AN ICONIC Scottish comic has launched a new reading campaign ahead of World Book Day.
The Beano’s new initiative, ‘Libraries Aloud’ aims to encourage families to support their local library on World Book Day this Thursday.
The initiative was created in response to new research which revealed that over a quarter of British children have never visited a public library.
The campaign, which launches today, will see a series of free interactive ‘read-out-loud-a-longs’ take place in local libraries across the country.
The Beano has teamed up with Olympic athlete Greg Rutherford, who will spearhead the initiative and lead a team of loud storytellers, including author Anna Whitehouse.
The storytellers will read The World’s Loudest Ever Comic Strip in this week’s Beano which was created especially for World Book Day, on March 3.
The special two-page comic strip which goes on sale on Wednesday 2 March, was designed for children to read out loud to help them unlock reading for fun.
In true Beano style, the strip contains over 35 crashes, bangs, wallops and thwacks.
The campaign was created as new research revealed that 75% of British children have not visited a library in over a year.
The study carried out by market researcher 3Gem last month also found that 55% of children are put off going to the library as they think that they need to stay quiet.
Of the parents surveyed, 95% said that making noise and talking about stories makes reading more fun, 84% also said that they would like to visit their local library more often.
Mike Stirling Beano’s Director of Mischief said: “It’s been years since children had to stay silent in libraries but many grown-ups still believe that the rule applies.
“We’re excited for Beano to celebrate the fun and noise that is ‘aloud’ in libraries this World Book Day and hope it encourages everyone to plan a visit to their local library very soon.”
Greg Rutherford commented: “I absolutely love reading with my children, and Beano is a great gateway for them to get into reading – it’s not just books, but comics too that form this magical world.
“It’s been an honour to be involved with this campaign and I hope as many people as possible can pick up a Beano this week and enjoy reading it loudly at their local library.”
