Let’s Play!
This summer the Great Hackney Libraries Quest is back! This is our very own summer programme to keep you reading, creating and playing all summer long, with activities across all of our libraries, as well as at Hackney Archives and Museum.
Our theme this year is ‘Let’s Play’ – we’re here to get you reading about adventures and games and using your imagination. Play helps us learn, solve problems, and it’s also just really fun. We have lots of books for children and young people, and some for adults too. Play is for everyone!
Michael Rosen’
s Book of Play!
Michael Rosen
Today, we don’t get nearly enough play in our lives. At school, kids are drilled on exams, while at home we’re all glued to our phones and screens. Michael Rosen is here to show us how to put this right – and why it matters so much for creativity, resilience and much more.
Packed with silliness, activities and prompts for creative indoor and outdoor play for all ages – with specially illustrated pages for everything from doodling to word play and after-dinner games.
Check Mates
Stewart Foster
Felix is struggling at school. His ADHD makes it hard for him to concentrate and his grades are slipping. No one seems to understand just how hard he finds it.
Felix can’t think of anything worse than spending time with his Grandad. He hasn’t been the same since Grandma died. Plus he’s always trying to teach Felix boring chess. But sometimes the best lessons come in the most unexpected of places, and Grandad soon shows Felix that there’s everything to play for.
Escape Room
Christopher Edge
When twelve-year-old Ami arrives at The Escape, she thinks it’s just a game. But then she learns that her team has been chosen to save the world and find the Answer. This is no ordinary game.
From a cavernous library of dust to an ancient Mayan tomb, a deserted shopping mall to the command module of a spaceship heading to Mars, the perils of The Escape seem endless.
Can Ami and her friends find the Answer before it’s too late?
Play
Luke Palmer
Four boys grow up together at school. They play games, anything to pass the time until they’re free.
When Mark starts running errands for his older brother’s mysterious associate, he thinks he’s found the best game of all.
Then Mark breaks a rule, and quickly realises that the penalties in this game far outweigh the prizes. Can they all make it to the finish line before someone loses more than just face?
Dungeon Runners Level 1: Hero Trial
Kieran Larwood & Joe Todd-Stanton
Kit has dreamed of being a Dungeon Runner all his life, although being part gnome and part dwarf means he’s smaller than the other competitors.
But when a space opens up for a new team, Kit doesn’t want to miss this chance to try out! With his new friends Sandy and Thorn, they’re ready to take on anything – mazes, puzzles, monsters, treasure and most of all adventure!
Are you ready for the games to begin? Welcome to the Dungeon!
League of Thieves
Sarah Crofton & W.J. Tattersdill
Prepare for death-defying rooftop chases, shadowy enemies and fiendish picture puzzles in this thrilling adventure gamebook where the hero of the story is YOU.
As a member of the League of Thieves you’re used to plenty of danger and mystery, but your most perilous mission yet is about to begin. Can you succeed where all others have failed and break into the infamous Castle Flaggstone to rescue your friend, steal a priceless treasure and uncover an ancient secret?
Jumanji
Chris van Allsburg
Roll the dice, make your move, and plunge into one of the most imaginative stories of our time!
The game under the tree looked like a hundred others Peters and Judy had at home. But they were searching for something interesting to do, so they decided to give Jumanji a try. Little did they know when they unfolded its ordinary-looking playing board that they were about to be launched into the most exciting and bizarre adventure of their lives...
Tales from the Forest
Jane Riordan
This collection of Winnie-the-Pooh stories sees the introduction of a brand new female character, Carmen, a little dog with lots of courage. She may be small but she is mighty, and she has a loud ROAR! She was inspired by the discovery that AA Milne had a little toy dog mascot, which he called Carmen, with him during WW1.
Jane’s writing is filled with gentle humour, friendship and life lessons that echo A.A.Milne’s original stories.
The Day the Crayons Quit
Drew Daywalt & Oliver Jeffers
Poor Duncan just wants to colour in. But when he opens his box of crayons, he only finds letters, all saying the same thing: We quit!
Debut author Drew Daywalt and international bestseller Oliver Jeffers team up to create a colourful solution to a crayon-based crisis in this playful, imaginative story that will have children laughing and playing with their crayons in a whole new way.
A Pocketful of Stars
Aisha Bushby
Safiya and her mum have never seen eye to eye. Her mum doesn’t understand Safiya’s love of gaming and Safiya doesn’t think they have anything in common.
But then her mum falls into a coma and, when Safiya waits by her bedside, she finds herself in a strange and magical world that looks a bit like one of her games. And there’s a rebellious teenage girl with a secret, who looks suspiciously familiar...
Bluey: Shadowlands
Fiona Phillipson
On a picnic in the park, Bluey, Coco and Snickers play a game of Shadowlands. But when Coco keeps on taking shortcuts, Bluey shows her that following the rules can make the game even more fun.
Along with her friends and family, blue heeler Bluey enjoys exploring the world and using her imagination to turn everyday life into an amazing adventure. Join Bluey and her friends now for a game of Shadowlands!
Destiny Ink: Baking Mix-Up
Adeola Sokunbi
Destiny is really excited to enter a baking competition, it’s going to be INKTASTIC!
But when her cake doesn’t turn out how she expected, she feels disappointed. Destiny’s best friend suggests baking together. Destiny isn’t sure but she uses her trusty sketchbook to work through her worries and gets lots of great ideas.
Max and the Millions
Ross Montgomery
Max is used to spending time alone – it’s difficult to make friends in a big school when you’re deaf. He prefers to focus on the little things in life... like making awesome, detailed replica models.
Then, when investigating the caretaker’s room, he finds a pile of sand... and in the sand is Mr Darrow’s latest creation... a tiny boy, no bigger than a raisin, Luke, Prince of the Blues. And behind the tiny boy... millions of others – a thriving, bustling, sprawling civilization!
How Artists See Play
Colleen Carroll
In How Artists See Play children learn about the world by looking at art, and about art by looking at the world. Young readers are invited to compare and contrast the ways in which different artists treat play.
The artworks chosen are stylistically and culturally diverse – ranging from an ancient Egyptian sculpture, to a Persian miniature, to a woodcarving by a contemporary Hispanic artist.
Let’s Go Outside!
Ben Lerwill & Marina Ruiz
The great outdoors are waiting, ready to be filled with excitement and imagination. Explore the fun that can be had outdoors in all weathers and count how many children have gone outside in this joyful celebration of imaginative play outside every day... and cosying up indoors afterwards.
At the end of this simple and lyrical picture book are discussion prompts and outdoor activity suggestions, all ready for parents and children to say... LET’S GO OUTSIDE!
And for the grown-ups…
The Shape of Things Unseen
Adam Zeman
From hallucination to sleepwalking, from REM sleep to delusions, Adam Zeman guides us through the latest scientific studies in the world of the imagination. He draws on research in neuroscience, the study of human origins and child development to show how the human brain is above all else a creative, imaginative organ – and that we have evolved to share what we imagine.
A compelling insight into how our imagination works, based on the latest scientific research.
Ready Player One
Ernest Cline
It’s the year 2044. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts spends his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, and live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that lies hidden within this alternate reality: control of the OASIS – and its creator’s massive fortune – will go to the person who can solve the riddles he has left scattered throughout his creation.
A world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize. Are you ready?