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The National Library Board (NLB) is bringing back the Book Bugs programme

Book Bugs: Explorers of Stories Past. (PHOTO: National Library Board)
Book Bugs: Explorers of Stories Past. (PHOTO: National Library Board)

SINGAPORE – The National Library Board (NLB) is bringing back the popular and successful Book Bugs programme this December. Book Bugs: Explorers of Stories Past is a bug-themed collectable card game that aims to inculcate and expand a child’s love of reading.

In this edition, children can look forward to exciting new content based on local and regional stories and folktales in English and mother tongue languages (MTLs). The last edition of Book Bugs had generated over 11 million book loans in the public libraries and received participation from close to 140,000 children.

The programme, which is into its third run, incorporates gamification elements to transform the way children read. Players are awarded points when they borrow books or eBooks. The points can then be used to redeem Book Bugs cards, which are available for redemption starting 14 December 2020. There will also be various quizzes and programmes that give opportunities for players to earn bonus points and Book Bugs merchandise.

The programme will feature pop-up events and playoffs, which provide opportunities for children to take part in language games and collect tokens. Children will get to play against each other with their collected cards. In addition, patrons can earn chances to win a Book Bugs Explorer’s Kit in the Bug-a-thon lucky draw by borrowing physical books and eBooks in MTLs. All events will have safe management measures in place.

Book Bugs: Explorers of Stories Past. (PHOTO: National Library Board)
Book Bugs: Explorers of Stories Past. (PHOTO: National Library Board)

A new Book Bugs experience and new stories to explore

Book Bugs: Explorers of Stories Past is set in the mythical period before stories were put into books when bugs used to roam free and had the chance to transform every time a story was told. Here, the bugs serve as a metaphor for characters in specific stories and children get to ‘travel’ through different mythical lands while collecting these bugs.

This edition of Book Bugs expands on previous editions by diving into local and regional stories, folklore, and trivia while also focusing on mother tongue languages. The bugs are based on Singapore stories and folktales such as Attack of the Swordfish and Badang, as well as stories from the region, such as Sang Kancil, Madame White Snake, and Tenali Raman, to name a few. Some cards will present trivia in both English and a second language including Chinese, Malay or Tamil.

New features of this Book Bugs programme include:

  • 74 exciting new cards – 35 English cards and 39 Bilingual cards (13 from each language)

  • Cards that will be released in phases, according to the four different lands that the bugs reside in (Magical Forests, Mysterious Seas, Mystical Mountains and Marvellous Homes)

  • All public libraries, except library@esplanade, library@orchard and library@chinatown, and Choa Chu Kang Public Library, which is currently under renovations, will have card dispensers

  • Monthly quizzes from which to earn bonus points

For more information, go to go.gov.sg/BookBugs.