Louise’s story
What happens when you combine a love of reading with a walk in the park? Inspired to connect the worlds of movement and reading and motivated by the National Year of Reading, I’ve created an interactive reading adventure in Ward Jackson Park in Hartlepool.
After attending a Literacy Summit in early 2025, which aimed to raise literacy levels in the town, I was motivated to look at my own role as a Health and Wellbeing Link Worker for Hartlepool Sport and explore different ways I could bring the world of movement and reading together to achieve this.
Drawing on my primary teaching background, Read & React was born. The aim was to promote reading for pleasure through choose-your-own-adventure-style storytelling, giving players the power to choose the direction their walking quest takes as they explore Ward Jackson Park like they never have before.
With four possible endings, families can repeat the experience multiple times, making each adventure different. Read & React is unique in its approach, blending the worlds of fact and fiction. Players work together to solve puzzles and riddles while connecting with nature and local history, which are woven into the story plot.
With support from the National Literacy Trust, we held a launch event in May, with 100 copies of Read & React being issued to families on the day.
The feedback from families was fantastic:
- “We noticed things in the park that we had not seen before in all the years we have been coming here.”
- “Lovely story and interactive.”
- “Immersive. Liked to solve the puzzles, liked the challenge.”
- “The children were keen to try the book again for a different adventure.”
- “It prompted my child to read.”
Read & React is free and can be collected from The Place in the Park Café, which is located in Ward Jackson Park. Once completed, families can claim their certificate and sticker reward from any of the Community Hubs in Hartlepool.
We hope this will bring even more footfall to the libraries, so families will continue to read and find out about the other services on offer there.
“Looking forward, my goal is to involve children and young people in the writing and illustrative process of creating more Read & React adventures for other parks and green spaces in the town. Hartlepool Sport will look to work with local schools to do this, while continuing to promote movement and reading for the long term.”
Louise, Hartlepool Sport
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