The Yorkshire Vet: Going out of his comfort zone to get children to Read

This week, I headed to Lancashire. On a specially arranged day off, I traversed the A59 with a car boot full of books and some trepidation. My destination was the Ribble Valley and a village called Read. This was a coincidence, because encouraging children to read was one of the reasons for my visit to red rose country. I was going to Read, in both senses of the word.
By The Newsroom
Published 20th Nov 2022, 16:41 BST

Some weeks ago, Katherine, a teacher at the village primary school, contacted me to see if I would come along to talk to her pupils, with my new children’s book. Although this was outside both my locality and my comfort zone, I felt compelled to find time. Katherine’s enthusiasm was hard to refuse, as she explained that it was becoming particularly challenging to find ways of encouraging youngsters to pick up a book, rather than an ipad, phone or games console.

The effects of lockdowns and covid had exacerbated the insidious decline in reading, she told me. Katherine thought that a visit from a vet off the telly, with boxes of books aimed at younger readers would be a great stimulus.

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This was the third such event that I’d attended in just over a week. In the planning phase, I’d wondered how I could capture the attention of my audience, many of whom, I felt certain, would have no clue who I was (I thought this was especially likely when speaking to a Lancastrian audience). The production team of The Yorkshire Vet very kindly compiled a selection of clips from the programme to give the kids a feel for what they might have missed on a Tuesday evening, after bedtime for some. There was the fail-safe mix of new life, different animals, lots of slime and poo, amusing noises and images of cows breaking wind and puppies who had eaten party poppers. The final clip had so far had everyone in stitches when a baby alpaca toppled over like an AT-AT walker in a Star Wars film, after I had applied splints to her front legs, inadvertently using bandages that stuck to one another as she tried to walk.

The Yorkshire Vet went to Read to tell school-children about his new book.The Yorkshire Vet went to Read to tell school-children about his new book.
The Yorkshire Vet went to Read to tell school-children about his new book.

This having captivated the audience I was off to a flying start. “Does anyone here think they might like to become a vet?” I asked. A multitude of hands shot up. I spoke about the challenges and joys of my career and more recently of being able to take part in making a popular television series and about becoming a writer. I read out a short section from the book. This has always been my least favourite part. I hated reading out passages from books or Shakespearean plays at school and from my own book, well, it just seems like showing off! But proper authors and book retailers assure me that it is very important.

With fifteen minutes to go until the dinner bell, I was drawing to a close, “Has anyone got any questions?” Again, hands shot up from all over the hall. The questions covered everything, from how to get into vet school (from the older kids) to “what has been your most challenging case?” and “what’s the funniest animal name you have come across?”

Handing out copies of the book to all the kids of the appropriate age, I thought my trip across the Pennines had been very worthwhile. These young people had wisdom and maturity in abundance and way ahead of their years. I hoped they would enjoy my stories and that at least some might develop a further an interest in a career with animals. If not, then at least some might have been encouraged to read. I was really pleased that I had been encouraged to Read too! Thank you, Katherine.

Related topics:LancashireRibble Valley