

Well, summers over and so is our Summer Reading Challenge 2018! SRC is a national reading initiative to keep kids reading throughout the long summer break. Reading throughout this time means that children keep up the reading standards and don’t forget what they spent the last school year learning! Every year we are given a theme and this year we had Mischief Makers featuring Dennis the Menace and the Beano comic strip!
Once we knew this we set about creating activities based on this theme. So what did we come up with? Beano bingo, DIY comic strip characters, charades, joke telling and lots of other Beano related activities. I think the Bingo went down best with prizes of Whoopee Cushions, sweeties and classic Beano comics! Completion of the challenge (which means 3 visits and 6 books read by parent/child) ensured a place at the award giving which meant each child got a gold Mischief Makers medal as well as a certificate and a little pack of goodies. They also enjoyed a story time provided by the Dogs Trust as a special treat.

Before SRC officially launched we had children coming in hoping to register so we were off to a great start and with 45 actual starters in total, I think we did pretty well for a small community library! It was also great to see the number of boys enrolled in this project…. All I can say is, come on girls – game on for 2019! The total number finishing the challenge is 31 which is almost 70% completion rate! How amazing is that?! With thanks to all the volunteers who support this event, the parents for nurturing a love of reading in their children and finally, big congratulations to all the children for doing so well!


Stars out of 5. 3
Overall the club members didn’t really enjoy this book. It is made up of four novella’s which perhaps we should have read piecemeal instead.
The first story is what the movie Shawshank Redemption is based on, it is excellent and memorable and for those who had watched the movie you couldn’t help hearing Morgan Freeman’s voice for Red.
The second story Apt Pupil is psychologically frightening and fascinating, another gold star for Stephen King.
The last two stories were not enjoyed at all unfortunately, the third felt like a ramble, the fourth was just too weird and not particularly scary.
As always Stephen King is the master, occasionally the endings are a let-down but his setting up of a story cannot be beat.
Your library has a variety of events scheduled to enjoy the Summer Reading Challenge this year! Save the dates!

Stars out of 5 – 3 Stars
There were many good things to say about this book. It was written very well. The main character has a very distinctive voice and was relatable. The emotional elements were written sparingly but with great care and respect. It was with emotional intelligence.
The story revolves around the death of an older brother and how the younger brother comes apart at the seams in his grief. His mind fractures and watching his downward trajectory is difficult but moving at the same time. The mother takes a great deal of her grief out on the surviving son, isolating him, almost torturing him in an emotional way, perhaps if she had received the help she needed he wouldn’t have had to carry so much. His dad is virtually absent and the only normal influence in his life is his grandmother. A truly loving and understanding person.
You are taken through his hospitalisation and rehab centre which from his perspective wasn’t easy at all. The end does bring some closure and perhaps even hope and new beginning for a young man who has been through far too much in a very short space of time.
An empathetic and well written story of what a descent into mental illness is really like.

Total Stars out of 5: 4
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is a very surprising book. It may appear a little comical on the surface but we all agreed it was a very moving book.
At first the journey is meandering and the public getting involved and taking over Harold’s pilgrimage is really annoying, very realistic, but still annoying.
It is gripping emotionally and painful in places. Showing you how memories skew with time and you have to strip each layer away to get to the truth of what happened. Harold and his wife Maureen discovered that being separated from each other by distance reminded them how much they missed each other.
It is ultimately a journey of healing, for Harold, Maureen and lots of people that meet them along the way. The ending was exceptionally honest and satisfying.
Bream Village has sure been in the papers this week! 🙂
We were all abuzz waiting for the Duchess of Cornwall to arrive today to officially reopen the Children’s Library.
It was such an exciting day, especially for the children over the road at Bream Primary waving their flags and cheering.
Her Royal Highness met the member of the Lego Build Club and read them a story in our beautiful children’s library, she was so gracious and lovely, speaking to so many and meeting parents, volunteers and making us all feel rather special.
Some lovely pictures can be seen at these links:
Thank you to everyone who made this visit possible and run so smoothly. It was a memorable day despite the weather not playing along!
We received another lovely donation of books, some adult fiction and teen fiction.