A Letchworth schoolgirl has been congratulated by author Philip Pullman after his books helped her to become a ‘word millionaire’ by reading a million words.
Poppy Del Greco, who is 12 and in Year 7 at Fearnhill School, was among those who took on a challenge set by the school’s English department and library to read a million words – with a quiz afterwards to test understanding of the books read.
Philip Pullman’s epic His Dark Materials fantasy trilogy helped Poppy to become the school’s first word millionaire, after she read 17 books in seven weeks.
And the author himself congratulated Poppy on Twitter after the school told him about her achievement.
He wrote: “A millionaire! Well, congratulations to her. Put the money in the bank and don’t spend it all at once.”
Fearnhill uses Accelerated Reader, a computer programme that tests reading comprehension. The students choose books on their reading level, read them and then take a comprehension test on the computer. Each book is worth a certain number of points based on length and reading level.
Poppy passed quizzes on all 17 books she had read.
For more about Fearnhill School see fearnhill.herts.sch.uk.
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