Books are getting a body slam in the UK.

Professional wrestlers took to the ring at Keighley Library later for a free family event where fighters will act out well-known stories, from Jack and the Beanstalk to Theseus and the Minotaur.

The Read-a-Slam event is part of the National Year of Reading programme at Bradford Libraries.

Gareth Thompson, CEO and founder of Kingdom Wrestling, said it was a chance to engage new readers in a different way.

“It just brings their imagination to life in a way that you just could not do just from reading alone.”

Thompson said wrestling and reading were not as different as they might seem.

“If you look at it as a sport and as a violent fight, that is how you engage adults around professional wrestling,” he said.

“If you want to engage children, we look at it as storytelling, the good guy, the bad guy, the fight between good and evil, the funny stuff that we can script and play around with. It is just a way to get them to really feel the story, for them to then want to go away and read the book after and really get into it. It will help their imagination to be able to visualise how small Jack was versus how big this giant can be and what would have happened if the giant got a hold of him.”

Andrea Hardaker, digital development officer at Bradford Libraries, said she wanted to show libraries as creative, fun spaces.

“We want people to know that libraries are not these boring stuffy buildings, that we have lots of fun events on for all ages, from birth right through to your old age, we will have something for you,” she said.

The project aims to attract new audiences by combining sport, performance and literacy.

“We are keeping up with the times and particularly in Bradford, we go out of our way to put on events that will interest people and they tend to be free,” Hardaker said.

Read more from BBC News.