The magic of reading is all in the mind, with words and pictures lighting up our imaginations and taking us on extraordinary journeys without us ever having to leave our armchairs. And yet, the relationship between books and television has existed since the very beginning, with countless stories making the leap from page to screen and back again. Picking up the baton from radio, television was the great entertainer and educator of the latter half of the 20th century. Dramatisations of literary classics and contemporary page-turners are a familiar fixture in TV schedules, but beyond the art of adaptation lie programmes that capture the joy of reading, that bring books to life and that take us behind the curtain to meet the beloved wizards and dreamweavers whose work delights us all. This is no more the case than in the world of children’s books and, more broadly, learning to read. Within this collection, you will find documentaries and discussion programmes, government campaign films and local news reports, magazine shows and more. And at the heart of it all is the power of the story and the written word, and the simple, magical pleasure of reading and being read to. Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin.