Celebrity ambassadors

Now for some words from our celebrity ambassadors on why they are supporting the Children's Reading Fund.

Cerrie Burnell

'All children deserve to have their lives inspired through the beauty and power of story. Children's literature has the freedom to celebrate diversity in a magical and unique way, and go on to empower those children who have the opportunity to read all the wonderful books out there. That is why I'm supporting the Children's Reading Fund.'

One of the few visibly disabled presenters on television, Cerrie Burnell's story is one of amazing positivity and tenacity.

Born without a right forearm and hand, Cerrie has never let her disability hold her back. A natural entertainer, at 15-years-old Cerrie joined the National Youth Theatre where she got her first taste of acting. Cerrie has appeared in 'Holby City', 'EastEnders', 'The Bill' and a regular role in 'Grange Hill'.

Soon after having her first child, Cerrie landed a presenting job on BBC pre-school channel CBeebies and with her warm and friendly demeanour, she proved to be a natural. A popular presenter on CBeebies, Cerrie recently spearheaded their Children In Need appeal 'Jump Up and Dance'. She also appeared on CBeebies co-host Justin Fletcher's show Justin's House. Cerrie joined Channel 4 for its coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Presenting from pool side, Cerrie covered all of the Paralympic swimming events.

Cerrie is also an active supporter of the Get London Reading campaign, speaking out about her struggle with dyslexia and how she was unable to read until ten-years-old, in the hope of inspiring others. Having overcome her own literacy problems Cerrie is now a keen writer. She writes regular pieces for parenting magazine Gurgle and has written and staged her own play Winged: A Fairy Tale.

James Patterson

'We need to do more - parents especially - to get our kids reading. It's our job, not the school's job. If kids don't read their chances to grow and develop and have choices later in life are reduced significantly. That is why I'm on a mission to get kids reading. It is down to adults to make books available and find stories that fire a young reader's imagination. If I can help to make books and reading more important in children's lives, I'll be a happy man.'

In January 2010, The New York Times Magazine featured James Patterson on its cover and hailed him as having 'transformed book publishing'. Time magazine named him 'The Man Who Can't Miss', and he is the 2010 Children's Choice Book Awards 'Author of the Year', a designation decided on by more than 15,000 children and teen readers.

From his James Patterson Pageturner Awards (which rewarded groups and individuals for creative and effective ways of spreading the joy of reading) to his website ReadKiddoRead.com (which helps adults find books that kids are sure to love) to his regular donations of thousands of books to troops overseas, Patterson is a lifelong champion of books and reading. His book, Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life is a number 1 New York Times and number 1 Indiebound best-seller and also appeared in the UK Top 10 chart. He has also captured the attention of children with critically acclaimed series such as Maximum Ride and Daniel X.

Patterson is the creator of the top-selling detective series Alex Cross - whose adventures have been adapted for the big screen three times. Firstly in Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls starring Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman; and secondly in the latest movie Alex Cross, which was released in 2012. His novels have won awards including the Edgar, the BCA Mystery Guild's Thriller of the Year, the International Thriller of the Year award and the Reader's Digest Reader's Choice Award.

Gaby Roslin

'One of my most treasured memories is reading bedtime books with each of my children. Reading together gave us wonderful shared experiences of excitement and adventure and they've both now gone on to discover books for themselves. We should never underestimate the power of books and the joy they can bring, that's why I'm proud to support the Children's Reading Fund.'

Host of the BBC London Breakfast Show with Paul Ross, Gaby Roslin is an authority on live television and is one of the country's most popular TV and radio presenters. Born and brought up in London, Gaby graduated from the Guildford School of Acting and went on to make her TV debut presenting the children's programmes Hippo on Superchannel and Motormouth live on ITV. In September 1992 Gaby was invited to join Chris Evans as the co-presenter of Channel 4's ground breaking new daily programme The Big Breakfast, and she went on to host the show for three and a half years. During that time she also explored Ecuador and the Galapogos Islands for BBC Holiday and travelled to Africa to film Predators with the award-winning Survival team. From 1998 until 2002 Gaby worked exclusively for the BBC fronting a range of programmes, both entertainment and factual, including Whatever You Want, City Hospital, A Question of Television and to bring in the New Year she presented 28 hours of live non-stop television for BBC1's Millennium celebration 2000 Today.

