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IBC launches Screen-Free Summer campaign to beat boredom and boost creativity during the holidays

By Kristel Buckley

Mixed-heritage boy is blowing a dandelion in the garden.

Posted: 16 July 2025

The summer holidays are quickly approaching, and we have exciting news!

For four weeks in August, we’re inviting you and your child to get involved in a series of fun, book-themed challenges, with the chance to win amazing prizes!

From construction sets to audiobook players and hand-picked inclusive book bundles, we can’t wait to share these brilliant rewards with you, our readers.

Each week will have a different focus, with one creative theme and one children’s book per age group. Read on to learn more about the campaign, the featured books, and how you can get involved.

Week of 4 August: Inventing

Ages 1–3

Featured book: 1, 2, 3, Do the Robot

Layla the Inventor wasn’t tired enough for bed. So, she sat up in her science lab, inventing things instead!

Ages 4–6

Featured book: Ingenious Edie, Master Inventor of Toy Town

Take a peek at Edie’s top-secret inventions and join her in stopping the town thief — a mischievous magpie!

Ages 6–9

Featured book:Supa Nova

Supa Nova loves inventing things, but can she invent something that eats plastic? A vibrant, fun graphic novel from a new series.

Week of 11 August: Detective

Ages 1–3

Featured book: Making Tracks: Park

‘Who is making tracks?’ Patterns encourage predictions, with flaps and textured die-cuts for a tactile, interactive experience.

Ages 4–6

Featured book: Priya Mistry and the Paw Prints Puzzle

Come and help Priya find the owner of the mysterious paw prints she’s found in her family shop!

Ages 6–9

Featured book: Lizzie and Lucky: Case of the Missing Puppies

Lizzie wants a pet, but there’s a dog thief on the prowl. Can she solve the crime, and be lucky?

Week of 18 August: Nature

Ages 1–3

Featured book: Zeki Hikes With Daddy

Zeki and Daddy explore the outdoors! Join them as they discover tiny leaves, delicate footprints and slow snails.

Ages 4–6

Featured book: The Fairy Garden

Mimi longs to see fairies. She keeps the garden perfect but they never appear. Then one day they come with an important message.

Ages 6–9

Featured book: The Boy Who Grew a Tree

When Timi is unsettled by Mum’s pregnancy, he turns to his only friends… plants. Can a magical discovery help him reconnect and be heard?

Week of 25 August: Illustration

Ages 1–3

Featured book: Clive and His Art

Clive and his friends explore art, both making and appreciating. This story offers lots of inspiration for activities.

Ages 4–6

Featured book: Milo Imagines the World

An important book infused with creativity that delivers a thought-provoking message about not judging people on first impressions.

Ages 6–9

Featured book: Destiny Ink: Baking Mix-Up

When a school baking contest is announced, Destiny Ink discovers that baking is no easy feat. But with some creativity and fun, it turns out to be totally Inktastic!

Planned screen-free activities

We’ve planned all sorts of child-friendly challenges for your little ones to get involved with. Each week, we’ll share a new activity for you to try out at home or enjoy while out and about. Even if you only complete one of the four activities, you’ll be automatically entered into our grand prize draw.

Incredible prizes have been donated by our prize partners. Huge thanks to Yoto, Lovevery, The Phive and The Den Kit Company, among others. We'll reveal more details about exactly what you could win very soon!

Why is now a good time to try some screen-free summer activities?

It is more important than ever to encourage children to diversify their forms of entertainment, including finding room for books!

For very young children, books support their ability to focus, recognise and process stimuli and calm their bodies and minds — something that can be difficult with YouTube videos or TV shows. And for those aged 6 plus, screen time is showing up as an addictive problem for 1 in 4 children. All this highlights the need to encourage more reading and alternative activities over the summer.

Screens are not the enemy — sometimes they’re the very thing that saves the day. But this summer, we're here to help you and your family make space and time for reading and exploring activities grounded in play, imagination and creativity, with exciting challenges and prizes that support more of the same throughout the holidays.

How to get involved?

  • To take part in our Screen-Free Summer challenges, follow us on Instagram @ibc_reads, where we’ll post each challenge as they’re set, starting from 4 August 2025.
  • In the meantime, check out our ‘Smart-swaps for a screen-free summer’ blog post for tips.
  • You can find out more about the inclusive books featured in this campaign and 100s more high-quality titles for ages 1 to 9 on the IBC website. Check out our 'Search books' or 'Search booklists' features.

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Books about inventing for a screen-free summer

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Mystery books for a screen-free summer

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Books about nature for a screen-free summer

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Books about drawing for a screen-free summer

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