Blackpool Council has announced its support of Good Morning Britain’s Just Read campaign, to encourage parents and carers to spend ten minutes reading with their children every day. The campaign will see the library giving away 50 copies of bestselling book Diary of a Wimpy Kid to local children on Saturday 13 September.
Blackpool Central Library and Moor Park Library are two of 200 libraries across the UK taking part in the Just Read giveaway which is supported by national charity The Reading Agency and children’s publisher Puffin. The campaign comes as a coalition of leading charities, teachers, parents and businesses have come together to form a coalition called Read On. Get On. The coalition has launched a national mission to support parents and teachers to get all eleven year olds reading well by 2025. Read On. Get On. has published a report that reveals hundreds of thousands of kids are leaving school without adequate reading skills and that one in seven children aged eight to eleven do not own a book of their own at home.
The giveaway will highlight how vital libraries are for the nation’s literacy and that books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid can really help children on their reading journey. Millions of children are readers because of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Jeff Kinney’s work is perfect for turning reluctant readers on to books. With 50% words and 50% cartoons, the books are 100% hilarious and children agree – Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck was voted by children as Favourite Book in the 2014 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards.
Later on in the week, Good Morning Britain will aim to set a Guinness World Record for the most parents reading with their children in the same place, at the same time.
As well as the giveaway, children who visit Central Library at 10am and Moor Park Library at 2pm on Saturday 13 September will be able to enjoy a special Diary of a Wimpy Kid fun activity, suitable for ages eight years and above. Just Read looks to highlight how parents and carers can promote the simple but invaluable activity of reading to youngsters.
Cllr Christine Wright, Blackpool Council’s cabinet member for heritage and culture, said: ” We are delighted to have two of our libraries selected to participate in this brilliant promotion. Diary of a Wimpy Kid is incredibly popular with our younger readers and I’m sure the two celebration events will be hugely popular.
“Getting parents and children to start reading together is a great way for children to learn literacy skills, and sets them up well for their school work. We a realways looking at fun ways to encourage more people to get reading and I hope that as many people as possible will come and pick up the free book.”
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