Great Family Escapes at Haven

A family enjoys their free reading goodie bag at Haven...

Image © Nathalie Crouch/Reflections

We added a whole new meaning to ‘fully booked’ at Haven this year…

Great Family Escapes gave tons of free reading fun to everyone at six Haven parks between 3-28 August 2009.

A free goodie bag of top books and magazines worth over £50!
Loads of great entertainments and competitions
On site Bookswap Library, to share new books for free

Free goodie bag

Mum and Dad got fantastic bestsellers by Jeremy Clarkson and Katie Fforde, older children could enjoy books by Jacqueline Wilson and SAS supremo Chris Ryan, and the Letterland magazine and Winnie the Witch stories have been very popular with younger guests.

Where's Wally? was the question on more lips than just the children's, as whole families worked to find him in their free book, or hunted on site where the 'real' Wally was on holiday too...

Entertainment and competitions

Families enjoyed a huge range of free reading fun – from our Funstar Creative Writing Challenge, to Alphabet Scavenger Hunts and Teddy Bears’ Storytime Picnics, Winnie the Witch shows and fancy dress.

And of course competitions meant prizes – such as the great new bumper compendium of family games called Organised Fun by Josie Curran - many thanks to Macmillan for their kind donation.

More great prizes included 2 exciting summer reads for older children:

Darke Academy – Secret Lives is an intriguing fantasy set within the walls of an elite school, where everyone is “dying to join the chosen few..”, whilst other winners might get sucked into monstrous adventures and supernatural battles with Demon Defenders – Classroom Demons (check out these and the other gripping novels in the series...)

Wally's was on holiday at Haven too this year, and the first person to spot him every day won Where's Wally? The Ultimate Travel Collection - the first five classic awe-inspiring Where's Wally? books packed into a travel sized edition!

Many thanks to Walker Books for their support, particularly for this ultimate travel accessory!

Bookswap Libraries

Bookswap Libraries were available on site for families to swap finished books for new ones completely free. If you enjoyed your books at Haven this summer, you can keep borrowing books for free at your local library all year round.

Where is it happening?

Great Family Escapes at Haven ran this summer in the following parks:

To find out more about Great Family Escapes at Haven (or to book a holiday!) click here.

What if we didn't go?

Don’t worry if you didn't got to Haven this year - everyone can enjoy all the free reading fun and top tips for reading on holiday we have to share.