3:10pm Wednesday 16th July 2008
DUDLEY strongman Ade Rollinson has lain down the gauntlet to borough children as he launches the summer reading competition.
Ade, a road crew worker for Dudley Council is best known for competing in strongman competitions around the world, but he found time to drop into Dudley Library at the weekend to talk to youngsters about how books opened up new opportunities for him.
Last year, ‘Big Ade’ starred in the Hollywood blockbuster the Golden Compass, an adaptation of author Philip Pullman’s novel.
He was on hand to launch the tenth annual Summer Reading Challenge which this year sets children the challenge to read sporting books during their summer holidays to celebrate the theme, Team Read in support of the Beijing Olympics 2008.
The challenge for children aged between four and 12 is to improve or maintain their reading skills by reading six books by September 6 and those interested are urged to sign up at your local library as soon as possible.
For the first time this year, teenagers aged 13 or above can also join up to extreme team read. Again the challenge is to read six books but they can also go interactive at www.teamread.co.uk They just need to collect a membership card from their nearest library to sign up on the website.
All children who complete the challenge will receive a medal and a certificate.
Councillor Michael Evans, cabinet member responsible for libraries, said: “Last year more than 2,300 children in the borough took part with more than 1,300 completing the challenge.
“This year we hope to get more adn more children reading.”
Each library will host a summer reading challenge activity every week. For more details contact your nearest library or visit www.dudley.gov.uk/
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