SummerQuest 2008 has started with a bang! In the first week of summer, more than 125 kids have signed up for the program. Our program is unique since we are the only library in the state to create our own summer reading adventure. This year is the 10th anniversary of our SummerQuest program, which is created, written and illustrated each year by Dave Burbank, library assistant and artist extraordinaire. Our theme this summer is Inside the Reality Works Stop by the Children's Room to see the beautifully-drawn giant gameboard created by Dave.
This year's story is a doozy, and is designed to get kids thinking about thinking. As they read the story, kids will encounter metagnomes, who make Ideas. But the metagnomes are in trouble. Kids can help the metagnomes deal with problems like Warface by reading different types of books to move along the gameboard.
To participate in our SummerQuest, kids come to the library and pick out a character (we've got lots of choices). Kids color the character, give it a name, and then hand it back to us. We then move their character along the giant gameboard as the kids complete the 10 reading challenges.
The first reading challenge is to read an adventure book. Just about any book can be an adventure book so this challenge is designed to get kids off to a good start. The next challenge is to read a weird book, a funny book or a book you wouldn't normally read. The challenges go on from there, with the last challenge being to re-read a book you liked.
Dave has created a wonderful rich and complex story to go along with this year's challenges. The story is perfect for kids in elementary and middle school. But even parents with young children can participate by allowing the child to pick a character and then doing the 10 reading challenges. Even some adults are doing the program, reading adult books for the challenges!
What are you waiting for? Come on it and sign up for SummerQuest and get reading!