Local MP Ben Everitt is encouraging all primary school children to take part in The Reading Agency’s Summer Reading Challenge when it launches on Saturday (9th July).
Through taking part in the Challenge, with free packs from public libraries and through the digital platform, children will be able to join six fictional ‘Gadgeteers.’ The characters – brought to life by children’s writer and illustrator Julian Beresford – use their curiosity and wonder to understand the science behind a whole range of interests from fashion and technology to cooking and music.
The Challenge and its innovation-themed book collection will show that imagination can unlock endless possibilities, and the library is where this starts. This list includes numerous options spanning picture books, early reader books and middle grade titles by leading authors and illustrators, including: Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Melissa Castrillon, Sunita Chawdhary, Alex Falase-Koya, Saadia Faruqi, Vashti Hardy, Caryl Hart, SJ King, Katy Riddell, Dr Ranj Singh, Lydia Corry, and Leo Timmers, amongst many others. The full list can be viewed here.
The Summer Reading Challenge reaches over 700,000 children across the UK each year and is delivered 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 shared with The Reading Agency the ways 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. This year’s Challenge is also being supported by Pearson (sponsoring the digital platform's School Zone) and Explore Learning (sponsoring the digital platform's Library Zone).
Ben Everitt, the MP for Milton Keynes North, said: "Reading is such a valuable part of childhood so I really hope we see as many young people as possible taking part in the Summer Reading challenge across Milton Keynes.
"I'm especially excited about this year's theme where young people can join the 'Gadgeteers' on an adventure exploring science and innovation and that fits perfectly into what Milton Keynes continues to lead the way on. Science and innovation are both hugely important for the future and vital in education."
For more information, visit www.summerreadingchallenge.org.uk.
