Children aged 4-11 are being invited to visit Kent Libraries to join a superstar team and their marvellous mascots and get involved in “Ready, Set, Read!”, which is themed around the power of play, sport, games and physical activity.
Through taking part in the challenge, with free materials from all Kent Libraries and online via the Summer Reading Challenge website, children will be encouraged to keep their minds and bodies active over the summer break. The characters – brought to life by children’s author and illustrator Loretta Schauer – navigate a fictional summer obstacle course and track their reading as they go, rewarded by free incentives including stickers.
Through activity challenge cards from the Youth Sport Trust and a themed book collection, the Summer Reading Challenge, which runs until 9 September, aims to keep imaginations moving over the school holiday.
The Summer Reading Challenge has been running since 1999 and helps to improve children’s reading skills and confidence over the summer holidays, ensuring they are ready for their return to school. With the help of local libraries, the Summer Reading Challenge is accessible to all and provides a fun, free activity for children.
Last year, well over 16,000 Kent youngsters took part in the challenge, titled Gadgeteers, by visiting a library in person and more than 9,000 completed it. A further 1,900 children took part online.
Across the country, the Summer Reading Challenge reached 723,184 children and families across, with 608,015 children taking part through their local library service, a 31% increase compared to 2021. The Challenge also drove 132,223 new children's library memberships which is 40% higher than the 2019 pre-pandemic total.
“Our library staff are available all year round to help children enjoy reading for pleasure, and the Summer Reading Challenge provides the opportunity to explore new reading material, develop skills, and discover new interests.”
Mike Hill, KCC’s Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services, said: “Our library staff are available all year round to help children enjoy reading for pleasure, and the Summer Reading Challenge provides the opportunity to explore new reading material, develop skills, and discover new interests.
“They have the whole summer to tackle the challenge and we would like as many children as possible to take part.”
Karen Napier, from The Reading Agency said: "We are 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, imagining, and staying active this summer.”
View more information and details of Summer Reading Challenge events for families to enjoy.
About The Summer Reading Challenge
The Summer Reading Challenge is run by the Reading Agency for children across the UK and is delivered in partnership with public libraries. It has been running for the past 24 years and aims to foster a lifelong love of reading and tackle the drop off in reading that can happen over the school summer holidays. Children are challenged to read books over the summer and encouraged to enjoy reading for fun. Each year has a different theme – 2022 was ‘Gadgeteers’ and 2021 was ‘Wild World Heroes’.
About The Reading Agency
The Reading Agency is a national charity that tackles life’s big challenges through the proven power of reading. We work closely with partners to develop and deliver programmes for people of all ages and backgrounds; our vision is for a world where everyone is reading their way to a better life.
We help 1.9 million people benefit from reading every year, through our programmes, our tireless campaigning, our excellent networks and our power to influence, challenge and make change happen.
About the Youth Sport Trust
The Youth Sport Trust is a UK leading children’s charity for improving young people's wellbeing through sport and play. It empowers young people and equips educators to transform lives. Founded in 1995, it works with around 20,000 schools and inspires Changemakers to build a sense of belonging. Its vision is to create a future where every child enjoys the life-changing benefits of play and sport. Visit the YST website for ideas, tips and information.
About Arts Council England
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high quality cultural experiences. We invest public money from Government and The National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision. www.artscouncil.org.uk Following the Covid-19 crisis, the Arts Council developed a £160 million Emergency Response Package, with nearly 90% coming from the National Lottery, for organisations and individuals needing support. We are also one of the bodies administering the Government’s unprecedented £1.96 billion Culture Recovery Funds. Find out more by visiting the Arts Council website.
