The Festival of Libraries is for everyone! Families are invited to watch Amy’s special reading of Emily Gravett’s wonderful picture book, ‘Cyril and Pat’, then get on down to their local park and find lots of hidden pictures to complete their competition sheet.

The story session (by kind permission of Pan Macmillan) and competition sheet will be available on the Rochdale Borough Libraries’ Facebook page from 9th – 13th June. Print off your sheet at home (or pick up a handy copy from Heywood, Littleborough, Middleton or Spotland libraries before 12 noon on 12th June). Please see the website for details of library locations.

Take your competition sheet, and a pencil, with you to one of the following nearby parks:

• Queen’s Park, Queen’s Park Road, Heywood, OL10 4UY
• Hare Hill Park, Hare Hill Road, Littleborough, OL15 9HE
• Jubilee Park, Long Street, Middleton, M24 6DE
• Denehurst Park, Sandy Lane/Edenfield Road, Rochdale OL11 5DS

Look around the park for images and characters from ‘Cyril and Pat’ (some may be easier to find than others!). Each image will have a letter to record on your sheet, and the letters will spell out a mystery word, relating to the story.

Return your completed sheet to any participating library by Friday 18th June to receive a small prize. All correct entries will be placed in a prize draw to win a fabulous goody bag!

When you hand in your competition sheet, don’t forget to pick up information about this year’s awesome (and FREE) Summer Reading Challenge, Wild World Heroes – ideal for children aged 4 to 11 – available from libraries across the borough throughout the summer holidays, and also online here.

Families can still complete the trail without watching the online story session, but it will be more enjoyable, especially for younger children, for them to remember and recognise animals and items from the story when walking around the park. The images will be left in place in the parks until Monday morning in case any families want to complete the trail on Sunday 13th June.

Have fun!

 

About Cyril and Pat: ‘Cyril and Pat’ is a very funny, rhyming story by twice winner of the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal, Emily Gravett. Cyril is the only squirrel in Lake Park, and he’s very lonely. Until one day he meets Pat – Pat the big, grey . . . other squirrel. Cyril and Pat have lots of adventures and fun together and Cyril is so pleased he’s made a friend. But everyone is adamant that Cyril and Pat simply cannot be friends, and they soon reveal why: Pat, as the reader has known all along, is actually a RAT!
But Cyril’s life turns out to be a lot duller and quite a bit scarier without Pat by his side, and in the end the two friends learn that some things are more important than being the same, or listening to others.