UK's first storybook written by children in care is launched in Leicestershire

A storybook written by children in care has been published by Leicestershire County Council.

Superheroes! is the first of its kind published by a local authority in the UK and features stories written by 48 children aged between 4 and 15-years-old.

The project is part of a mission to close a gap between the attainment of children in care and their peers.

Children in care are youngsters who've been in the care of their local authority for more than 24 hours, often living in either a foster home or a residential children's home.

The creative writing project has given these children the opportunity to use their imagination, create new characters or place old favourites in new - and often bizarre - situations. In doing so, the children have been able to develop their writing skills and see their stories in print, encouraging them to enjoy the creative writing process and view themselves as writers.

Steve Cole, author of the Astrosaurs book seriesand several Young James Bond novels, will be presenting each of the young authors with their very own copy of their book at the official book launch next week.

The book is the most recent project from the Leicestershire Virtual School to improve children’s literacy skills. Monthly book parcels have also been sent to all primary age children to encourage and nurture reading skills.

The Virtual School team hope that all the children who participated in the creation of the book will use it as a springboard to further develop their creativity and literacy skills.