| The Super Smash Reading Challenge brings together two favourite Kiwi summer pastimes: cricket and reading. Read NZ Te Pou Muramura (formerly NZ Book Council) has joined forces with New Zealand Cricket’s T20 summer tournament to get kids reading more books over the holidays. The Super Smash Reading Challenge is a new interactive website. Primary and intermediate-aged children are invited to register for free and choose their local cricket team to ‘play’ for. Players log the books they read over the summer, along with a star rating and short review. A leader board keeps track of the Super Smash teams as they move up and down the rankings accordingly. Launching in late October, the Super Smash Reading Challenge will run until the final T20 cricket game on 19 January. Paper Plus gift cards are up for grabs every day of the T20 tournament. There are lots of other spot prizes on offer, including books and signed sports gear from NZC, along with double passes to games. Read NZ Te Pou Muramura chief executive Jo Cribb says the reading challenge is a fun new way to address the well-documented ‘summer slide’ in learning over the holidays. “Recent research shows primary-aged students can lose up to six months’ worth of academic progress over the summer break but reading is a great way to keep young minds active,” she says. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with NZC to offer this exciting new competition this summer.” NZC chief executive David White welcomes the initiative, saying it was appropriate for cricket to be involved in a reading programme. “Helping children recognise the fun of reading is a very worthy exercise and something we’re delighted to be aligned with,” says Mr White. “Cricket, perhaps more than any other sport, owes its history to a rich vein of writing and reading and it’s important today’s generation of kids are encouraged along similar lines.” Read NZ is grateful for the support of Paper Plus and NZ Cricket for the prizes on offer. Sign up for the Super Smash Reading Challenge by registering at reading-challenge.org.nz . More information: Ben Mackey Digital Content & Communities Manager New Zealand Cricket ben.mackey@nzc.nz Melissa Wastney Communications and Engagement Manager Read NZ Te Pou Muramura communications@read-nz.org About Super Smash The Super Smash, currently sponsored by Dream11, is a domestic Twenty20 cricket competition in New Zealand, played over the summer period. Held every year since 2005, the tournament consists of a double round-robin, with the top three teams qualifying for the play-offs. NZC is the governing body for professional cricket in New Zealand. Cricket is the most popular and highest profile summer sport in New Zealand. About Read NZ Te Pou Muramura As Aotearoa’s national agency dedicated to reading, Read NZ Te Pou Muramura seeks to build a nation of readers leading to social, cultural and economic wellbeing. It does this through a range of education and advocacy programmes, such as Writers in Schools, which has been running since 1972. The organisation changed its name and identity from NZ Book Council to Read NZ Te Pou Muramura in September 2019. |
