The Little, Big and Even Bigger Read

We are very excited to be once again teaming up with Hutt City Libraries to offer an amazing summer reading challenge to encourage tamariki to get excited about reading this summer, have fun playing, and be in to win cool prizes!

Tamariki of all ages can pick up an age-appropriate journal for FREE from any of the eleven libraries in Upper Hutt or Lower Hutt from 1 December 2024.

We have three challenges: one for under 5s (The Little Read), two for primary-aged tamariki aged 5-12 (The Big Read), and one for teens (The Even Bigger Read).

Going on holiday or can’t make it into the library? Download one of the journals below from 1 December 2024, and let us know what you’ve been up to by emailing thebigread@uhcc.govt.nz

The Little, Big and Even Bigger Read runs from 1 December 2024 to 31 January 2025. Entries into our prize draw close at 6PM on 31 January 2025.

How does it work?

The Little Read	The Big Read	Puāwai	The Even Bigger Read
Under 5s	Ages 5-12	Ages 5-12	Ages 13+
(PDF, 1MB)	(PDF, 1MB)	(PDF, 1MB)	(PDF, 480KB)
Do 10 tākaro activities with your tamariki. You can do any activity you want. There are some suggested activities in the journal. Try to read with your tamaiti for 10 minutes per day to build up their reading habits. When you finish your journal, bring it into any of our libraries and complete a prize draw card to enter the prize draw. You can complete as many journals as you want.	Read 6 books, and do 3 tākaro activities to get 1 entry into the prize draw. Read anything you want! Books, audiobooks, magazines, ebooks! Do any activity you like. When you finish your journal, bring it into any of our libraries and complete a prize draw card to enter the prize draw. If you finish your journal and want to keep going, grab another journal to read, play and repeat! You can complete as many journals as you want	Do 5 of the tākaro activities to get 1 entry into the prize draw. When you finish your activities, bring it into any of our libraries and complete a prize draw card to enter the prize draw. If you finish your journal and want to keep going, grab another Big Read or Puāwai to read, play and repeat! You can complete as many journals as you want	Read 3 books, and do 1 activity to get 1 entry into the prize draw. You can read anything and do any activity. When you finish your journal, bring it into any of our libraries and complete a prize draw card to enter the prize draw. If you want to keep going, grab another journal to read, have fun, and repeat! You can complete as many journals as you want

Research shows tamariki can maintain and even increase their reading levels if they keep reading over the summer break. The Little, Big and Even Bigger Read is a positive way for you and your tamariki to keep engaged with reading over summer.

Want more information on the ‘summer slide’, and how parents, schools, and public libraries can make a difference?

If you have any questions for staff about The Little, Big and Even Bigger Read, please contact Upper Hutt Libraries.

Help us promote

Download a poster and social media tile below

(PDF, 3MB)          

Thank you to our kind sponsors

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our generous sponsors whose invaluable support has made "The Little, Big, and Even Bigger Read" summer reading challenge a resounding success. Your commitment to promoting literacy and education in our community is truly commendable. Thank you for making a positive impact on the lives of our children.

A sincere thank you to Cars Inc Car Museum, Staglands Wildlife Reserves & Cafe, Mitre10 Mega Upper Hutt, The Met Shop, and our book supplier James Bennett for their generous prize donations which added an extra layer of excitement to our participants' reading journey.