Something strange is happening in Storyshire: Books are losing their words. Characters are vanishing. Stories are falling silent!

The cause? The source of all stories, an ancient magical quill, has been stolen by a shadowy figure known as 'The Dreaditor'. Without it, imagination itself is at risk!

But hope remains! The wise wizard, Professor Prose, has summoned all readers to take up the quest of defeating The Dreaditor and recovering the quill.

2. Pick up your summer reading challenge booklet from any Waimakariri library from 1 December 2025.

3. Choose a character in your challenge booklet and complete challenges alongside them.

4. Hand in your summer reading challenge booklet to a member of staff by 25 January 2026 to go into the draw for prizes.

5. When you pick up a challenge booklet for your child, remember to pick one up for yourself, too! Participating in this challenge is great role-modelling for your child and will encourage them to complete it.

We will have displays with plenty of reading suggestions for the challenges across our three libraries and will email you updates and recommendations throughout the challenge to keep you going 😊

Share what you are reading and creating with us on Facebook and Instagram @waimakaririlibraries, or email it to library@wmk.govt.nz

All of these resources are free to use with your library barcode number and PIN. Forgotten your PIN? Ask at your library or reset it online - go to the catalogue, select Login, then forgot PIN.

eBooks & eAudiobooks 

Read eBooks and listen to eAudiobooks for all ages on BorrowBox or Libby.

eComics 

Access thousands of digital comics, graphic novels, and manga for all ages on Comics Plus. We have access to three versions of Comics Plus: Children's Library, Teen Library and Full Collection.

Watch Documentaries, Movies and Series

Kanopy has over 10,000 titles and with new content added monthly there is something here for everyone! Kanopy Kids provides specific content for children with unlimited access to a diverse selection of educational and entertaining content - from movies, TV series, animated storybooks, to live action, and animated favourites!

Check out DVDs on our catalogue.

Learn Languages

LOTE4Kids has over 3000+ online picture books for kids in 65+ languages, including Te Reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language. Each picture book is read aloud and is paired with an English language version.

Mango Languages provides access to over 70 languages including Chinese (Mandarin & Cantonese), French, Italian and Japanese. It also contains lessons for people wanting to learn English.

Sing Along to Your Favourite Tunes

Freegal Music+ is a free music service which offers download or streaming access to more than 18 million songs including Sony Music’s catalog of legendary artists. In total, the collection is comprised of 200 genres of music from over 100 countries.

Discover Your History
Ancestry Library edition provides access to millions of records from around the world for people wanting to study their heritage. Please note you can only access this resource in one of our libraries.

Unleash Your Creativity
Creativebug is an online learning platform which offers video workshops for arts and crafts. Learn how to paint, knit, crochet, sew, screen print, and more with Creativebug!

Catalogue and eLibrary

Our Library Catalogue is the place to go when you want to track down a book or place a hold. In addition to the resources listed above, you can find many more treasures in our eLibrary.