A CWMBRAN woman is looking to encourage children to read this summer by hiding books around Cwmbran, Pontypool and Newport for people to find. 

Claire Strange, from Little Cottage Library, has launched the Little Cottage Find A Book Club.

The project is one that is taking place nationwide, and Mrs Strange decided to launch a 'Find A Book Club' locally to encourage youngsters to read throughout the summer holidays. 

"I am hiding the books around in public places for children to find," she said.

"They can then either keep those books or return them to where they found it so more children can find them. 

"It gets them out and about looking around, and then they have a book at the end of it that they can go out and read.

"It's part of my team where someone suggested it. There's people all around the country doing it." 

Despite a rather changeable forecast, book lovers will be able to rest easy, as each book is hidden in a waterproof cover, meaning they are kept away from the elements and fresh for their potential new owners.

Mrs Strange said she had already hidden around 30 books, with another 50 waiting to be hidden - with Penelopes Cafe at Goytre Wharf sponsoring the cost of those additional books.

She did give some clues for where you can find some of the books. 

"There's some along the canal," she said. "And some at the boating lake, in Pontypool Park, and in parks across Newport."

Through her work as an independent organiser for children's book publishers Usborne, she has access to some discounted and free books, but she has also appealed to local businesses to sponsor the project to help get more books in to hide.

To find out more about the project, or to get in touch about sponsoring the project, you can search 'Little Cottage Find a Book Club' on Facebook.