Celebrating Stoke Book Festival

When we think about what helps children succeed in life, we usually talk about exam results, good schools, or future jobs. Yet one of the biggest tools for building a bright future costs nothing more than a library card and a borrowed book.

Reading for Pleasure – whether it’s a book, a magazine or even The Sentinel – it’s a great way of boosting mental wellbeing, building resilience and, for young people, puts them on a path for success.

This is why the launch of the first-ever Stoke Book Festival last week was such an exciting moment for our city. By bringing top-selling authors, local writers, and community voices to venues across Stoke, the festival created a fun, welcoming celebration of storytelling for readers of all ages.

Whether through poetry workshops, author talks, or interactive children’s events, the festival provided a real spark. When a child sees a real writer speak or picks up a comic or novel that grabs their attention, reading stops being a classroom task and turns into an exciting adventure. Reading is like the NHS for the soul—a good book opens new worlds; it allows you to explore new ideas and discover new loves. The only limitation is our own imagination.

This local push fits perfectly into the National Year of Reading, a nationwide effort to get books into everyone’s hands and show that reading is about enjoyment, not just passing tests. The festival shares this mission to tackle literacy levels in Stoke, proving that books and stories belong to everyone in Stoke-on-Trent, not just a lucky few.

Reading simply because you enjoy it is far more than just a quiet way to pass a rainy afternoon. Studies show that children who read for pleasure do better in school, make friends more easily, and build stronger mental well-being. In places like Stoke, where we are working hard to break down barriers to opportunity, helping young people fall in love with reading is vital.

In Parliament, I lead the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Literacy. I work alongside politicians, charities like the National Literacy Trust, publishers and educations to fight for better funding for reading programs in our schools and communities. We have fought to secure funding to guarantee that every primary school in the England should have a library through the ‘Libraries for Primaries’ scheme. Starting to foster a love of literature at an early age can have life-long benefits.

This year’s festival is coming to an end – it’s been a lot of hard work for the organisers and the volunteers, but they have put on a first class event. As we celebrate the National Year of Reading, I want to make sure Stoke-on-Trent is known not just for our famous history and industry, but that we are knows as a city where every child gets the chance to read, learn, and thrive.