Nicki Thornton relaunches our library

We were delighted to have welcomed Nicki Thornton, an international bestselling children’s author known as the ‘Queen of magical crime’, come to visit us at Aureus.

Nicki not only read to students, she also talked to them about how to become a writer and  reopened our library, which has recently been restocked and reorganised. We have invested significantly in the library in terms of updating the books so that the newest titles are available to the community. Mrs Liptrot, our new librarian, is available to support students with their reading.

Nicki is the author of popular novels for young children including The Bad Luck Lighthouse and The Cut Throat Cafe.

Her debut novel, The Last Chance Hotel, won The Times Children’s Fiction Competition and the Ealing Junior Book Award and was translated into fifteen languages.

Her most recent novel for children, The Howling Hag Mystery, was made best book of the month by Waterstones.

Nicki, who lives in Oxfordshire, led a book talk with Year 7 and 8 students during her visit, and said: “One of the best gifts you can give any child is access to a library and the chance to become inquisitive about books and develop a love of reading. 

'It's an absolute honour to be asked to officially open the library at Aureus and meet a knowledgeable librarian ready to take every step to nurture an enthusiasm about reading books for pleasure in all the students.”

She added: “It was also wonderful to get the chance to talk to children about my love of reading and how that led to my own writing journey. 

“It's a school full of enthusiastic and smart students and I hope they will all make the most of their wonderful library.”

Mrs Murcutt, Lead Practitioner for English at Aureus, helped arrange the visit.

She is a regular visitor to the bookshop in Abingdon which Nicki used to run, and had stayed in contact with the author.

She said: “It was fantastic to welcome Nicki into our school. 

“The students were incredibly enthusiastic during her talk and had a plethora of questions to ask at the end of her session. 

“We are so excited to have reopened our library for our school community to enjoy, and to have had such a successful author cut the official ribbon.”