Things are really going to cook at the St. Albert Public Library this summer. Mythical creatures are the focus of the new summer reading games for kids and fire-breathing dragons are going to be a bit of a problem.
Things are really going to cook at the St. Albert Public Library this summer. Mythical creatures are the focus of the new summer reading games for kids and fire-breathing dragons are going to be a bit of a problem.
The good news is that the dragons at the Dragon Riders' Academy are on your side.
“The kids are the new students at the school where people are partnered with dragons,” explained Drew Thomas, the library assistant with the Children's Services department. “They become a team: they work together and learn each other's strengths and go out and do wonderful things.”
The problem is that the school is in peril as the evil Morgana is on the hunt for the Dragonstone so that she can control all dragons and rule the world. Players who have completed Grade 1 can play this game and must find the stone before she does in order to save the day.
“She's taken over the school and she's captured all the professors and their dragons. It's up to the new students to come in and find a dragon partner and save the academy.”
Players progress through the game by participating in different challenges and reading their way through the levels.
“We're trying to make reading fun. Over the summer, reading levels go down so our hope is just that we're going to keep books in kids' hands. We want to make it an event and make it so that the kids just can't stop reading because they want to come back the next day to play.”
“Hopefully, we won't have too many Morganas coming in because that will be pretty discouraging for them,” he joked.
Forsyth Hall has been transformed into a giant castle for the game.
For younger kids of three years old to kindergarten age, there is also a preschool reading game called The Quest for the Unicorns. Players go to a magical kingdom with all manner of unique beasts and creatures. The kids will play the part of princesses or princes of a royal family.
“Part of their quest is to go out into the magical kingdom, help these creatures and eventually find the unicorns. Then they play a song for the unicorns.”
All of the library's summer reading games start tomorrow and run until Aug. 18. The library expects to see 2,000 or more kids participate over the next two months.
Adults also get to have their own fun with The Library, and Back Again. Older readers can enter to win weekly prizes and a grand prize at the end of the game. All they have to do is spin a game wheel and choose one book from the different genres that the wheel lands on.
The Magical Mayhem Teen Summer Reading Game is for youths between the ages of 11 and 17. They play on a fantasy board game to complete different reading challenges and “master the magic of reading.”
All teens that successfully complete the game will receive a new book as a gift.
More information can be obtained by calling 780-459-1530 or by visiting www.sapl.ca.
