For The Love of Reading
Child-Friendly Medway is encouraging children and young people to develop a passion for books through a new project called For The Love of Reading.
The initiative aims to ensure ensure children and young people have books in their homes to enjoy and learn from. For The Love of Reading launched last September with a book trail around the centre of Chatham, where children could find copies of The Detective Dog by Julia Donaldson to take home with them. A Halloween-themed cinema screening of The Witches at Mid-Kent College followed in October with children taking Roald Dahl books home with them.
To mark the start of the World Cup in November, Child-Friendly Medway gave out copies of Tom Palmer’s football-themed book Foul Play to young footballers training at Anchorians Football Club in Gillingham.
In December, festive books including The Polar Express and The Night Before Christmas were gifted to families visiting Santa at a special grotto held at Child-Friendly Medway’s weekly Family Fun FriYAY sports night at Medway Park.
Monthly story time sessions have also begun in the new For The Love of Reading book corner in the Pentagon Shopping Centre in Chatham, where children, toddlers and babies can drop-in to listen to stories. The pop-up book corner will also be visiting different locations around Medway for storytelling sessions each month.
Research suggests having books at home and making time to read is beneficial in many ways, including helping us to develop our own ideas and personalities, introducing us to new words and subjects, improving our mental health by allowing us to unwind and growing relationships between those who read together.
Find out about upcoming For The Love of Reading events here.
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