Children aged four to 11 are invited to take part in the Lancashire Reading Journey and meet a wonderful collection of colourful cut-out characters.

This initiative, which was launched last year, runs from Saturday 16 July to Saturday 24 September and is organised by Lancashire County Council.

The Reading Journey is free and aims to keep children reading throughout the summer holidays.

Children just need to visit a library to join in and complete eight tasks over the summer, including reading books of their choice, visiting museums and taking part in activities.

On joining the Journey, children will receive a card listing 25 different activities. To complete the quest they choose and take part in their favourite eight.

After completing four tasks, children will be rewarded with a pencil and after completing all eight tasks they will receive a certificate and a pin badge.

A free family visit to a Lancashire County Council museum for one child and two adults will be awarded to every child that takes part in the Journey. Families are advised to check the opening hours of the museum before setting off on their visit.

Any books can be read, including factual, fiction, poetry, and books of jokes or picture books.

Stories on CD also count, as do e-books and audio downloads.

A new feature for this year's Reading Journey are Reading Trail cut-out characters that will be located in 13 venues across the county. Families are encouraged to find these characters and to take their photograph with them.

Schools have a chance to benefit from the Journey. Children's author, Tom Palmer, will visit three schools to launch the Reading Journey and read some of his stories, to encourage participation.

County Councillor Marcus Johnstone, cabinet member for environment, planning and cultural services, said: "This is a great way to encourage children to keep reading and learning throughout their summer holidays.

"They can choose to read, or a related activity that they enjoy. It is up to them.

"We launched the Reading Journey last year and 10,000 children took part in it.

"As well as being fun, this creates an incentive for children, and their families, to visit different places in the county. There will be a variety of lively events happening in libraries over the summer to inspire children's interest.

"It is also a fun way to boost children's literacy, which not only helps with their education but also improves their life chances in the future."

For more information about the Lancashire Reading Journey visit http://bit.ly/lancashirerj or phone 0300 123 6703.

It's free to join the library and under-16s can join by themselves.

Young people aged 12 to 24 also have the opportunity to volunteer as a 'reading hack' at their local library, as part of the Reading Journey. This role is to support children on the Reading Journey, and help with organising and running events. To volunteer, please visit: http://bit.ly/readhack

Libraries around the county will be hosting different events to promote the Lancashire Reading Journey. More information about these is available at: http://bit.ly/lrjevents

To find out more about Lancashire County Council museums visit www.lancashire.gov.uk/museums

Any photographs taken with the Reading Trail characters should be sent to #LancsRJ.