Essex Year of Reading

Get involved!

The Essex Year of Reading is a new campaign set-up to help children and young people affected by the loss of learning during the pandemic. It is aimed at helping every Essex child, to become a confident reader and leave school able to read at their age level or better.

xcitingly the campaign

Ewill be supported by leading broadcaster and children’s author, Dermot O’Leary, amongst other top authors who will kick-off a series of events across the county in the coming months. The campaign will also provide a wide range of support and resources to those who need them – such as free books for disadvantaged children, vouchers for families to buy books, as well as a programme of activities and events to help adults and children with their reading. The Essex Year of Reading aims to inspire children to develop a lifelong love of reading through a series of events, competitions and fun challenges, such as ‘Reading in Unusual Places’. The countywide push on reading will take place across many different settings - from schools and colleges, libraries, Country Parks, ACL Essex (Adult Community Learning), as well as care homes…and many more. A new app and website will be launched to host activities and resources, such as short film storytelling, stories for children and adults to read, plus details on events, writing competitions and stories written by young people in Essex. You can download the free Essex Year of Reading app to discover reading materials and fun activities, plus details on writing competitions and stories written by young people in Essex. Download the app from the App Store or Google Play on your smart device. Set up your account to get free access to your digital library

Families might be interested in Dermot O’Leary’s delightful ‘Toto the Ninja Cat’ books. Suitable for ages seven to nine years old.