It’s the first Thursday of March, meaning today is World Book Day. A chance to explore and celebrate your favourite characters, stories and, of course, reading. 

Every child in the UK gets to dress up as their favourite fictional character and receive a voucher to spend on a book. This is a fun and memorable day in education, but who says children should only get to have all the fun? Our tutors have shared their thoughts on classics such as ‘The Great Gatsby’ and hidden treasures like ‘The Memory Box’. See below, to explore how these books have shaped their lives and get to know a little bit more about their passion for tutoring.  

Samantha H - Primary Tutor for English and Maths 

Tutoring allows me to share my passion for a subject, as well as explain something in a way that is accessible. It also allows me to be creative and resourceful and find interactive ways to teach and learn. I believe everyone deserves the opportunity to learn and be successful, and tutoring can create these opportunities. 

‘The Memory Box’, by Kathryn Hughes, is my favourite book. It is written with a gripping structure and storyline. The story shifts between the past and the present, between the narrator's past young adult life and current life as an elderly lady. The structure of the book allows you to make connections between the narrator's past and present life, with incredible revelations along the way. Narrative style is written in first person and allows you to build an intimacy and understanding with the narrator and the characters. The story kept me in suspense throughout and has a wonderful ending with the narrator finally finding closure and peace in her life.  

Abirami S - Maths and Physics Tutor

I love tutoring because I like to see my students strive. Many of them need a little push to gain the right attitude towards learning, where it can be enjoyable. I take great joy in seeing students achieve their goals.  

My favourite book is 'The Divine Reality God, Islam & the Mirage of Atheism' by Hamza Andreas Tzortzis because the arguments about God and atheism are debated very mathematically and structurally with an element of philosophy. It makes me think deeply about life and our ultimate purpose and whether scientific progress led to the denial of God.

Charlotte M - Economics, History and Maths Tutor

For me, the most enjoyable thing about tutoring is being able to focus on one student. I can get to know the student more as an individual, and I am able to tailor interventions and lesson activities to their needs. I get to know more about a student: what their hobbies are, what methods of learning they find useful and what their strengths and weaknesses are. I can get to know them as a whole person, rather than just one member of a class of thirty students. This then means that I can use lesson materials that are most suited to them, and this should help them to progress more quickly.

My favourite book is ‘Girl, Woman, Other’ by Bernadine Evaristo - she writes beautifully and tells a powerful story about modern Britain through weaving together the stories of lots of different women.

Gareth T - Film and Media Studies Tutor

One of the things I enjoy most about tutoring is being able to help another person grow their knowledge and skills in an area of study. If I play just a small part in helping that student reach their goal, then that gives me a sense of personal satisfaction.

My favourite book is the ‘Stanley Kubrick Archives’. As a huge fan of the film director the book contains a comprehensive collection of Kubrick’s work compiled via a collection of mostly unseen material from the late director’s archives coupled with essays from Kubrick scholars, articles about him, and his best interviews.

Tim A - Drama, English and History tutor

What I enjoy most about tutoring is the experience of seeing a person making their own personal progress through the subject. It's such a rewarding thing when you get to the end of a course and say, "look how far we've come". 

My favourite book for a long, long time was ‘The Kite Runner’ by Khalid Hussain, and then I recently read a short story called ‘The Story of Your Life’ by Ted Chiang. It's the book that the film ‘Arrival’ was based one. I that has just topped it!

Alejandra A - EFL and Spanish Tutor

I am passionate about creating an environment of trust and communication that allows pupils to expose their motivations and fears. I believe tutoring constitutes a bidirectional comprehensive training experience. It allows mentors and students to grow in all dimensions: professional, social, and individual. 

​​‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of those books that get carved in your memory forever, not as an ornament, but as a high-resolution lens that inexorably pushes you towards self-knowledge. Reading is my passion, but if I must pick one favourite novel, it would probably be this one because of its timeless values.

Salomé G - French Tutor

What I enjoy the most about tutoring is transmitting my knowledge to motivated students. I love the French language and the French culture, and I love sharing it with others. I also really enjoy creating relationships with my students. 

My favourite book is a French book called ‘Les Misérables’, by Victor Hugo, because it is very well written. Victor Hugo's writing style is very smooth and uses words that I resonate with. I also love the story, and how he portrays Paris and its citizens.

Georgia B - Psychology Tutor

I enjoy helping a student achieve their goals, which they may otherwise have struggled to do. I always feel very proud of my students when they succeed. I also love imparting knowledge about a subject that I am very passionate about and find fascinating.  

My favourite fictional book is 'Confessions of a Shopaholic' by Sophie Kinsella as it always makes me laugh and takes my mind off anything going on in my life. My favourite factual book is 'Talking with Psychopaths and Savages' by Christopher Berry-Dee, which contains interviews with murderers. I enjoy this as I find the psychology of crime very fascinating and enjoy trying to understand why people are different and some people can commit such heinous crimes. 

Charlotte S - French and Spanish Tutor

The most enjoyable thing about tutoring is being able to focus on one student. I can get to know the student more as an individual, and I am able to tailor interventions and lesson activities to their needs. I get to know more about a student: what their hobbies are. what methods of learning they find useful, what their strengths and weaknesses are. 

A book I enjoyed recently was ‘The Thursday Murder Club’, by Richard Osman. I’ve always enjoyed crime and detective novels, but this one I particularly enjoyed for a few reasons. I liked the way that the book was written. It was witty, and there were a lot of funny moments. Not so many that it took away from the plot, but enough that it was an entertaining read. I liked that the style was easy to read, and the book was not too long, which means that it would be a good lead-in for someone new to the genre.

The best thing about books, 

You can find out facts about what interests you or let your imagination run wild and escape to a whole other world. Books are really for everyone. Share what you love about reading by tweeting us and World Book Day (link below).

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