Reading Is Magic!
This year’s Great Hackney Libraries Quest is all about the magic of reading. Check out free activities all summer long in your local branch and browse our shelves in search of a book that will keep you spellbound! If you’re not sure where to start, we have put together some inspiration with something for all ages.
Children and YA readers
We’re Going on a Book Hunt
Goldie Hawk
Illustrated by Angie Rozelaar and published in partnership with the National Year of Reading, this joy of a board book revisits the famous refrain of “We’re going on a bear hunt”, only this time it’s a quest for the perfect book. One for an adventurous story time.
Recommended for ages 2-5.
Bears Don’t Read!
Emma Chichester Clark
When a bear called George discovers a book, his friends don’t quite know what to make of it. Bears don’t read! A little girl called Clementina will help him prove otherwise. A story about the power of imagination and a lifelong passion for books.
Recommended for ages 3-5.
The Field Guide: The Spiderwick Chronicles
Tony DiTerlizzi & Holly Black
Jared, Simon and Mallory find a mysterious book in the attic. It’s a guide to a magical world, parallel to our own. The Field Guide is the portal to enter this bestselling series packed with adventure and a pinch of danger.
Recommended for ages 8+.
The Book of Stolen Dreams
David Farr
Rachel and Robert’s father is a librarian. When he passes them a stolen book, they know it’s no ordinary circumstance. An exhilarating run to protect it and to uncover its precious missing page and a tribute to the magic of reading.
Recommended for ages 9-11.
A Tale of Magic...
Chris Colfer
Brystal Evergreen is snooping around a secret section of her library when she discovers a magical book that will change her life. She is a fairy! Only, in the new world she discovers, this might get her into trouble. She and her classmates might have to save the world.
Recommended for ages 9-11.
Pages & Co: Tilly and the Bookwanderers
Anna James
Imagine finding yourself face to face with your favourite book characters. Tilly is trying to solve the mystery of her mother’s disappearance when she discovers she can hop through books and wander through them. Adventure is afoot!
Recommended for ages 9+.
Inkheart
Cornelia Funke
First in the Inkheart series, this book tells the story of Meggie and her father, a bookbinder, who has a big secret. When he reads stories aloud, he breaths them into life, and he accidentally conjured a book villain into existence.
Recommended for ages 8-12.
Ink Girls: A graphic novel
Marieke Nijkamp
In this graphic novel illustrated by Sylvia Bi, two girls of very different backgrounds join forces to fight censorship in their city. A vibrant graphic novel about the power of findinding your voice, and how much bigger that power can be when people come together.
Recommended for ages 8-12.
Sorcery of Thorns
Margaret Rogerson
Elisabeth has been raised in one of the Great Libraries of Austermeer. When a powerful monster is released, she finds herself at the centre of an old conspiracy and has to fight her way to a future she could have never imagined.
Recommended for ages 14+.
The Raven Boys
Maggie Stiefvater
In the first book of the Raven Cycle we are introduced to Blue and Gansey, whose separate quests will become forever intertwined. The series is studded with ancient and precious books, which will lead the characters along the way.
Recommended for ages 13-18.
Adult readers
Make Believe
Mac Barnett
A funny and heartwarming tribute to the power of imagination and storytelling from bestselling author Mac Barnett. “At a time when we are faced with a national literacy crisis, he champions the profound joys of literature and the importance of reading for pleasure.”
Labyrinths
Jorge Luis Borges
This timeless collection of essays and short stories features classics such as ‘The Library of Babel’ and ‘The Wall and the Books’ and is a masterclass in Borges’s style and a testament to the books that formed him.
The Book of Doors
Gareth Brown
When Cassie is given a mysterious book, she learns that she can travel anywhere she wants. This new power comes with it a set of dangers, and just as much as opening some doors can save you, others should never be crossed.
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Susanna Clarke
Two magicians and rivals start a battle in 1806. The repercussions will make history. A historical novel, a fantasy novel and a meditation on the nature of Englishness. Books play a fundamental role in the plot: they are the ultimate guardians of knowledge.
The Invisible Library
Genevieve Cogman
Set in a steampunk alternate version of London, the first volume of this series features Irene and Kai, two spies working for a mysterious library on a quest to retrieve a particular edition of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. If they fail, the whole city might be at risk.
Reading Magic
Mem Fox
Packed with recommendations and special tips, this book is a powerful tool to understand how to read stories to children to help them learn to read better themselves but also to enhance their emotional intelligence.
The Enchanted Hour
Meghan Cox Gurdon
Why is reading aloud so important? Based on neuroscience and behavioural research, this book is an exploration of the evidence of the benefits of reading to children, helping them grow up to be smarter, happier, and more successful.
A Discovery of Witches
Deborah Harkness
A young scholar at Bodleian Library finds a manuscript that might hold the past and future of witches, vampires and daemons. Diane wants nothing to do with it, and yet once uncovered the book starts spilling its secrets.
The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians
James Patterson & Matt Eversmann
Step into our shoes! This collaboration between James Patterson and Matt Eversmann has been praised as “a love letter to the heroes of literacy”. Get inspired by some real life stories of the people that champion the passion for reading day in day out.
Portable Magic
Emma Smith
Emma Smith takes us on a journey through the joys of “bookhood”, telling us of the times in history where both their content and their physical form shaped us. A captivating story of the magic that a book ignites in human hands.