Chappaqua Challenge

Chappaqua Challenge Info 2026

The Chappaqua Challenge is a fun, low-key reading program for 4th to 6th graders who want to read some great books with their friends. Kids form teams of 2-4 people and take a few months to read from a list of 12 books. On Sunday, March 15th @ 2:00 PM, the teams will quiz each other--no audience, no score, a party and gift cards to Scattered Books!

Click here to register for the info session

Chappaqua Challenge FAQ

It’s a fun, low-key reading program for 4th to 6th graders who want to read some great books with their friends.

The Challenge will be on SUNDAY, March 15, 2026 at 2 P.M.

Kids form teams of 2-4 people and read from a list of 12 books by March.
Team members can divvy up the books any way they like.
About a month before the challenge your team will find out their book (randomly chosen by the library) and will have time to write 11 questions about one of the books.
On the day of the Challenge, the teams will quiz each other.
There is NO AUDIENCE, we don’t keep score, and no one wins or loses. Each team will try to answer one question about each of the other books, and all the teams quiz each other at once. It’s a little crazy, but fun!
Everyone earns a gift card from Scattered Books, and then we party!

If you’ve already done the Challenge, email us and we’ll send your contact person the registration and permission slip links or your contact adult can stop by the Kids Room.
Otherwise, form a team of 2-4 people, and choose a name for your team.
Choose one member’s adult as the contact person, who will share any messages (usually email) between the library and the rest of the team. This person will usually fill out the registration form at the library.
Any new participants must attend a challenge meeting on.

Thursday, November 13th at 6:30 pm at the library. If you can’t make it, we’ll share the recording afterwards--and you can submit questions beforehand.

The meeting will be about 30 minutes; parental attendance is required. After the meeting (or watching the video) you’ll be able to fill out a team registration form and permission slips.
Each team member must turn in a signed permission slip. The contact person can bring them all in, or each member can bring in or email a picture.
Registration is complete once we have a team form & all the permission slips.
Then a librarian will put you on the Challenge poster, and that’s it!

Let us know you’re interested—sometimes other teams need another member.

Some people do, if they want to and have the time. Most people divide up the list with the rest of their team, and read between 6-12 books. The books will be a mix: sports, realistic stories, fantasy, animals, a biography, etc. Half are graphic novels.

The Friends of the Library sponsor the purchase of extra copies, and Challenge books are kept on a cart by the Children’s Room office. Look and click the book river below to see the list with links to the online catalog. You’ll see the various media versions in the catalog, too: CD audiobooks, large print, ebooks and e-audiobooks. You can put any of them on hold. If we run out, you can get them from another library within a few days.

For econtent in Libby, be sure to log in with a Chappaqua Library card before searching, to gain priority access to any extra digital copies we’ve bought.

The Challenge itself takes 1-1 1⁄2 hours, if everyone is on time. That includes doing all the questions and having the party.

Talk to your teammates about who’s reading which books. Start reading as soon as you sign up; depending on when you start, you have a few months to read the books.

A month before the challange, the library will randomly assign your team a book, and will tell your contact person, so you’ll have time to read the book if you haven’t yet. Team members will write 11 questions (total, not per member) about that book. You’ll turn in the questions the day before the Challenge; via email is fine.

Questions should be factual, based on details actually mentioned in the books.

Some teams like to get together to write the questions--that’s optional! And you don’t need to study!

If the members of your team change, or some (or all) of you change your minds or have a conflict, please let the library know as soon as possible. There may be someone waiting for a chance to take part.