In 2002 she made her West End acting debut playing the role of Mama Morton in Chicago. She then co-presented The Terry and Gaby Show produced by Chris Evans and returned to the stage again for the National Theatre's production of Dinner. She recently finished the second series of Celebrity Fantasy Homes for UKTV and My First Home for Rockabox.

Lemn Sissay

'Every child in care deserves to receive books. Children in care are heroes and heroines who use extraordinary skills to cope in extreme situations, that's why I'm supporting the Children's Reading Fund.'

Lemn Sissay is an internationally renowned poet, author of four poetry collections: Tender Fingers in a Clenched Fist (1988), Rebel Without Applause (1992), Morning Breaks in the Elevator (1999) and The Emperor's Watchmaker (2000). He also edited The Fire People: A Collection of Contemporary Black British Poets (1998) and his work has appeared in many anthologies. He is a regular contributor to Poetry Review and has judged various writers competitions such as The Arvon Poetry Prize and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.

He is currently artist in residence at The Southbank Centre and has been writer in residence at The Cambridge Literature Festival, The Belfast Literature Festival, University of Arizona, California State University and Contact Theatre, Manchester.

He was born in Lancashire of Ethiopian parents. His 2004 drama Something Dark, deals with his search for his family after being fostered by a white, religious family who, after looking after him as their child for 11 years, decided to cut off all contact. In 2006, Something Dark toured internationally and was adapted for BBC Radio 3, winning the RIMA award in 2006. He is also a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live.

He was the first commissioned poet at the 2012 London Olympic Games. His poem Spark Catchers was etched into a Transformer at the Olympic site.

Dan Snow

'Reading has meant everything to me. I remember my dad, my aunties and my grandmother reading to me when I was little, and it was Stevenson's Treasure Island that first sparked my love of history and travel.

Now, my happiest moments are spent curled up on a sofa with my daughter, reading a colourful pop up book just before she goes to sleep. Her first word was book and it made my heart sing. Every child - every family - deserves the chance to share books, and that's why I'm supporting the Children's Reading Fund.'

Dan Snow is an historian, broadcaster and television presenter. He was born and raised in London, and remembers spending every weekend of his childhood being taken to castles, battlefields, country houses and churches. He developed a great love of history, which he went on to pursue at Oxford University. Three times a rower in their annual boat race against Cambridge, he left with a double first in history and began his television career presenting military history programmes with his father, Peter Snow. Their series, Battlefield Britain, won a BAFTA award.

He has worked on numerous public occasions for BBC Events such as the 200th Anniversary of Battle of Trafalgar, the 90th anniversary of the RAF and the commemorations to mark the 90th anniversary of the end of World War One. Dan has a regular slot on the One Show on BBC1 where he explores great stories from British history. He made a documentary on China's First Emperor and his Terracotta Army for BBC2 in 2007 and the follow up on the Emperor Hadrian was on BBC2 the following year. In June 2008 Dan also explored the islands of St Kilda for Britain's Lost World on BBC1. His series Empire of the Seas: How the Royal Navy Made the Modern World was broadcast in early 2010. During the course of his work he has flown World War Two aircraft, been gassed, shovelled muck in a sewer under London for a day, contracted hypothermia and been trained as a sniper. Dan's first solo book Death or Victory was published in September 2009. It is an account of the fall of Quebec in 1759. An accompanying television programme was broadcast by BBC2 in March 2010.

Joanna Trollope

'Reading is the gateway to story, and story is the path to knowledge, excitement and joy. To be without story, as a child, is to suffer a real deprivation.'

Joanna Trollope has been writing for over 30 years. Her enormously successful contemporary works of fiction, several of which have been televised, include: The Choir ; A Village Affair; A Passionate Man; and The Rector's Wife, which was her first number one bestseller and made her into a household name. Since then she has written many books including The Best of Friends, Next of Kin, Other People's Children, Marrying the Mistress, Second Honeymoon, Friday Nights, The Other Family, Daughters in Laws and her latest best seller, The Soldier's Wife, which was published in 2012. Joanna also wrote Britannia's Daughters - a non-fiction study of women in the British Empire as well as a number of historical novels now published under the pseudoname Caroline Harvey. Joanna was awarded the OBE in 1996 for services to literature.