The HELL Reading Challenge has incentivised young New Zealanders to read more than 2.5 million books!
This reading revolution has very likely already been sparked in your local community, with HELL intent on firing up young Kiwis’ passion for literature.
Now in its third year, the HELL Reading Challenge has seen 400,000 Pizza Wheels distributed around the country to date.
“The Pizza Wheels provide young bookworms with a personal record of their reading achievement,” explains HELL general manger Ben Cumming. “Each book read equals one stamp on the wheel – and once all seven ‘slices’ have been stamped by a local librarian, kids are rewarded with a free ‘333 kids’ pizza’ by redeeming their completed wheel at their local HELL store.”
The programme is completely free for primary schools and local libraries to enter; 565 institutions across the country are registered so far for this year’s challenge (344 school libraries and 221 public libraries).
“The response continues to be overwhelmingly positive and we are printing a further 50,000 Pizza Wheels this year to meet demand,” says Ben. “We are working hard to support Kiwi youth in our communities through a range of initiatives 4, and this is one that we are particularly proud of.
“Prising kids’ eyeballs away from screens and refocusing them on books is getting more and more difficult – but this initiative really appears to be connecting young minds to the benefits books can bring, both in terms of literacy and creativity.”
The HELL Reading Challenge is administered by the New Zealand Book Council on behalf of the New Zealand Book Awards Trust. HELL is a major sponsor of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, established to recognise the contribution New Zealand’s children’s authors and illustrators make towards building national identity and cultural heritage.
The HELL Reading Challenge runs until Sunday, 4 December 2016
Responses from schools and libraries so far include:
“The more children we get reading, the better outcomes for our community as a whole!” (Mackenzie Community Library)
“Our kids loved this last year and our teachers are very keen to be involved again.” (Pegasus Bay School, Canterbury)
“The children are enjoying the challenge. Thank you!” (Mokoia School, Taranaki)