Advertorial Feature 

Our boys love books and buses so when National Express West Midlands asked us to visit our local library to take on the Summer Reading Challenge I knew it would be something they would love to do. During the pandemic, the boys have really missed visiting the library. They missed browsing the shelves and picking up a book to take home and enjoy. Now the libraries are back open again, we couldn’t wait to visit and kick start the summer with the reading challenge.

Taking the National Express West Midlands bus to the library

Earlier this week, we took a National Express West Midlands bus to our local library in Stone Cross, West Bromwich. The boys love to take the bus. We always spot the buses on the way to school so you can imagine Freddie’s excitement when I told him we were going to stand at the bus stop and jump on board the Number 40. Armed with my face mask and the group ticket I had purchased prior to our trip on the National Express West Midlands app, we took our seats and enjoyed the scenic route around Wednesbury to Stone Cross.

After a short fifteen minutes on the bus, we hopped off and took a short walk to the library. We have really missed visiting the library. Stone Cross has a lovely section for children and as the boys have previously visited, they knew exactly where to go. We found the Summer Reading Challenge poster and the boys scoured the shelves to look for books they wanted to take home.

What is the Summer Reading Challenge?

The Summer Reading Challenge encourages children to read books during their summer break. The challenge is completely free to sign up to at your local library. Children will receive a special collector poster map of Wilderville which will help them find books to read. This year, the summer reading challenge has a nature focus as they’ve teamed up with WWF to inspire children to stand up for the planet.

Children are encouraged to set a summer reading goal, they recommend six books or more, but children can challenge themselves to read as many books as they like. Children can choose any book whether it’s fact, fiction, poetry or joke books, e-books and audiobooks count too! As books are read and returned to the library, children will receive stickers for their Wilderville poster. Once children have collected all their stickers, they’ll receive a special Wild World Heroes certificate too!

Which books did the boys chose?

The boys loved being able to browse the books at the library again. Olly, who is aged 8 years old, has a varied taste in books. He loves fiction but also loves a fact book. He wants to know more about the world and we actively encourage it. Olly chose six books during our first visit and they included books on volcanoes and earthquakes, exploring the threatened oceans, ecosystems, the history of the Olympics and for good measure, a book about building in Minecraft. Freddie’s choice of books included Peppa Pig, diggers and big machines, a farmyard animals book and a book about a puppy.

The boys have already made a great start to their reading challenges and it’s likely we’ll be returning their books next week for a new batch to read.

If your children love to read, hop on your local National Express West Midlands bus and head to your local library to take part. Good luck!