The 2020 NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge is back bigger than ever
The 2020 NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge launches today with more than 600 new book for students to enjoy.
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The NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC) is back with even more books for students to enjoy.
This year’s challenge, which encourages young people to read more often and more widely, is shaping up to be bigger than ever — as are the booklists, which have just had more than 600 new books added to them.
PRC ambassador and author for young adults Will Kostakis said developing a love of reading from a young age was such an important part of his childhood.
“The ability to see a different sort of world and also see people with similar experiences to me made me feel less alone,” he said.
The author for young adults of titles such as Monuments and The Sidekicks said reading teaches children much more than comprehension skills.
“I got an education from the books I read because you are stepping into someone else’s experiences and you develop empathy and your horizons broaden,” he said.
The challenge is open to students from kindergarten to year 9 in NSW government, independent, Catholic and home schools.
Students can browse the booklists and search for new books to read on the student website, and get rewarded for their progress throughout the challenge with levels and badges to keep them motivated.
They must finish between 20 and 30 books, depending on their age, to complete the challenge before it closes on Friday, August 28.
In 2019 the PRC had its biggest year yet, with more than 405,000 students reading almost 8.7 million books.
The challenge is proudly supported by Dymocks Children’s Charities and media partner NewsLocal.
Details: premiersreadingchallenge.nsw.edu.au
2019 stats
■ A total of 405,565 students from 2632 schools participated in the challenge in 2019 and read 8,699,010 books.
■ The most popular books read in 2019 were Alpacas with Maracas (overall), Pig the Pug (kindergarten to year 2), The Bad Guys (year 3-4), Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (year 5-6) and Cicada (year 7-9).