Literacy Month returns to Camana Bay this September to celebrate and encourage a love of reading among youth across the Cayman Islands. This year, the theme focuses on mysteries, covering everything from the 1890s classic series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes to local favourite Pedro and The Treasure Map, by Erin Connelly.

In partnership with Books & Books and LIFE, Camana Bay has prepared a full calendar of special reading moments to excite and engage children of any age as they return to school and reconnect with reading.

From Saturday, Sept. 1, come out to the Town Centre to take a photo with Camana Bay’s giant READ sign, located on the Paseo next to Books & Books. Post these selfies with the hashtag #CamanaBay to be entered into a draw for a CI$50 Camana Bay Gift Card.

Then step into Books & Books or the Camana Bay Visitor Centre to collect your scavenger hunt map and get sleuthing like Sherlock Holmes. Hidden in the grounds around the Town Centre are eight book titles. Find each of the eight and jot down the circled letter in each title to collect the eight letters you need to unscramble to form the anagram answer. Completed maps can be returned to Books & Books in exchange for 10% off your next purchase.

Make a date in your calendar to stop in on special Saturday Story Time sessions at the bookstore. Held at 10:30 a.m. each Saturday, these Story Times will feature a roster of local authors. The popular Tuesday morning Story Times in Camana Bay Cinema at 11 a.m. will also be themed, as the hosts read various mystery stories to little ones.

Don’t forget to start entering now for the chance for your child to win a great prize that will make this holiday season even more special. Books & Books is running its advent calendar contest again this year, and entries are accepted through September and October. Every day in December a child’s name will be drawn and they will get to open a door on the advent calendar to find a special Christmas gift waiting inside. They can enter for a chance to have their name drawn by completing a form at the bookstore to share what their favourite book is and why.

The love of reading is something that’s easy to take for granted. However, learning to read is something that takes time, and many children want the opportunity to practise their reading more. LIFE is a nonprofit organisation (the name stands for Literacy Is For Everyone) whose mission is to significantly increase literacy levels in the Cayman Islands. One of the programmes LIFE operates in order to achieve this mission is paired reading, where volunteers work with children in Key Phase 1 in Cayman’s public schools to improve their reading by listening to children read aloud and help them with any struggles they encounter as they steadily improve their literacy levels. The organisation is always looking for more volunteers for this programme. If this is something that appeals to you, contact[email protected] to register. Camana Bay is proud to support this cause and will donate a set of books to LIFE in celebration of Literacy Month.