It's a cracking read, Gromit - The Lost World

The cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Bristol have announced that they will be joining together in a collaborative reading campaign in February next year. The Lost World Read 2009 will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Arthur Conan Doyle, and the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Darwin. Thousands of free copies of Edinburgh-born Conan Doyle’s story The Lost World will be distributed through libraries, schools and supporting partner organisations together with a ‘quick read’ edition and a paperback comic biography on the Life of Charles Darwin. The three cities will be joined by the county of Hampshire, and the 15 Library authorities of South West England.

In The Lost World a group of explorers set out on an expedition to South America to prove that deep in the jungle there is a forgotten world where dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals still survive.

An exclusive cover has been designed for the free edition of the book by Bristol’s Aardman Animations, featuring their most famous creations, Wallace & Gromit. A spokesman from Aardman commented, “Wallace and Gromit are big fans of reading and are so excited about being part of this project. They think it's great that so many people, up and down the country, are going to be joining in."

image copyright Aardman Animations Ltd, 2008 (www.aardman.com)