Posts Tagged :

World Book Day

World Book Day hospital visits with Hannah Gold

 780 400 Gabrielle Devine
By:

For World Book Day on 5 March 2026, Spread a Smile hosted two very special hospital visits with bestselling children’s author Hannah Gold, to mark a year since the launch of the charity’s Intensive Care Library Project.

Hannah Gold, multi award-winning author of The Last Bear and The Lost Whale, accompanied Spread a Smile Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson and our team of entertainers on visits to our NHS hospital partners, King’s College Hospital and Evelina London Children’s Hospital, to see firsthand the difference the libraries are making to families with children on intensive care and high dependency units.

During the visits, Hannah visited the libraries and watched Spread a Smile’s entertainers in action, with Fairy Melissa providing soothing music and professional storyteller, Posey on hand with gentle stories and support for parents around reading with their children whilst in intensive care. Hannah kindly took time to read an excerpt from her World Book Day Book, ‘Bear Rescue’ with families from across the paediatric wards, providing some wonderful moments for everyone who joined us. She also had the opportunity to meet members of the ward and play teams along with some of the children and their families receiving treatment.

Hannah Gold

Hannah said, “Spending time with the children and families supported by Spread a Smile this World Book Day means more to me than I can properly put into words. Books have always been a source of comfort, imagination and hope in my own life, and to be able to share that love, even in a small way, feels incredibly special. It is a real privilege to sit with these children, to read together, to listen and to simply be present. I feel very humbled to be invited into their world, and I hope the stories we share bring a little light and joy to their day.”

In the last year, Spread a Smile has introduced 20 libraries at 15 of our NHS hospital partners, providing families with easy access to a wonderful range of books suitable for all ages and abilities. Families are welcome to borrow the books to read with their children, enjoying special moments together and over 2,000 books have been donated and supplied by Spread a Smile for the libraries over the past year.

Just £5 could help us replace a well‑loved book and ensure our libraries continue bringing joy to as many children as possible, for as long as possible. Sponsor a book today

Lucy Jackson said, “Since launching the Spread a Smile Intensive Care Library Project for World Book Day in 2025, the initiative has gone from strength to strength, providing an invaluable reading resource for families with children on intensive care and high dependency units in NHS hospitals across the country.

“We have received wonderful feedback from families and also the hospital teams and it’s fantastic to know that our libraries are providing welcome opportunities for parents, carers and their children to find moments of distraction and engagement during what can be an extremely stressful and worrying time.”

When a child is diagnosed with a serious illness, life can become very unsettled, scary and unfamiliar, controlled by schedules, treatment plans and prolonged hospital stays away from family and friends. Through our libraries, Spread a Smile is providing a way for children and their families to find comfort and calm through the familiar activity of reading together. It was wonderful to be able to share this work with Hannah, touching on how the libraries are supporting families with ways to bond, reduce stress, find emotional comfort, connection and distraction during difficult and isolating times.

Sue Pruden, Therapeutic Play Service Manager at Evelina London said, “We are so grateful to Spread a Smile for organising this fantastic event for World Book Day. It was a joy to welcome Hannah Gold, who visited families in our Sky ward and then read to babies, children and young people in Beach ward.

“Spread a Smile is a charity that has supported Evelina London Children’s Hospital for many years. They help us to create relaxing and fun experiences for the families we care for by regularly bringing wonderful entertainers to our hospital. Last year, they generously donated two libraries of children’s books, which are available to families using our paediatric intensive care services. These libraries allow parents to read to their child, whatever they might be going through, and they make a huge difference to their experience here. Reading offers a wonderful escape into other worlds, away from the hospital environment. It is a wonderful activity that families can share together.”

We are incredibly grateful to Hannah Gold for joining us this year and helping us bring the joy of reading to young patients in hospital. Our thanks also so Emmie’s Books for their initial donation of books for the project launch and Expect Amazing for their continued support of our intensive Care Library Project, including packing and delivering the books for our most recent deliveries of books to coincide with World Book Day 2026.

Projects such as these are only possible thanks to the generosity of our supporters, donors and fundraisers. By donating just £5, you’ll be sponsoring a book to help us keep our intensive care libraries well-stocked and available for children in intensive care to enjoy for years to come.

Sponsor a book today

If you would like to find out more about getting involved with Spread a Smile – as an individual or a company – please do get in touch at fundraising@spreadasmile.org

Thank you.

 

Help us spread smiles this World Book Day

 780 400 Gabrielle Devine
By:

With World Book Day just around the corner, we’re shining a light on a very special part of our work: our Paediatric Intensive Care libraries.

We now have 20 libraries across 15 of our NHS partners, each one filled with books chosen to bring comfort, distraction and moments of joy to seriously ill children and young people when they need it most.

For families with a child in intensive care, days can be filled with worry and uncertainty. Reading together offers a vital moment of connection and escape, helping create moments of calm in an otherwise overwhelming environment.

Thanks to the kindness of our supporters and partners, many of the books on our shelves have been generously donated. These stories spark imagination and provide precious shared moments between a child and their parent.

