Level Up with Winter Reading!

Only one more day until our Winter Reading Challenge begins! 

Are you ready to accept the challenge?

Registration for Forsyth County Public Library's Winter Reading Challenge begins Friday, December 19, 2025!

Sign up in the Beanstack app anytime between December 19, 2025, and January 19, 2026, then just log your reading to earn points toward motivating prizes. 

This challenge is for ALL AGES!

Earn 1 point for each minute of reading, or 20 points for one book, and receive prizes to keep you going until the end of the challenge on January 19, 2026. 

And speaking of prizes...

Children (Ages 0–Grade 5):

Participating children can earn wearable buttons at 250 and 500 points. This year, we’re debuting special buttons at each library location! All five branches and the Bookmobile have a unique button that children can earn by visiting that location. The branches will have engagement programs for participants to complete to earn their buttons. These activities include the opportunity to vote on finalists from the Bookmark Design Contest! 

Teens & Adults (Grade 6 and up):

Teen and adult participants can earn vinyl stickers at 250 and 500 points. At 500 points, they will get an FCPL Friends and Advocates Bookstore coupon for one free book up to $3.00 in value.

Grand Prizes

All participants will automatically get entered in the Grand Prize Drawing for their age group when they reach 500 points. Each branch has four grand prizes:

• Preschool: Magna-Tiles
• Elementary: Puzzle Night Basket with hot chocolate, a mini Squishmallow, handheld Tetris console, Rubik's Cube, and Kanoodle game
• Teen: Boba Basket with a boba tea kit for 6, sticky notes, and pencil pouch
• Adult: Murder Mystery Basket with Murdle: Volume 1, How to Get Away with Murder, and Body on the Boardwalk game

The Winter Reading Challenge begins on Friday, December 19 and runs through Monday, January 19, 2026, to give participants a full month to log their winter reading. 

Grand prizes will be drawn on Tuesday, January 20, 2026. Grand prize winners will be notified via email to whatever email address is associated with their Beanstack account. 

Picture Books About Letter Writing

Do you enjoy receiving letters from friends and family? In these picture books children exchange letters with their grandmothers. The stories focus on the shared joy of letter writing. 

Little Red and the Big Bad Editor by Rebecca Kraft Rector; Illustrated by Shanda McCloskey

Little Red has a letter to deliver to her Grandmother but the Big Bad Wolf can't let her poor grammar slide, even if that means he has to wait for his tasty treat. 

This cute story introduces young people to the lost art of letter writing and highlights the importance of gratitude and clear communication. Illustrations by Georgia artist and author Shanda McCloskey add extra personality and humor to this cute story. 

How to Send a Hug by Hayley Rocco and John Rocco

Artie misses her grandmother who lives far away. Even though they regularly talk on the phone and communicate on their computers, she wants to find a way to send a hug. So with some paper and art supplies, Artie creates a colorful hug using simple words and pictures that she can mail to her grandmother  

This colorful picture book shows children how to address envelopes, add postage, and mail letters. It also illustrates some interesting ways postal carriers deliver mail including hand delivering, biking, riding snowmobiles, and delivering mail on boats.

Last month, Sharon Forks Library patrons composed letters to express appreciation to United States veterans. The BRAVE organization which stands for Building Relations with American Veterans Everywhere distributed the letters. 

You can send handwritten letters for veterans to BRAVE Organization anytime at:

BRAVE Organization

P.O. Box 821

Boystown, NE  68010

Or share messages or words of cheer thru their website at Bravemission.org.

Alicia Cavitt

Information Specialist

 

Unreadable Podcast Transcript - December 2025

In this episode, Ross speaks with Programming Manager Sarah Brubaker about the upcoming our Winter Reading program. Listen for more information on this year’s theme (HINT: Get ready to press the A button!), incremental prizes, and grand prizes. 

Winter Reading runs from December 19, 2025 to January 19, 2026. To learn more about signing up for the challenge, please visit our website.