We are delighted to announce that theme for the 2013 Summer Reading Challenge is Creepy House, illustrated by award winning Chris Riddell.

Creepy house

There's a spine-tingling adventure waiting for children when they take part in the 2013 Summer Reading Challenge. They can join our adventurers as they explore the Creepy house, simply by reading six books from the library. They can discover the secrets of Creepy house and meet some of the hair-raising residents!

Are the UK's children brave enough to explore The Awful Upstairs, The Gruesome Ground Floor and The Spine-tingling Cellar?

We have chosen this theme for 2013 as it will tie into publishing trends for books that thrill children without being too scary. It is also a theme which will appeal to a wide age range and to both genders. Creepy house will inspire libraries and schools to create exciting visual displays and to set up events using local tales and history archives.

The Challenge will be in libraries across England, Wales and Scotland this summer.

Chris Riddell

Chris Riddell is a hugely popular children's book illustrator and writer. He is well known for his collaborations with the author Paul Stewart on books such as The Edge Chronicles, and has also illustrated several picture books for younger children.

He has twice-won the Kate Greenaway medal for his illustrations.

Many adults will also know his work from his weekly political cartoon in the Observer newspaper.

Get involved

Find out more about the Summer Reading Challenge on our website and read the Summer Reading Challenge Story Lab 2012 results.

Librarians can now order resources for running the Summer Reading Challenge 2013 Creepy House.

Take a look at our facebook page to see how libraries, schools, parents and children will be getting involved in 2013.

Sign up for the Summer Reading Challenge at your local library this summer.