We refresh our libraries throughout the year so every child can find something new, exciting or familiar. Just £5 could help us replace a well‑loved book and ensure our libraries continue bringing joy to as many children as possible, for as long as possible.

Donate today

Thank you for helping spread smiles this World Book Day.

 

Michael Rosen supports library project launch

 780 400 Susie
By:

For World Book Day on 6 March 2025, Spread a Smile is proud to launch our Intensive Care Library Project, with the support of acclaimed British author, poet, and broadcaster, Michael Rosen.

The project will see Spread a Smile donate 20 book libraries to 13 NHS hospitals for families with children on intensive care and high dependency units to use and enjoy.

When a child is diagnosed with a serious illness, life can become very unsettled, scary and unfamiliar, controlled by schedules, treatment plans and prolonged hospital stays away from family and friends. Through our libraries, Spread a Smile will provide a way for children and their families to find comfort and calm through the familiar activity of reading together.

To launch the project, Spread a Smile’s Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson, and Visit Manager Debbie Tropp who spearheaded the project, were joined by Michael Rosen on a visit to an intensive care ward at Evelina London Children’s Hospital, one of the charity’s NHS hospital partners.

Michael said “Reading is an incredibly powerful art form which enables us to explore and access so many exciting subjects and adventures. From the day a baby is born, they are soaking up the sounds, sights, smells, tastes and touch of the world around them. Reading with children is a wonderful way of connecting with them, giving them something interesting to focus on, engage with and learn from. This shared experience can bring so much to both the child and the person reading to them as both are captured in that moment of discovery, sharing reactions and emotions as the story progresses.

“I am delighted to support the charity Spread a Smile as they launch their Intensive Care Library Project which will see 20 book libraries, filled with books and donated to 13 NHS hospitals for families with children on intensive care and high dependency units to borrow. Even in these most difficult of settings, where children are extremely unwell, parents and carers will be able to bring the wonder of reading to their child’s bedside, finding an opportunity to sit and share in the familiar act of reading together. It is a very special initiative which I have no doubt will bring a lot of comfort and one I am proud to be involved with.” 

Michael met staff on the ward, hearing how valuable the libraries will be for them and had the chance to see Spread a Smile singer and entertainer Rosie in action. He also met some of the families with children on PCCU, with the highlight of the afternoon being when families sat together for a special reading by Michael of his famous book ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’.

Selena, mother of 3-month-old Otis, said: “It was so nice to feel like we’re doing something normal that you do with your baby, because everything is so clinical. It’s all wires and stats so to just be parents with your baby having a story read is lovely.”

Alex, Otis’s dad, said: “We’ve been reading to Otis pretty much every day. We’re getting through the Roald Dahls and obviously we’ve read Going on a Bear Hunt a lot. It’s just great to take a moment to try and have a bit of normality.”

Janet Powell, Director of Nursing at Evelina London, said: “We are so grateful to Spread a Smile for this generous donation and brightening our week with this fantastic event. Michael Rosen has authored some of our patients’ favourite children’s books, and it was such a privilege to have him come read to us.

“At Evelina London, we are dedicated to ensuring that children have the best possible experience in hospital. Our visits from Spread a Smile help create a relaxing environment and bring so much joy to all the patients, families and staff on our wards.”

Alongside Evelina London, 12 other NHS hospitals across the country will receive book libraries including Great Ormond Street Hospital, Southampton Children’s Hospital Bristol Royal Hospital for Children and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

Spread a Smile Chief Executive, Lucy Jackson said, “The Spread a Smile Intensive Care Library Project is an exciting new initiative which will provide an invaluable resource for families with children on intensive care and high dependency units in NHS hospitals across the country.

“When a child is in intensive care, it can be an extremely stressful and worrying time for the whole family. The familiar act of reading together can provide emotional comfort and connection, helping to alleviate some of the stress of what is going is going in the hospital setting.

“We hope that families receiving treatment at our NHS hospital partners find the resource useful and we are extremely grateful to renowned author Michael Rosen for joining us at Evelina London to help launch our first libraries.”

The majority of books for the libraries have been generously donated by the charity Emmie’s Books, which was set up by Lindsay and Andy McPartland whose daughter Emmie was diagnosed with cancer when she was 14 weeks old. Spread a Smile has supported Emmie, now 5, and her family since her diagnosis, with Mum Lindsay saying, “Spread a Smile has been there for all of us through our darkest days, constantly making us smile. We are so happy to be able to give something back through Emmie’s Books, the charity we set up in 2021 in Emmie’s name to provide children’s books for little warriors in hospital and their families.”

We are grateful to publishers Penguin, Macmillan and Scholastic who have all donated books for the libraries. Also to John and Chris from Norseman Direct for supporting the creation and delivery of the bookcases.

A huge thank you to everyone who has made this initiative possible, the Evelina London for hosting our launch and Michael Rosen for bringing his passion and love of books to our visit, leaving families with many happy memories of a special time together.