Books were at the heart of an exciting and fun-filled family event in Manchester Central Library today, Saturday 18 May as hundreds of families and children joined Blue Peter presenters, Abby, Joel, Shini, and Henry the Blue Peter dog to launch Blue Peter Book Club Live.
Peter Pan and Captain Hook, and his entourage in a pirate ship enticed families from St Peter's Square into the library with a promise of what was to come, as book characters from Alice and the Mad Hatter, Willy Wonka and the Wizarding World roved the library meeting children.
Fun shows with the Blue Peter presenters, arts and crafts, magical bedtime stories with Cbeebies presenters, George Webster and Gyasi Sheppi, as well as readings from Children's Laureate, Joseph Coehlo and Eve Ainsworth were just some of the myriad of activities taking place across the library to promote the Blue Peter Book Club.
And families took the opportunity to pursue some of the 10,000 paper birds across every floor of the library, part of a book inspired art-installation created by 10,000 local school children.
The Blue Peter Book Club Badge Trail also launched on the day which challenges children to discover special Blue Peter badges on display in 12 different cultural venues across Manchester.
A special trail map was made available to guide curious minds to the various locations, where each badge was decorated to celebrate one of 12 books in the Blue Peter Book Club.
Children will also be able to discover the Blue Peter Book Club booklist in unexpected settings as part of a series of "Book Hunt" events in Manchester parks and open spaces over the summer which launched on the event day and runs until Saturday 31 August.
Councillor John Hacking, Executive Member for Skills Employment and Leisure, said: “This was a fantastic event for families and children in Central Library. It was noisy, exciting and thrilling, and the children loved it. We hope this is just the start of a life- long love of reading and creativity for our children.
"We are delighted to be part of this new BBC project, Blue Peter Book Club Live and to have hosted this event in the library alongside our partners Blue Peter and The Reading Agency."