TREES, rabbit hutches and the sea may seem like impractical places to get immersed in a book – but for children at an Aspley school no location has proved too difficult for a quick read.
Pupils at Rosslyn Park Primary School in Amesbury Circus have spent their half-term holiday finding inventive places to read their favourite books as part of an initiative called "extreme reading".
Year 2 teacher at the school Nikki Owen organised the challenge for Rosslyn Park children.
She said: "We've had some great submissions of children reading their favourite books in bizarre places, such as in the stocks, in a rabbit hutch and dangling from the branches of a tree.
"Basically it is a great idea because it encourages children to read and anything which makes a child pick up a book is good.
"Some have read while on play equipment and others while in a field.
"We plan to display all the entries on the wall in school.
"It is not just about reading school books in the classroom but about encouraging a love of reading for the rest of their lives."
The school will pick a winning photo and the pupil who is featured in it will be awarded a book.
Ten-year-old Sophie Hall, who is in Year 5, had her picture taken reading while in the stocks at the Galleries of Justice.
She said other people were wondering what she was doing when she and her family stopped to pose for the picture.
She was reading Cosmo and the Secret Spell, by Gwyneth Rees.
Sophie said: "The competition was a lot of fun. I think I will win with my photo.
"I think it will get lots of kids from my school interested in reading more."
And Lakye Haywood, aged seven, who is in Year 2, asked his grandparents to take a photo of him reading The Silver Box in their greenhouse in Clifton.
He said: "My Mamma filled in my school reading diary after I read to her in the greenhouse. I did it because I want to get the book if I win, which I think I will."
Head teacher at Rosslyn Park Chris Turner-Rowe, added: "We use the Extreme Read competition as an annual event to encourage children to read.
"It reminds them that reading is good, that books can be fun and you can really read anywhere you like.
"We've had some great entries and I'm looking forward to presenting the award to our winner."