The Summer Reading Challenge aims to keep children reading over the summer holidays with events, activities and brilliant books – all available to access for free from local libraries.
In partnership with local libraries, the Challenge provides a free, fun way to keep young minds active, ready for a great start to a new school year in the autumn.
Young readers aged 4–11 can sign up at a local library, or online at summerreadingchallenge.org.uk. Read at least six books to complete the challenge. Anything goes! Choose stories, graphic novels, non-fiction books, or listen to audio books.
Through the challenge, unlock rewards, discover new reads, and receive a medal and certificate once the challenge is completed.
The Summer Reading Challenge is delivered by The Reading Agency. It is supported in Wales by the Books Council of Wales and funded by Welsh Government. From 2025 this project is funded by the Curriculum for Wales Grant Support Programme, thanks to Welsh Government Education Department.
Who is it for?
With a new theme every year, the Summer Reading Challenge is aimed at children age 4-11. It supports this age group and their families by:
- Preparing children to get back to the classroom in the autumn.
- Supporting the move into a new year group or key stage.
- Boosting children’s confidence and self-esteem by supporting independent reading.
- Providing free access to books and fun family activities during the summer.
Teachers – find out more about the Summer Reading Challenge in our Reading for Pleasure Guide
Summer Reading Challenge in Wales 2024
In Wales, 34,206 people took part in the Summer Reading Challenge during the school summer holidays in 2024, through libraries and online. The theme was ‘Marvellous Makers’.
The scheme aims to prevent the ‘summer dip’ learning loss many children experience over the holidays when they aren’t in shool, helping to maintain their reading skills and confidence.
With increasing pressures on public libraries in terms of staffing and resources, it’s encouraging that libraries can still help so many children to keep up with their reading during the holidays, with 45% of participants going on to complete the challenge of reading six or more books. Here’s a summary of the Summer Reading Challenge 2024 in Wales in numbers:
- 34,206 people across Wales took part
- 27,207 children aged 4–11 took part by visiting their local library (10% of children aged 4–11 in Wales)
- 15,440 children completed the challenge (45%)
- 3,189 children under 3 years old took part using specially designed pre-school resources
- 983 participants aged 12 and older took part through their local library
- Children read 796,892 books, eBooks and audiobooks
- 5,506 children joined the library as new members
- 30,678 people attended a variety of library events
Further information
For further information about the Summer Reading Challenge, visit the Reading Agency’s website.
The Reading Agency Summer Reading Challenge (External website, opens in new tab)