Children from across Haringey are now taking part in Biblio-buzz 2022: the Alexandra Palace Children’s Book Award, which aims to inspire a love of reading and writing through a series of literary challenges, inspired by six professional authors.
Biblio-buzz is run by the Palace’s Creative Learning team in partnerships with Haringey Library Services and is aimed at young people aged nine to 12 years old. From January, participants are challenged to read six shortlisted texts, before voting for their favourite. Biblio-buzz will culminate at an award ceremony on 25 March at the Alexandra Palace Theatre, whose stage has been graced in recent times by renowned authors like JK Rowling, Phillip Pullman, Jacqueline Wilson, Michael Rosen and many more.
Over 30 Biblio-buzz participants were at Wood Green Library on Saturday 29 January to celebrate the official launch of Biblio-buzz 2022, which included the chance to hearing readings from one of the shortlisted authors, Anna Goodall.
Over the next three months, Haringey libraries will also be running a variety of workshops, as well as opportunities to meet with the shortlisted authors. Enquire at your local library about how to get involved.
Mark Civil, Head of Creative Learning at Alexandra Palace: “Biblio-Buzz is one of my favourite of our initiatives at the Palace, and a great example of how our Creative Learning programme aims to work with people in the local community. As an avid reader I am passionate about promoting the joy of reading and engaging with creative activities. Evidence suggests that young people with a good reading habits have better prospects and are likely to succeed at school, participate in their communities and get good jobs. I’m not snobbish about what kids read from blogs to comic books to novels – I just want to get them reading! The Haringey School Librarians have chosen an exciting shortlist that takes young readers on journeys. It’s great to be working with the dedicated teams at Haringey Library Services again – who offer a fantastic range of cultural services across the borough. We are buzzing to get Biblio-buzz 2022 started.”
The Biblio-buzz 2022 shortlisted novels are:
- The Soup Movement by Ben Davis
- When Life gives you Mangoes by Kereen Getten
- Maggie Blue and the Dark World by Anna Goodall
- How I Saved the World in a Week by Polly Ho-Yen
- The Beast and the Bethany by Jack Meggitt-Phillips
- Dark Peak by Marcus Sedgwick
Cllr Zena Brabazon, Cabinet Member for Early Years, Children and Families: “I’m really pleased that our libraries are once again supporting this fantastic award, which I hope will capture the imagination and enthusiasm of nine-to-12-year-olds from across the borough. The award is a wonderful opportunity for these children to experience the joy of reading, as well as getting involved in workshops and other activities at their local library. I’m very much looking forward to seeing which book children choose as their favourite.“
Read more about Biblio-buzz 2022 here