Maggie’s Day returned to The Story Museum on Friday 9th October, bringing together grown-ups and local schoolchildren for a celebration of books, imagination and the joy of reading.

Maggie’s Day showcases the work of the Maggie Evans Fund, a memorial fund held and managed by Oxfordshire Community Foundation. By supporting projects with Oxfordshire schools, the fund helps children from all backgrounds discover a love of books and stories. 

At the heart of this year’s event was guest speaker Jasbinder Bilan, award-winning author of Asha and the Spirit Bird, which won the Costa Children’s Book Award and The Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition. Sharing insight from her magical stories inspired by nature, wild places and her family roots in India, Jasbinder spoke to a class from one of The Story Museum’s Spellbound Schools programme, which partners with local schools to provide teachers and pupils with high‑quality creative content that supports curriculum learning and emotional wellbeing. 

Jasbinder’s visit came just one day after the publication of her new novel, Girl with a Sabretooth Tiger. Set in prehistoric England, it follows Swallow as she crosses seas and mountains in search of a precious jadeite stone that could cure her baby sister, guided by the spirit of a sabre-toothed tiger. Its themes of storytelling, courage, family and connection with nature gave the day a timely focus and invited children to see reading as an imaginative adventure. 

In the atmospheric surroundings of The Story Museum’s Woodshed theatre, Jasbinder brought the novel’s prehistoric world to life by inviting a volunteer from the school to come up on stage and hold the head of a sabre-toothed tiger. The children had the opportunity to ask her lots of questions about her stories and writing. 

Guests also heard from Lucy Webber, Head of Learning, about The Story Museum’s current work with schools and how the Maggie Evans Fund is helping children build confidence and enjoyment in reading through projects such as Extreme Reading Adventures and Spellbound Schools.   

This work continues the legacy of Maggie Evans, whose family established the fund to celebrate the life of a bright young woman whose life was cut tragically short. Maggie had many passions, talents and interests, and in her later years was especially known for her work with books, particularly children’s books. Through its support for The Story Museum and local schools, the fund remains true to that passion by giving more children opportunities to experience stories, creative learning and inspiring authors. 

We are always grateful for donations of any size to the Maggie Evans Fund, helping more children discover the joy of reading. If you would like to donate, you can do so here.