Hill West book club launched by reading star Rayyah

The library at Hill West Primary School has never been busier after a book-loving pupil started a reading club for her classmates.

Ten-year-old Rayyah Deyn-Kaan loves reading so much that she founded the book club and now dozens of her fellow pupils are taking a leaf out of her book by joining in at the weekly get-together.

Rayyah said: “I was in Boldmere with my family last year and, when we were walking around, I saw a poster for a book club and I thought ‘that would be a good idea at my school’.”

Rayyah then emailed Hill West headteacher Dr Beth Clarke and explained all the reasons why a book club would be beneficial to the school.

The year 5 pupil said: “I want more young people to start reading. I love reading at school and I just liked the idea of a whole club that was just about reading.”

Now, each Friday, youngsters at the Sutton Coldfield school gather in the library to talk about books, authors and enjoy book-related activities.

Rayyah, who enjoys adventure books such as The Famous Five, said: “The club had a really good response. It started in November and has just grown and grown.

“We had to split the year 4, 5 and 6 pupils into two groups because we had such a great response!

“It would be good if our other schools copied us and launched book clubs. Some people in the other class here have started their own book club too for the year 3 children.”

Rayyah added: “There’s nothing else like reading. It’s like having a movie in your head and you can make up how the characters look.

“It’s also very important to learn how to read, as otherwise you wouldn’t be able to write.”

Teacher Alison Downes said: “We are so impressed with how determined Rayyah has been to make the book club a success.

“She really cares about books and her enthusiasm is rubbing off on the other children.

“Each week the club lets the children share ideas, talk about their favourite books and read to each other. They learn about an author of the week too, with Rayyah reading an extract from one of their books too.”

Picture: Innovative book-lover Rayyah Deyn-Kaan.