This summer children aged 4-11 are invited to join the Summer Reading Challenge at their local library in Blaenau Gwent!

Organised by The Reading Agency, the Summer Reading Challenge encourages children to borrow and read up to six books of their choice throughout the school holidays, collecting incentives from their library each time they finish a book.

Children can read any kind of book for the challenge, including fiction, fact books, poetry, joke books, picture books, graphic novels and even audiobooks.

To join the challenge, simply visit your local library any time after Saturday 9th July and collect a Summer Reading Challenge pack, it’s free to sign up and you’ll get a certificate when you complete the challenge.

This year’s challenge has a science and innovation theme, and all our young readers will be introduced to The Gadgeteers - a group of 6 fictional characters that will lead them through the challenge.  The characters, brought to life by children’s writer and illustrator Julian Beresford, will use their curiosity and wonder to understand the science behind a whole range of interests, from fashion and technology to cooking and music. 

Through an exciting book collection and accompanying activities, the Gadgeteers will help to spark children’s curiosity about the world around them and encourage them to feed their imagination over the summer holiday.  

The Summer Reading Challenge reaches over 700,000 children across the UK each year in partnership with public libraries. The Challenge continued to reach well over half a million children across the UK in 2021 as lockdowns eased, motivating children to keep reading during a difficult time.  Families told The Reading Agency that taking part in the Summer Reading Challenge helped their children to enjoy reading more, feel more confident about reading and ‘feel better’ during a tough period.  Family use of libraries also increased amongst Challenge participants, with more than 130,000 children joining the library as new members.

Since 1999, the popular Challenge has encouraged children to read for pleasure over the summer holidays, building reading skills and confidence and helping to prevent the ‘dip’ in reading skills while children are out of school.  By providing fun reading activities, the Challenge will support families and teachers by providing free-to-access recreation and learning resources – all created to keep children inspired to read. The digital Summer Reading Challenge platform will encourage children with limited physical access to the library to take part in the Challenge.

Karen Napier, CEO, The Reading Agency said: "We're delighted to see how library partners across the country are organising their own events and activities to support this year's Summer Reading Challenge. We are really looking forward to working closely with them to help get children reading, innovating, and sparking their imaginations this summer.”

For more information ask at your local library or visit www.summerreadingchallenge.org.uk