Young book lover Elisabeth Flett (11) of Tayport celebrates her success in a national reading competition with Friends of the Earth chief executive Duncan McLaren at Tayport Library.

A TAYPORT pupil who got her nose stuck into not just one book but 44 of them, has won a prize in a national reading competition.

Bookworm Elisabeth Flett (11) won a bike from Halfords in the contest run by Friends of the Earth Scotland and ScottishPower for P7 pupils.

She ploughed her way through the books in two months as she took part in a sponsored read-a-thon challenge, entitled Read for the Future, run by the two organisations to raise awareness of the importance of energy efficiency.

The read-a-thon encouraged youngsters to switch off energy- guzzling gadgets like televisions and computers and read a book instead, while also raising money for Friends of the Earth’s Green Homes project.

Elisabeth, who is home educated, is a keen musician and dancer, playing the recorder, violin, piano and guitar and attending ballet, tap and jazz classes.

She is also a member of a book group for home-educated children in the local area which meets monthly.

Pleased with her prize, she said, “This was a great competition because it gave me an excuse to read lots of books and also to feel as if I was helping the environment at the same time.

“I visit my local library all the time and the librarian at Tayport is very encouraging and helpful when it comes to choosing suitable books.”

Head of environment at ScottishPower, Alison McKean, said, “Well done to Elisabeth for doing the environment proud.

“Not only have the children who took part helped the environment and saved energy, they have also improved their literacy skills through reading so many books.

“So many activities are dependent on using—and often wasting—energy, while reading is enjoyable and educational but also very environmentally-friendly.”

Friends of the Earth Scotland chief executive Duncan McLaren added, “The money raised will be helping our Green Homes project to help people make their homes more environmentally-friendly and to campaign for laws that ensure buildings are more energy efficient.”