Gornest Lyfrau

What is Gornest Lyfrau?

Book Council of Wales website describes Gornest Lyfrau as a fun reading competition that encourages children to enjoy books, collaborate as a team, and present their ideas creatively.

Book Slam Regional Rounds

During the first half of the summer term, primary and secondary schools across Gwynedd took part in the regional rounds of the annual Book Slam competition.

What is the Book Slam?

The Book Slam is an annual reading competition for pupils in Years 3–8, designed to encourage young readers to enjoy books for pleasure. Learners discuss the books they are reading and work together to create a creative video based on one of the titles from the official reading list.

One of the most important steps in the competition is choosing the right book. With a wide range of fantastic titles available, selecting a book that inspires the team is key to success.

Competition Format

Each team takes part in two regional challenges:

Discussion Round — pupils explore and discuss the themes, characters and events of their chosen book.

Video Advertisement — pupils produce a creative and engaging video advert promoting their book.

The final round takes place in Aberystwyth in June, where teams represent the county, discuss books, attend an author workshop and watch their adverts on the big screen. Winning schools receive a special trophy and one of the following prizes:

1st prize – £200 worth of books

2nd prize – £150 worth of books

3rd prize – £100 worth of books

Key Benefits

Encouraging children to fall in love with reading.

Developing positive attitudes towards books.

Supporting emotional literacy, communication and analytical skills.

Aligning with Curriculum requirements through varied individual and group activities.

Promoting books, authors and illustrators.

Celebrating excellence in children’s literature.

It was wonderful to see such enthusiasm throughout the competition, and a privilege to hear pupils discussing Welsh books with so much enjoyment and excitement. The standard was exceptionally high this year, making it a very close contest.