The Summer Reading Challenge

The annual challenge encourages primary school children to read for pleasure over the summer holidays. During the challenge, participants collect prizes and stickers, play games and, of course, discover a world of great books.

Taking part is simple

Once signed up, children receive their packs and can start collecting special materials, which relate to this year’s theme: Gadgeeters.

Your child simply needs to read six books to complete the challenge and these can be anything that takes their fancy: fact, fiction, poetry, comics, audio books… They log each book completed on their poster and receive a medal and certificate if they successfully finish the challenge.

There are also plenty of activities to extend the fun online including plenty of games: https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/games

Meet the Gadgeteers – 2022’s Challenge

This year, The Reading Agency has joined forces with Science Museum Group for a science and innovation-themed challenge. The aim is to inspire children to be imaginative and creative and discover the science that’s all around them in everyday objects.

During the Challenge children join six ‘Gadgeteers’ on a journey of discovery. These fictional characters explore the science behind a host of interests from fashion and technology to cooking and music.

With resources from the Science Museum Group, the Gadgeteers Summer Reading Challenge also features lots of ideas for great experiments and activities. 

Additionally, there’s an accompanying book collection curated by the team. These fun, science-themed recommendations are packed with facts and tales of innovation and creativity to make science and reading accessible to everyone.

The challenge is taking place now and finishes on September 17th, 2022. For more details visit: https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/.

Taking part in The Summer Reading Challenge, is just one of my Summer Holiday Challenges. You can read about the rest here.

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I’ve just taken delivery of that great idea and am really excited to give it as a gift.

The Present Idea

My eldest daughter has a December birthday so I really have to get into gear on the present front at this time of year.

She mentioned she’d like a copy of The Magic Faraway Tree, which they’d been reading at school. I thought this, as part of the series of four, would work as a small Christmas present so looked for the Famous Five series, which she isn’t familiar with. I found the first 10 books, sold as a set, for just over £14 and ordered immediately.

The books arrived promptly and had the lovely retro covers. However, they were just in a bundle wrapped in cellophane. I suppose hardly surprising given the price. I didn’t want to wrap them up to give just as they were so had to think of an alternative.

It’s all in the Presentation

I set about looking for a presentation case, just something simple like proper book box sets come in. I searched for ages and drew a blank. I then had the idea of getting a decorative box to actually put them in, but nothing really seemed to fit the bill. I then thought treasure chest!

It seemed the perfect idea as it all fit in nicely with the whole adventure theme, and of course it would even contain the book Five on a Treasure Island. It is also something that I would have loved at eight year’s old, so I know Sofia will. The chest has arrived today and I actually can’t wait to give this present to her. It even comes with its own lock and key to keep it all secret!

Here are the links to the products:

• Famous Five – books 1-10
• Pirate Treasure Chest
• Other Pirate Treasure Chest (by the same company also looks great – double check the dimensions)

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The site doesn’t look the slickest, but is a real Aladdin’s cave of new and old time classics with a wealth of activity books, fiction, non-fiction, book & CD combos and even work books (scary Key Stage 1 and 2 stuff). They will even source books at the best possible prices if they aren’t already offered on the website.

You’ll find heavily discounted books from much loved and more mainstream authors such as Julia Donaldson, Michael Rosen, Anthony Browne and Jill Murphy – a hardback copy of Julia Donaldson’s The Highway Rat costs just £5.50 instead of the RRP £10.99 – on the site, but The Book Stalk also seems to excel in finding lesser known treasures.

Looking at Perseus flying in Greek Myths and Legends

Amongst the more unusual titles is Greek Myths and Legends (which I got a sneak preview of and which has just become available on the site at £6.50 instead of the RRP £12.99) – a hardback anthology of 11 of the most familiar myths and legends from ancient Greece. I feel this would really appeal to boys as an antidote to some of the traditional fairytales, which are often targeted at girls, and is a good example of The Book Stalk’s varied offering. However, speaking of traditional fairytales, the site also has some lovely compilations and has offered readers of this blog 50% off two great titles.

Julia Donaldson’s The Highway Rat and Tales of Princes and Princesses

Fairy Tales – A Classic Collection compiles ten classics including Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Cinderella, Puss-in-Boots, Blue Beard and Little Thumb. With wonderful illustrations and stories varying significantly in terms of subject and characters, this would appeal to boys and girls alike. Available on the site for £9.99, readers can receive a 50% discount by using the code ParentSocial50 at checkout.

Unashamedly girly, Tales of Princes and Princesses is a beautifully presented collection of nine tales adapted from the stories of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson, each illustrated by a different artist. This hardback book with a lovely fold over magnetic closing is available on the site for £12.99, but readers can get a copy for just £6.50 by using the code ParentSocial50 at checkout.

The Book Stalk also offers some other great gifts, such as children’s cooking sets, convertibles and many games from our family favourite, Orchard Toys, at heavily discounted prices.

A wonderful collection at fantastic prices, but do watch out for the delivery costs as they do vary quite a bit from product to product and can bump it up.

Visit: www.thebookstalk.co.uk

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