Summer Reading Challenge to focus on science and innovation

The Reading Agency’s annual Summer Reading Challenge for children will this year focus on science and innovation.

In a partnership with the Science Museum Group, the 2022 challenge theme is “gadgeteers” and aims to inspire children to see the science and innovation behind everyday objects. The aim is to show that reading and science are for everyone.

Children’s writer and illustrator Julian Beresford has created six gadgeteers characters. Kids will be able to join them on their quest to understand the science behind a range of topics, from fashion and technology to cooking and music. 

Over the summer term, the Science Museum Group will be offering opportunities and resources for UK public libraries and primary schools to engage with the theme.

The Challenge started in 1999 and reaches more than 700,000 children across the UK each year, delivered in partnership with public libraries. Last year the theme was “Wild World Heroes”. 

Karen Napier, c.e.o. of the Reading Agency, said: “We know through our broader work with children, like our Reading Sparks reading and Stem programme, that reading and science go hand-in-hand. We are sure that the gadgeteers will inspire the creativity of children up and down the country to use their imagination.” 

Susan Raikes, director of learning at the Science Museum Group, added: “Reading has such an important role to play in igniting young people’s curiosity about the world around them. The Summer Reading Challenge this year provides a fantastic opportunity to reveal the science, engineering and innovation all around us. At the Science Museum Group, we are delighted that our partnership with the Reading Agency will allow us to reach more future creative thinkers and inspire them with the everyday wonders of imagination and discovery."