THE DUCHESS OF CORNWALL shares her love of reading – and elephants – with children
SHARES ANIMAL TALES WITH LONDON SCHOOLCHILDREN
Elephants
and tigers were on the Duchess of Cornwall’s mind last week as she took part in storytelling sessions in London.
Camilla was surrounded by a herd of lifesize elephant sculptures as she joined a group of 60 schoolchildren in St James’s Park, where she read them David McKee’s classic, Elmer. The children, from Vauxhall Primary School, were also entertained by authors Petr Horacek and Nizrana Farook, as well as a performer in costume as Elmer the patchwork elephant.
The Duchess was celebrating the launch of the Elephant Story Trail, which will allow families to follow the sculptures across London parks and complete naturethemed reading challenges along the way.
The project is a collaboration between the National Literacy Trust, of which Camilla is patron, the Bupa Foundation and Elephant Family, the conservation charity co-founded by Camilla’s brother Mark Shand, of which she and the Prince of Wales are joint presidents.
Created by Indian art and conservation group The Real Elephant Collective, the 104 sculptures stand in St James’s Park, Green Park and Berkeley Square.
FOUND IN A GOOD BOOK
Earlier Camilla opened a new “Lifechanging Library” at Griffin Primary School in South London, where she read Judith Kerr’s The Tiger Who Came to Tea with pupils. She was joined by Waterstones Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell, author of How to Train Your Dragon. “Have you got any good readers here? I’m a big, big reader,” said the Duchess, who is also patron of the Books Trust and earlier this year launched her book club The Reading Room.
Outside, the children read a poem and performed a song written for the occasion.
The library is one of six across England – and part of Cressida’s campaign to show how good primary school libraries have the power to transform children’s opportunities in life.
‘I’m a big,
big reader’
Camilla