Her Majesty The Queen has lots to think about in terms of new arrivals at the moment – but it hasn’t stopped her ensuring that children in East Sussex are thanked for taking part in a competition and telling her their favourite books.

Earlier this year, over 70 children took part in the competition which asked them to recommend their favourite title to The Queen, so she could relax with a good book after a busy time celebrating her Diamond Jubilee. The competition was organised by East Sussex County Council’s Library Service.

All eight County Council libraries in the North area took part, and the children provided numerous good book recommendations.

Now The Queen has sent the children – and the Council’s Library Service – her thanks and best wishes via a letter from her Lady-in-Waiting at Buckingham Palace.

Claire Morley from the County Council’s Library Service said: “It was a really nice surprise to receive the letter from the Palace – which said that The Queen was pleased to receive the book recommendations and pleased that so many children had taken part in our competition.

“The idea behind the competition was to celebrate the Jubilee in a way that would also raise the profile of reading for pleasure, as well as giving our young readers a way to share their favourite books and recommend them to others.”

Book recommendations given to The Queen by the children included ‘The World of Norm 2, May Cause Irritation’ by Jonathan Merers, ‘The Worst thing about my Sister’ by Jacqueline Wilson, and ‘Room on the Broom’ by Julia Donaldson.

For more information about what’s available for children online and in libraries see our Children’s library pages.