Every year 6 student to be given Katherine Rundell book for Christmas
Every child in year 6 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and P6 in Scotland, will be given the bestselling book Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell this Christmas, to coincide with the end of the government’s National Year of Reading.
Queen Camilla announced the initiative, called The Queen’s Christmas Present, to mark her birthday on Friday.
Impossible Creatures, which is about a magical archipelago where mythical creatures live, was named Waterstones book of the year in 2023.
Year 6 and P6 children, and those of the equivalent age, will receive the book through schools and libraries, as well as hospitals, care settings, refuges and food banks, according to the National Literacy Trust (NLT), which is working with the queen on the initiative. In total, that adds up to more than 800,000 books.
Reading enjoyment among children declines more steeply between primary and secondary school age than at any other point in their education, according to research by the NLT. In its 2026 survey of 125,375 children in the UK, children’s enjoyment of reading in their free time dropped by 30% between the ages of eight to 11 (47.7%) and 11 to 14 (33.2%).
The special edition will feature a stamp on the cover and a note from the queen inside. “Impossible Creatures, by one of my favourite writers, is a brilliant fantasy that will introduce you to a host of mythical friends and terrifying enemies … and I hope that you will love it as much as I do,” reads the message.
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The book is being “given at the best possible time”, said Rundell. “This generation of brilliant kids face extraordinary challenges ahead. Books, if we ensure they have access to them, will be their strongest and sharpest tools with which to build a future.”
