Too often we read about our troubled world, the balance between the good and bad being heavily weighted toward the latter.
So, in an occasional contribution to Marlborough News Online, here is one small attempt to redress the skewed picture and look at some of the good things that often go unreported.
This year it’s the Mythical Maze, last year it was Creepy House.
In Marlborough alone there are 340 children aged between 4 and 11 enrolled in the Summer Reading Challenge; part of a national scheme which last Summer had over 800,000 children participating.
“Maybe this year we will reach a million” said Wendy Beaver, Wiltshire’s Community Librarian whose libraries in Wiltshire alone have enrolled over 9,000 children.
The scheme was started in the 90’s and soon became The Reading Agency a registered charity launched at the British Library in 2002. The Reading Agency has a wider brief including, for example, Adult Literacy which in 2010 set up the Six Book Challenge in 90 workplaces and 50 prisons.
But it is the Childrens’ Summer Reading Challenge that has caught the imagination.
This year the kids sign up at their local library and aim to read 6 books during the holidays.
The books are all part of The Mythical Maze which challenges the children to find their way around a labyrinth that introduces them to fantastical creatures from the world of legend and mythology, collecting stickers of each character along the way.
As they progress they also get medals and wrist-bands.
The children are, of course, accompanied by a parent at the library where the child discusses the book with a trained volunteer or one of the library staff. The discussion focuses on opinions and thoughts about each book rather than simply repeating the story.
The scheme is promoted in schools before the Summer holiday and reinforced when the children return by the award of certificates in school assembly, usually presented by Wendy Beaver, keeping her busier than ever.
So, in our world of turmoil and conflict let’s be pleased that simple, happy things happen – although often overlooked.
There’s more information about this year’s Challenge at the Reading Agency website and here too.
