West Row Primary School near Mildenhall celebrates artwork donation from mysterious artist on World Book Day
Children and teachers at a Suffolk school were absolutely delighted to receive a surprise gift on World Book Day.
A bespoke piece of work was created for West Row Primary School, near Mildenhall, by someone mysteriously known as the Anonymous Artist.
The artwork was unveiled at a special assembly where local PC Richard Smith, a community engagement officer from Mildenhall Police, represented the artist.
Books were also given to the school, donated from comedians Adam Hills and Josh Widdicombe, members of the local community, and also collected from Tesco stores in Thetford and Newmarket.
The headteacher Mrs Close, said: "It’s absolutely amazing that people have donated these for our children to enjoy and it's definitely really exciting for them all.
"It’s really important that they’ve got language all around them and have great access to books, so, I’m really pleased they’ve put the effort and time in for them.
"We will use the books all the time with the children and we will use the artwork in school so that all children can view it and I think it’s a really good conversation starter for them all."
The mystery artist began painting on the board at the start of January after it was donated by CLJ Renovations in Mildenhall.
It is now the fourth board the mystery artist has done for a school in Suffolk, including most recently at St Christopher’s CE Primary School, in Red Lodge.
The board contains 95 books across the two-metre wide canvas, including The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Elmer, Horrid Henry and many more.
PC Smith said: "The canvas is brilliant and will start that process of getting in the children’s minds with all the different books on it, it’s really exciting.
"It’s all about getting the children engaged, and getting them to understand and know what reading can bring them.
"The detail in the board means that the children can just take their time to look over it and hopefully inspire them too."
The mystery artist is hoping the board helps bring the characters to life and that the children can make up their own stories from it.
They said: "Books are a magical way for children to delve into a safe fantastic world with fabulous stories and characters.
"Learning to read is not always easy, but once you have the skill, whole new worlds open up and if the board encourages a child to pick up a book, every brush stroke is worth it."
