Find a Golden Ticket
For years, the Chocolate Factory has been closed to the world. Nobody ever goes in… and nobody ever comes out.
But this spring, something extraordinary has happened.
Willy Wonka has announced that five Golden Tickets have been hidden somewhere inside the library. Anyone who finds one will be allowed inside the Chocolate Factory and begin a once-in-a-lifetime reading adventure.
🎟️ Finding Your Golden Ticket
Golden Tickets are hidden in unexpected places throughout the library. Keep your eyes open—you never know where one might appear. When you find a Golden Ticket, enter the secret code to claim it.
⚠️ Important: Some Golden Tickets may already belong to other visitors. If you find a ticket that’s already been claimed, don’t worry—keep searching! Only your own Golden Ticket will grant you entry into the Chocolate Factory.
You must find and claim a Golden Ticket before you can officially enter the Chocolate Factory.
You may begin logging minutes read and completing challenges at any time, but prizes cannot be claimed until you have found and claimed your Golden Ticket.
No Golden Ticket means no factory tour—so this is your very first mission.
Good luck. And remember—not everyone who enters makes it to the end.
Read to Move Through the Chocolate Factory
Once you’ve claimed your Golden Ticket, the Chocolate Factory doors will open—and your journey begins.
Reading is how you move forward.
As you log minutes read, you’ll unlock new rooms inside the Chocolate Factory. Each room reveals part of the tour, a new challenge, or a surprise waiting to be discovered.
Read a little, and you’ll take your first steps inside. Read more, and the factory opens further. Keep reading, and you’ll travel deeper than most visitors ever do.
Every room must be unlocked in order, and only readers who keep going will reach the end of the tour.
So grab a book, find a cozy spot, and start reading—because inside the Chocolate Factory, every page moves you forward.
Oompa Loompa Challenges
Not every visitor listens.
Some children ignore the warnings, rush ahead, or refuse to learn the lesson. When that happens, they are eliminated from the tour.
Your job is simple: listen carefully, learn the lesson, and move forward.
Meet the Other Kids Who Found a Golden Ticket
🍫 Augustus Gloop
Augustus Gloop loves one thing above all else—eating. He never slows down, never waits, and never stops to think before grabbing more. When temptation appears, Augustus dives in headfirst… and quickly finds himself in trouble.
🍬 Violet Beauregarde
Violet Beauregarde is determined to be the best. She’s competitive, impatient, and convinced she knows better than anyone else—even the inventor himself. When she’s told not to try something, she does it anyway.
🥚 Veruca Salt
Veruca Salt wants everything, and she wants it now. If she sees something she likes, she demands it immediately—no matter the cost, no matter the rules. Being told “no” has never stopped her before.
đź“ş Mike Teevee
Mike Teevee is obsessed with screens and shortcuts. He’d rather watch than do, skip ahead instead of learning, and take the fastest path—even if it means missing the point entirely.
A Curious Visitor
Hello… I’m Arthur Slugworth.
You may have heard my name whispered now and then. I own a candy factory of my own, you see—but no matter how hard I try, I can’t quite match the wonders that come out of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. His recipes are unlike anything else in the world… and I intend to learn how he does it.
Hidden throughout this library are five very special candies, each one holding a piece of Wonka’s brilliance. Whenever you find one and enter its secret code, I’ll appear to congratulate you on your discovery. I’ll be polite. I’ll be generous. And I’ll make you an offer—to give me the candy so I can study it and unlock its secrets for myself.
Of course, the choice is always yours. You may sell the candy to me, keep it for yourself, or return it to Willy Wonka out of loyalty. I won’t stop you either way. But make no mistake—every decision tells me exactly the kind of person you are.
After all, secrets are valuable things. And I’m very good at collecting them.
*Reply to Slugworth messages with either:
- I wish to sell the candy to you Slugworth
- I want to keep the candy for myself
- I wish to return the candy to Wonka
Earn Mini Golden & Silver Tickets
As you travel through the Chocolate Factory, you’ll earn mini tickets to spend on prizes or use as drawing entries—mini Golden Tickets for kids and mini Silver Tickets for adults. Your very first mini ticket is earned the moment you find and claim your Golden Ticket, and no other mini tickets can be earned until that happens.
From there, reading is how you move forward: each room you unlock earns you more tickets, with greater rewards waiting the deeper you go. Along the way, you’ll encounter Oompa Loompa challenges, and each one you complete earns two mini tickets.
Hidden throughout the library are five special candies to discover, and if you read your way through every room, complete all Oompa Loompa challenges, and find all five candies, you’ll finish the program and win the grand prize—earning five additional mini tickets. In total, readers can earn up to 35 mini tickets, all by reading, exploring, and making thoughtful choices inside the Chocolate Factory.
✍️ Write a Poem for the Imagine America Poetry Contest
Throughout the Chocolate Factory, the Oompa Loompas share their lessons through poems. Their rhymes are playful, their words are clever, and each poem turns a moment into something worth remembering. They use poetry to reflect on choices, behavior, and imagination.
Now it’s your turn.
Let the Oompa Loompa poems inspire you to write one of your own for the Imagine America Poetry Contest. Think about what Imagine America means to you. It might be about hope, kindness, freedom, creativity, community, or the future you imagine. Your poem can be funny or serious, short or thoughtful—there’s no wrong way to imagine.
When your poem is finished, turn it in for the Imagine America Poetry Contest and share your voice. Just like the Oompa Loompas, your words can teach a lesson, spark a thought, or help someone see the world a little differently.
After all, imagination is where every great idea begins.
Imagine America Poetry Contest
Submissions open March 2 to April 11
In honor of America's 250th Anniversary, we invite poets of all ages to explore dreams, memories, and visions of our nation--past, present, or future. Celebrate the stories that shaped us and the hopes still waiting to be written.
CASH PRIZES AND MORE!!!
Age categories: Grade K-2 | Grade 3-5 | Grade 6-8 | Grade 9-12 | Adult