Tales of gladiators and Ancient Rome gripped pupils at Trent College as author Simon Scarrow visited the 
Long Eaton school ahead of National Libraries Day on Friday (8 February).
Mr Scarrow read extracts from his new children’s book, GLADIATOR: Son of Spartacus, and took questions from pupils before signing copies of his latest publication to mark National Libraries Day the following day. The author also set a Roman History quiz with three teams.
The two highest team scores from his whole school tour will get invited to the Bath Festival of Children's Literature to battle it out in a live final later this year.
National Libraries Day was a culmination of a week’s worth of celebrations in school, college, university, workplace and public libraries.
The event aims to show why librarians and information professionals are so loved and vital to our communities, and celebrates how they are improving literacy rates, encouraging learning and promoting reading for pleasure.
Simon Scarrow’s GLADIATOR trilogy brings the magnificent, gory, dangerous and exhilarating world of Ancient Rome to life for a new generation. As well as this popular children’s series he has also published 13 novels for adults. His books have been translated into over 20 languages, with UK sales of over one million copies.
Claire Scothern, Head of Library Services, Trent College, said: “It’s great to have the opportunity to invite authors in to talk to pupils. It creates a real buzz and helps promote reading for pleasure. Simon has many fans at Trent College who were eager to talk to him about his new book.
His visit also encouraged pupils who had never read his books to give them a go, which is certainly a good thing. Coinciding with National Libraries Day was an added bonus helping to raise the status of libraries and librarians.”
For more information about Trent College visit www.trentcollege.net