Summer Reading Challenge

The Summer Reading Challenge is an educational competition held annually in the UK by The Reading Agency. It first began in 1999 with the intention of encouraging primary school children to read books during the summer holiday. Participants are awarded stickers and medals based on the competition's theme per tier. Materials are available in large print with supplementary information in Braille.

2016's Summer Reading Challenge (which was Roald Dahl-themed) is advertised at a local library in Coventry, England.

In an Impact Research study for the Summer Reading Challenge, the Reading Agency found that the Challenge contributed to stemming the 'summer holiday dip' in children's reading achievement.[1]

How it works

The child first asks for registration at the library desk with their library card in their hand. They then receive the Summer Reading Challenge Sheet where they track their progress and add stickers to complete the challenge. They read two books at a time from the library, record them on their sheet then show the sheet to the librarian where they get two stickers to put on their sheet (one often being a scratch-n'-sniff). After they have collected all the stickers and read their six books, they receive a medal and a certificate.[2]

Resources

In Wales, most items are available in bilingual Welsh-English versions.

In Scotland, the Summer Reading Challenge is sponsored by Tesco Bank.

The Summer Reading Challenge is also run beyond UK, in Eire and through the British Council’s teaching and learning services .

An interactive website for children is available year-round. Here they can create a profile, chat about books, and get help on what to read next via the digital Book Sorter . This Book Sorter functionality already offers over 300,000 peer to peer children’s book recommendations in child-friendly categories, added by children themselves, who have read these titles in a Summer Reading Challenge or other activity.

Themes
Year Theme About Notes
1999 Reading Safari[3]
2000 Reading Relay
2001 Reading Carnival
2002 Reading Planet
2003 Reading Maze
2004 Reading Rollercoaster
2005 Reading Voyage
2006 Reading Mission
2007 The Big Wild Read Environment
2008 Team Read Sports to celebrate Beijing Olympics 2008
2009 Questseekers Fantasy
2010 Space Hop Space and astronauts
2011 Circus Stars Circus
2012 Story Lab Science
2013 Creepy House Ghosts illustrated by Chris Riddell
2014 Mythical Maze Mythical characters illustrated by Sarah McIntyre
2015 Record Breakers World Records in partnership with Guinness World Records
2016 The Big Friendly READ Roald Dahl for 100th anniversary of Roald Dahl
2017 Animal Agents Detectives illustrated by Tony Ross
2018 Mischief Makers BEANO for BEANO's 80th anniversary
2019 Space Chase Space to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing
2020 Silly Squad[4] Comedy

Opportunities


2017's Summer Reading Challenge is promoted in a local library, with 'recommended books'.

Libraries work closely with schools, and each year library staff promote the Challenge to schools in the summer term. Invitations are provided for children to take home to encourage families to take part. Book display by Cambridge Central Library, Cambridge, UK.

For young people (aged 13 to 24) there is the opportunity to volunteer in libraries during the Summer Reading Challenge each year to support younger children taking part.

This volunteering provides a quality workplace experience for young people in libraries, inspires them to think about future careers and increases their employability as they gain useful life skills and confidence. 8,000 young people are expected to volunteer in the 2015 Summer Reading Challenge. Many go on to volunteer to support other library initiatives throughout the year.

References
  1. https://readingagency.org.uk/resources/518/
  2. "Summer Reading Challenge". summerreadingchallenge.org.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  3. Stewart, Gabe; Conway, Lynda (21 July 1999). "Educate, stimulate, organise". The Guardian. p. 14. Archived from the original on 2020-01-18.
  4. "Summer Reading Challenge". BBC Teach.
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