Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
Author Jack Heath says reading should always feel like a treat.
All over the Territory, students from preschool to Year 12 are racing to the finish line for the 20th Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge.
Around 25,000 ACT students have registered this year, with many others inspired to pick up a book along the way.
To complete the challenge, primary students read 30 books, while older students read 15 titles – all before the 5 July deadline.
Schools achieving 100 per cent completion – with students registered in one of five age categories – will be recognised during an awards ceremony next term.
But everyone’s a winner in this event. Year four students at Miles Franklin Primary School in Evatt received a visit this week from local mystery, thriller and suspense writer Jack Heath.
Jack has been an ambassador for the Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge for around 10 years.
Like the school’s namesake, Jack grew up around Canberra and began writing novels in his teens. He has written more than twice as many novels as Stella Miles Franklin, though – 40 at last count.
Jack has been involved in author visits to schools for his whole adult life. He recalls meeting an author through school himself as a Lyneham Primary School student. At the school librarian’s invitation, he joined an excursion and met another local author, Jackie French.
Jack shared some tips for families keen to keep their kids reading. He says not to be afraid of ‘gateway books’, like graphic novels and audio books.
“You want reading to always feel like a treat. That means finding topics and content that interests them, rather than the ones that interest you, or that you think are educational. You want to challenge your kids from time to time, but not too much.”
He suggests bearing in mind the very different environment children are growing up in compared to those in which their parents learnt to read.
“As a result of that, I think it’s important to look for new, exciting books. I definitely want to share with my kids the books that I loved when I was their age, but they just don’t connect, it doesn’t seem to work quite the same way,” he said.
Find a wealth of great reading materials for kids at Libraries ACT.
Reluctant readers aged 7–12 may also benefit from the Story Dogs program.
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