Local authors inspire Ipswich pupils at Red Hat Reading Festival

Why it matters: The festival aims to get authors into schools to inspire and engage with young people, "something which most schools do not have budget for these days," according to organisers.

The big picture: Following last year's successful inaugural event, Ipswich Children's Book Group secured new funding from The Rope Trust and Let's Talk Reading Ipswich to continue the initiative.

By the numbers: Seven Ipswich primary schools participated:

• Castle Hill Primary
• Hillside Primary
• Murrayfield Primary
• Ranelagh Primary
• Ravenswood Primary
• The Beeches Primary
• Whitehouse Primary

The details: The schools selected from seven participating authors and illustrators, with most authors based in East Anglia.

Tonka Uzu, who recently collaborated with Elena Arevalo-Melville on the picture book "Elki Is Not My Dog", visited Ranelagh Primary School on Wednesday 12 February.

What they're saying: "Without the reading festival, an author visit would not have been possible so we really value this opportunity to get our children interested in reading books, publishing and illustrating," said April Hyam, Literacy Lead at Ranelagh Primary School.

"The children thoroughly enjoyed the visit from Tonka and were really engaged in the assembly, her story and linked activity," she added.

Other authors to visit local schools included:

• James Mayhew
• Kate Rolfe
• Cat Weldon
• Elena Arevalo-Melville
• Rob Ramsden
• Mitch Johnson

The bottom line: The festival has successfully continued its mission of bringing authors into schools that could not otherwise afford such opportunities, engaging young readers across Ipswich.