Local children can go ‘wild about reading’, as they embark on the annual Premiers’
Reading Challenge for another year.
Member for Macedon, Mary-Anne Thomas said the 2023 Premiers’ Reading Challenge was
now open, and supported Macedon students and families to get behind the initiative that
promotes the importance of reading for children and students from early childhood to Year
10 while encouraging families to be more involved with supporting reading at home.
This year’s theme is ‘wild about reading’ with the accompanying artwork designed by Kate
Isobel Scott, a talented Victorian-based illustrator known for her colourful, quirky and
endearing hand-made characters.
The Premiers’ Reading Challenge encourages students to read a set number of books over the
year depending on their Challenge level, with their reading efforts recorded online. Picture
books, short stories, poems or non-fiction books in any language can be part of the Challenge.
Children who have not yetstarted school are challenged to experience 40 books with the help
of their families as part of the Premiers’ Reading Challenge for the Early Years.
Most of the books are from Challenge book lists while the remainder can be of the reader’s
choosing.
The Challenge was launched in February 2005 to support children and young people’s reading
skills, highlight the importance of reading for literacy development and help more Victorians
fall in love with reading.
In 2013, the Challenge was expanded to include young children from birth to five, in
recognition of the strong evidence showing that reading to young children from birth
promotes brain development and language learning.
Since the Challenge began in 2005, more than 4 million students in Victoria have read 57
million books. For more information, visit the website.
