Earlier this week, Zoe Griffiths (the ever-so-lovely Senior Commissioning Editor on the Fiction list at Bloomsbury Children's Books) and I decided to spend a lunch hour treasure hunting for some Books About Town BookBench sculptures. If you haven't heard about these benches already, then you are in for a treat, my friend, for they are sprinkled across London in the most delightful way. There are four different trails that you can go on (Bloomsbury, City, Greenwich and Riverside), each mapping a very satisfying number of benches.
In our lunch hour, Zoe and I managed to spot 10 benches mere minutes from the Bloomsbury office, and, I have to admit, there were some clear favourites. We both loved Aslan (the bench was in use when we got there, so we couldn't see Lucy and Mr Tumnus, but Aslan more than made up for that - he's quite beautiful), and The Day of the Triffids and Mrs Dalloway were also stunning. In a flurry of excitement, we pledged to do the remaining three trails, and I'm really looking forward to it!
The benches showcase some wonderful illustrators and books, and they are so worth a look - if you haven't come across at least one already you really must go out looking. A BookBench treasure hunt would make a great family day out - my neice and nephew loved hearing all about them and I've already planned an excursion with them. It strikes me as quite fantastic that this is something I can share with them that's absolutely free. How rare!
I'll keep you posted on mine and Zoe's highlights - with three more trails to do, I'll have lots to share with you! And if you'd like to find out more about why the BookBenches were made, you can do so here.
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