This summer, children aged 4-11 can visit any Community Hub in Monmouthshire to meet the Gadgeteers and get involved in a science and innovation themed Summer Reading Challenge.
Through taking part in the challenge, with free materials from local Community Hubs and online via the Challenge website, 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.
Produced by The Reading Agency, the annual Summer Reading Challenge is delivered by libraries throughout the UK. The Gadgeteers Summer Reading Challenge starts in libraries across Monmouthshire on Saturday 9th July and finishes on Saturday 17th September.
Cllr. Catherine Fookes, Cabinet Member for Equalities and Engagement, said:
“This is a wonderful way of really engaging with children about the world around them. I know as a parent the summer holidays can be long and expensive and when my children were younger we did this challenge and it was great! So visit your local library and get involved. With plenty of great options across picture books, early readers and middle grade books I recommend anyone with primary school aged children considering popping along this summer.”
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.
The challenge is designed to encourage children to pick up new books and enjoy reading, especially over the long summer holidays where children’s quality of reading can take a ‘dip’. Each year, the Summer Reading Challenge encourages children to keep reading and to discover wonderful new books.
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.
For more information, please contact your local Community Hub: Community Hubs Opening Hours – Monmouthshire
You can also find more information about the Summer Reading Challenge on the website: Summer Reading Challenge