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UEL lecturer joins with NBA team to encourage young readers

Monday 17 May 2010

Dr Carrie Weston's book 'Crocodiles Need Kisses Too'

University of East London academic and children’s author Dr Carrie Weston recently travelled to Memphis, Tennessee in the United States to help celebrate the reading achievements of 3,000 young school students.

The star of Dr Weston’s best-selling Boris series, which follows the adventures of a big, hairy grizzly bear, has been adopted as a mascot for the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies. As author of the series, Dr Weston was invited to attend a celebration honouring more than 3,000 students who read at least six books in six weeks.

The celebration marked an important milestone for ‘Read to Achieve’, a new initiative that encourages children to embrace reading and develop their literacy skills with the help of all-star readers from the Grizzlies team. Following an awards presentation with players from the team, students were treated to a book reading by Dr Weston as actors and dancers from a local high school acted out the latest book, titled The New Bear at School.

Dr Weston has published over 25 books for children to date, including the recently released Crocodiles Need Kisses Too, bestseller Oh Boris, and other well-known titles include Moonlight Lily and Lucky Socks.

Dr Weston says: “it has been a very busy time for Boris, with his latest adventure, Bravo Boris due out later this year.”

Dr Weston is Programme Leader of Special Educational Needs at the University of East London and is now hopes to develop an accredited course in writing for children.

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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