HELL Reading Challenge Celebrates Ten Years And 14 Million Books Read By Kiwi Kids

Wellington, 27 August 2024 - Reading has become so popular at Evans Bay Intermediate that its library is often at capacity and has to turn away keen readers, and since 2014, its students have read more than 41,000 books as part of the HELL Reading Challenge, which celebrates homegrown authors.

Evans Bay Intermediate was one of the first schools to sign up for the HELL Reading Challenge when it launched in 2014. Run by HELL and the New Zealand Books Awards for Children and Young Adults, the Challenge is celebrating a decade of fostering a love of reading. 56 schools initially took part in 2014, rising to 651 schools last year. Over the past ten years, Kiwi kids have read more than 14 million books.

Raymond Chave, Head Librarian and teacher at Evans Bay Intermediate in Wellington, was one of the first teachers to jump on board and says the Challenge’s simplicity is part of its success.

“It’s so simple - you read seven books, complete your wheel and receive a pizza. It’s something the kids can stick to, and pizza will always be a winner. I’ve seen other competitions or challenges designed to get students reading, but many have too many hoops to jump through, where they need to write long essays to participate. The HELL Reading Challenge works because it has no strings attached,” he says.

He says it’s been great at encouraging kids who haven’t picked up a book in a while to read, and a child with dyslexia is now one of his top-performing students.

“The Challenge inspired this student to read, and they’re now achieving fantastic results, all through reading. Kids who are already readers will always be interested in books, but this motivates the kids who struggle to get started,” he says.

In recent years, schools involved with the Reading Challenge have helped shape the annual shortlists for the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, with classrooms across Aotearoa submitting book reviews to the judges. Belinda Cooke, Manager of the New Zealand Book Awards Trust, which runs the Awards, says the relationship between the Challenge and the Awards is deeply important.

“There’s a wonderful synchronicity between the Awards and the Challenge. The Awards introduce children participating in the Challenge to a wide range of locally published books by the best of New Zealand’s authors for their reading. And with the introduction of the HELL Great NZ Book Trip Live Author Reading events in 2022, local award-winning authors and illustrators are getting to engage directly with their younger readers at a much wider level,” she says.

Belinda says learning about the Challenge’s impact on children’s reading abilities has been a highlight of their involvement. She cites an example provided by a teacher in 2023 of one of their students going from a reading comprehension age of eight to 14 in the space of one year.

Each child must read seven books to complete their pizza wheel to earn their HELL 333 pizza. Their school or library signs the wheels off before they’re redeemed. Siang Tay, Marketing Manager at HELL, says their entire team is proud of the Challenge and passionate about getting more tamariki reading.

“Reading from an early age promotes language development, cognitive growth, and creativity - giving children every chance for a brighter future,” he says.

Raymond says that at Evans Bay Intermediate, around half of all students complete at least one pizza wheel each year.

“Some students hand in as many as 20 completed wheels, and the numbers are increasing every year. It's fantastic to see so many kids growing their love of reading,” he says.

You can learn more about the HELL Reading Challenge by registering here.

About HELL

Established in Wellington in 1996, HELL Pizza has grown to become one of New Zealand's most infamous and well-known brands, with 77 franchises throughout New Zealand and more than 1,200 staff. Behind the irreverent brand, HELL focuses on quality products at good value, offering Kiwi consumers an ethical option in convenience foods. In 2015, HELL was the first NZ company to offer free-range pizzas and specialises in catering for vegan, vegetarian and meat-loving souls. HELL supports a range of causes, including the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and IHC's Project Active, and it is an active member of the local communities in which it operates.

About the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults:

These awards are a unique celebration of the contribution New Zealand’s children’s authors and illustrators make to building national identity and cultural heritage. Prizes are presented in seven categories: Picture Book, Junior Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction, Illustration, te reo Māori and Best First Book, and the overall Margaret Mahy Book of the Year. The associated HELL Reading Challenge, initiated in 2014, rewards students with a free 333 kids’ pizza once they have read seven books and had their achievement approved by a local librarian or teacher. In 2023, 847 schools and public libraries around New Zealand took part and more than 325,000 pizza wheels were distributed, which means that Kiwi kids potentially read more than 2.2 million books as a result.

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