World Book Day 2025: Sir Lenny Henry returns to West Midlands to start new chapter
Sir Lenny Henry said he was still inspired by the power of reading and how it could be used to inspire youngsters to read and be creative as he headlined a new festival on World Book Day.
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The comedian, actor, broadcaster, fundraiser and author was at the Midlands Art Centre in Birmingham for the Reading for Smiles Children’s Book Festival on March 6.
It was a chance for Sir Lenny to speak to pupils from schools with high free school meal eligibility and low literacy rates, many of whom were getting their first-ever experience of a literature festival, about his love of books, how he got into reading and also do a full performance reading of his latest kid's book "Tyrone's Cool Crown".
The kids were treated to an interactive and fun performance from Sir Lenny as he did the voices for the characters from the book, where Tyrone goes for his first haircut and despite not wanting to go, he is comforted by his Grandad and made to feel like a king afterwards.
He also shared his passion for books and the importance of seeing yourself in stories, telling the youngsters in attendance to tell stories, even if they couldn't write, and to enjoy reading, something he said he was very passionate about.
He said: "The festival is called Reading for Smiles and it's about encouraging kids to read, which I'm really behind, and since I started writing books about six years ago, I've found that kids have been incredibly responsive to stories.
"They just love using their imagination and putting themselves in stories and I think it's a really important thing as literacy among kids has gone down slightly over the last few years and I think it's all our jobs to try and get that up again.
