Out of hundreds that applied, a primary school in Rickmansworth was chosen to take part in a “prestigious” reading competition.

Year six students from Shepherd Primary School read five books about science while taking part in the Royal Prestigious Society Young People’s Book Prize.

Once they had read them, the schoolchildren formed a judging panel and rated the books. After discussing their appeal, interest and appearance, the pupils then selected their favourite. The winning book was How Machines Work by David Macauley.

The students that took part were Keyley Craft, Jake Foster, Raghav Patel, Eleana Cheshire, Eshan Goghai, James Ellison, Ben Willis, Lucy Morton, Amber Maloney and Ilya Medvedyev.

Keyley said: “I read Project Body – it was appealing because I learnt things about my body that I didn’t know.”

Head teacher Mrs Claire Foad said: “It has been a privilege that children at our school have contributed to such an important award. The books will now be put in our school library for all the children here to enjoy.”