The Summer Reading Adventure starts today — 1 December!

Read books, explore the city, win prizes!

The Summer Reading Adventure runs from 1 December 2021 – 31 January 2022 for children aged 5-13. Read books; write, draw or film reviews; and complete quests to earn all kinds of awesome goodies — and you’ll still be home in time for tea!

Pick up the Adventurer’s Guide from your local library and visit our Summer Reading Adventure website to register and start logging your reading and adventures today.

Read on to find out more!

How to play

Your first stop will be to pick up a copy of the Adventurer’s Guide:

Then, head over to our Summer Reading Adventure website to get started. You can take part in the Adventure in three different ways:

1. Log your reading — tell us how many books you’ve read, or how long you’ve spent reading, and you’ll earn tickets that you can cash in to get a chance to win the Grand Prize of your choosing! (ooh, ahh). If you need help finding books to read, here are some great Summer Reading booklists we’ve put together for you.
2. Write, draw, or film book reviews — get creative and tell us what you thought about the books you’ve read, and you’ll earn free ice-cream from Ben & Jerry’s, books, stationery, and other goodies. Only books that you read between 1 December and 31 January will count!
3. Complete challenges — choose your own adventure and complete up to three unique quest lines that get you to venture out into the city, check out our libraries, and explore your own back yard, all while earning fabulous spot prizes along the way.

Quests, you say?

Yes! You can complete quests in three different quest lines to earn some extra-cool prizes. Here are the quest lines you can explore:

• The Way of the Librarian — You have chosen the mysterious Way of the Librarian. All of the challenges in this quest chain may be completed in or around library buildings in Wellington. Quests include (no spoilers — you’ll have to wait until the Adventure begins before we tell you exactly what you need to do!):
  • “A Whole Other World”
  • “A Questing Companion”
  • “Master Cartographer”
  • “The Hunt for Dewey”
  • … and more!
• The Castellan’s Vow — While other heroes venture forth into the world to complete their adventures, you’ve chosen The Castellan’s Vow to stay home and keep the kingdom safe for their return. All of the challenges in this quest line can be completed without leaving your home! Quests include:
  • “A Home Inside Your Home”
  • “Survey the Kingdom”
  • “Books, But Not As You Know Them”
  • “Loyal Subjects”
  • … and more!
• The Voyager’s Journey — An intrepid wanderer, you have chosen to follow the famed Voyager’s Journey. The challenges in this quest line can only be completed by leaving the safety and comfort of your house and going somewhere else — whether in your own back yard, in your neighbourhood, or somewhere in the city. Quests include:
  • “Mapping the Land”
  • “Stacking Stones”
  • “The Great Bug Hunt”
  • “Intrepid Explorer”
  • … and more!

Each quest chain you complete, and each reading milestone you reach, earns you badges and sweet prizes, as well as giving you an entry in the draw for one of four Grand Prize packs. Keep your eyes peeled for when we reveal what the prizes are! We think you’ll agree they’re pretty awesome.

You mentioned badges? Tell me more.

Yes! There are not one, not two, but twenty unique badges for you to collect as you make your way through the Summer Reading Adventure. Will you be the first to collect ’em all? Scroll through a selection of the designs below to whet your appetite — wouldn’t these badges look awesome on your schoolbag or pencilcase?: