Published: Wednesday, 10th July 2024
The Summer Reading Challenge is upon us once again – with children being encouraged to read six books over the school summer holidays.
The free holiday activity is aimed at four to 11-year-olds and runs from Saturday, 13 July until Saturday, 14 September.
For each book they read, children who have signed up to the challenge will receive a special prize including a poster, colouring pencils and stickers. If they complete six books, they will get a special medal and certificate!
Parents and carers can register their children for the challenge at any of Medway’s libraries.
The Summer Reading Challenge is a national scheme which aims to keep children engaged with books and maintain literacy skills through the summer holidays. This year’s theme is ‘Marvellous Makers’, celebrating creativity and imagination in all its forms.
There has also been some extra inspiration for pupils from some of Medway’s schools in the run-up to the challenge, with a touring production of The Library at the Edge of the World visiting Medway’s libraries.
Brought by Applause Rural Touring and Touched Theatre, this magical interactive show and writing experience celebrates the power of stories to reconnect us to the world around us.
Inspiring the writers of the future
Cllr Nina Gurung, Medway Council’s Portfolio Holder for Heritage, Culture and Leisure, said: “The absolute joy of reading and learning about the world out there can start while young, and I would love our children and young people in Medway to once again join and enjoy being part of the Summer Reading Challenge! We are Child-Friendly Medway, and we have high aspirations for all our children and young people; our library teams across Medway have been preparing for this thrilling challenge and are now excited to welcome our children and young people to our local libraries. We know they will have such great fun choosing books from a very, very wide range of topics!
"Reading books can truly take children to other fantastic worlds, boost their creativity and spark their imagination - this also helps improve their writing and processing skills; we might even motivate our children to become celebrated writers in future, which is perfectly possible, and how wonderful would that be!
"I’d therefore like to urge all the dedicated parents and carers across Medway to join hands with our libraries and promote this wonderful opportunity for our children, and take pride in seeing their love of reading. You can do this by signing up your children to the Summer Reading Challenge. It is free, and we all know how much the children talk about it among their friends when they return to school in September! I'm looking forward to the highest sign-up ever for our Summer Reading Challenge! Wishing all our Medway children Happy Summer Reading!”