The latest event in the Whatever It Takes campaign will involve thousands of primary schoolchildren being given the chance to work with some of the country's top authors.

Author Week will run from March 22 to 26 at the Leicester Tigers stadium.

Ten authors will run talks to inspire children about the possibilities of reading and writing.

Among those attending will be Bali Rai, author of City of Ghosts, Sally Nicholls, author of Ways to Live Forever, and Lizzie Finlay, author of Little Croc's Purse.

Schools want to improve on reports that say about one in four children in Leicester do not have a reading age as high as their real age.

Councillor Vi Dempster, Leicester's education spokesman, said: "Author Week is a brilliant way to kick-start children's interest and enthusiasm for reading.

"It is a real coup for Leicester that we have 10 of the country's top children's authors giving up their time to come and work with our primary pupils. I know that our schools will be grabbing this opportunity with both hands."

Glebelands Primary School is among the first to book places.

Deputy head Lawrence Lee said: "This is a really fantastic idea and a great out-of-the-box way to get children excited about literacy."