FAMILIES celebrated the life of Thomas Hardy in a day of activities at the writer's childhood home.

Hardy's world was brought to life by staff at Dorset County Museum as part of a month-long event to encourage people to discover Hardy.

Visitors were able to experience what life was like for Thomas Hardy as a boy when he lived in the family's thatched cottage at Higher Bockhampton.

Included were storytelling and activity sessions. This activity formed part of the Hardy County Read - a partnership between Penguin Books and Dorset Libraries to get the whole county of Dorset reading and enjoying the novels of Thomas Hardy.

Dorset County Council's Library Service is running the Hardy County Read, a month-long celebration of the acclaimed writer. To find out about events, look for Hardy County Read leaflets and posters in libraries and bookshops, or log on to the Penguin readers' group website http://www.penguin.co.uk/readers or http://www.dorsetforyou.com/libraries