Claudia Ara Takes Second Place in National Reading Competition

Claudia Ara, a 4th-grade student from the Zaragoza school Santa María del Pilar-Marianistas, secured second place in the national final of the competition The Little Giants of Reading. The event took place on June 6, 2025 at the Pavilion of the Gardens of Cecilio Rodríguez (Madrid) during the Book Fair.

A total of 15,000 students from 200 schools across nine autonomous communities participated: Andalucía, Aragón, Asturias, Canarias, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Galicia, Madrid, and La Rioja. 8,000 4th-grade students competed as readers, while students from 5th and 6th grades acted as judges. Claudia Ara read an excerpt from Tembleque (Gracia Iglesias), with the author present at the final.

The project is backed by the Federation of Publishers Guilds of Spain (FGEE), CaixaBank, CEDRO, the European Commission in Spain, Pentel, Torras Papel, and regional governments. Eva Orúe, director of the Madrid Book Fair, highlighted the transformation of reading into a «shared and festive experience.»

It promotes bibliodiversity and the role of the publishing chain in access to reading. It engages the entire classroom throughout the school year, combining competition and reading education.

Participation of Aragón

In its first regional edition, the results were deemed «more than satisfactory» by Ana Moracho, General Director of Educational Policy. Claudia Ara had already demonstrated her skills during the Day of Aragonese Education, where she read before a packed Hall of the Crown. The regional event focused on the slogan Read: Sowing the Future, emphasizing the importance of reading competence in the face of current technological challenges.