QR Code Hunt based on Simon Mayo
novels
Public
libraries in the UK are harnessing the latest in smartphone technology to involve young
readers in the exciting world of element hunting – as brought to life in Simon
Mayo’s bestselling novel Itch and its new sequel Itch Rocks –
thanks to The Reading Agency and publishers Random House.
Young readers
armed with smartphones will go on a QR Code Hunt during April 2013, backed by
Simon Mayo and using materials specially produced for public libraries by
Random House to echo the misadventures of science nut Itchingham ‘Itch’ Lofte.
Itch is the teenage hero of Simon Mayo’s novels and a fan of geo-caching, in
which GPS receivers are used to record the coordinates of hidden items. The
coordinates are then logged on a website; other hunters see the listing,
enter the coordinates into their own GPS receiver and go in search of it.
This special QR Code Hunt will
start mid-April, when young hunters in 30 participating libraries around the UK
download a special app to their smartphone, and receive an information sheet
from librarians.
They’ll explain that Itch is at the library researching Element 126,
and needs to find out what it is before he can hunt for it. Can hunters help
Itch? Scanning the QR code on their sheet will bring up the atomic symbol of
the next element: e.g. for
sodium, the atomic symbol is Na, so the next clue sheet will be hidden
on the shelf where books filed alphabetically under Na are kept.
After clues have taken hunters around different sections of their library, the
final clue sheet will bring up mystery Element 126 and take them to a prize
draw web page where they can enter to win copies of Itch and Itch
Rocks signed by Simon Mayo, plus a chemistry set. There will also be a link
to additional material about Itch and his passion for science.
Simon Mayo
says: “My family and I have a lot of fun with geo-caching, and with the premise
of the Itch books being an element hunter, it seemed a perfect fit to
have some kind of element hunt enabled by smartphones in the same way. I’m
really pleased that kids will have a chance to explore the different elements
in a fun and interactive way, and find out more of what Itch gets up to in his
adventures.”
This
initiative is aimed at young readers aged 10 to 13 years. It has been brokered
by national charity The Reading Agency’s Reading
Partners consortium, which creates successful and exciting events and
activities for readers. Reading Partners involves
the whole UK public library network and 40 publishers, and works to transform the way publishers and libraries work
together. (Please see “Notes to editors” for more information.)
Bromborough
Library on The Wirral will be one of the participating libraries. Katie
Atherton is a library assistant, and runs one of the library’s children’s book
clubs. She says: "The QR code on the front cover of Simon Mayo's Itch
really captured the imagination of kids at our library. It just wasn’t
something they’d associated with books before. Now this QR Code Hunt will offer
a really exciting activity for them -- and library staff -- to get involved in.
It is a great chance to get kids who normally just use our computers to get
involved, tell their friends and most importantly read Itch Rocks,
because it’s great!"
Miranda McKearney, founder
director of The Reading Agency says: “Inspiring a new generation of
young people to love reading, which is so crucial for their life chances, takes
ingenuity. There’s an increasingly need to use the technology that’s now wired
into the way they live their lives, so we’re excited to be working on this
seriously ingenious promotion with Random House and Simon Mayo.”
No comments:
Post a Comment