The race to victory

Alex Bell was inspired by an ancient Aesop’s fable.

At the University of Coimbra’s 300-year-old Joanina Library in Portugal, an unlikely species of librarian works to protect the books. Every night, bats emerge from the enormous bookcases and eat up the insects that love to destroy old paper and glue. It was partly these brilliant bat bookkeepers that inspired the author Alex Bell to write a novel that centres around a library, she told The Week Junior. That, and her love of libraries – from famous historic ones to the humble local library. “Old grand libraries are lovely to visit,” says Bell, “but you can’t touch the books.” Local libraries are fantastic for book lovers, she says. In Bell’s new book, The Glorious Race of Magical Beasts, the main character, Eli, is a 12-year-old librarian at the largest library…

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The Week Junior (UK) (Digital) - 1 Issue, 424

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