthology edited by Give a Book’s patron Antonia Fraser, available here. All royalties go to Give a Book. Watch these videos where contributors to The Pleasure of Reading discuss their reading experiences and the books that have inspired them:

Rory Stewart on Cumbrian lullabies, Tristram Shandy, Tolstoy and more.

Melvyn Bragg on learning to read, comics, Chekhov, solitude and more.

Antonia Fraser on reading fast, favourite books and Harold Pinter’s bedside reading.

Kamila Shamsie on Peter Pan, Midnight’s Children, Ali Smith and more.

Timberlake Wertenbaker on The Three Musketeers, reading in trees, Emily Dickinson and more.

It’s a Book by Lane Smith

Watch this book trailer video for a short animated film based on Lane Smith’s It’s a Book, an adorable picture book for children that celebrates traditional books. Watch as a book-loving ape and a tech-savvy donkey exchange words.

Playful and lighthearted with a subversive twist that is signature Lane Smith, It’s a Book is a delightful manifesto on behalf of print in the digital age. This satisfying, perfectly executed picture book has something to say to readers of all stripes and all ages.

It’s a Book by Lane Smith – Trailer