Summer is upon us and that means that it is time to find ways to keep kids engaged with their books and reading. Getting J to read isn’t a problem, but I would like to find ways to spice it up for the summer. I also really want to encourage her to keep writing about what she reads. She loves a good challenge and she also loves this blog, so my mind has started to churn.
One big way to make summer reading fun is to make sure that all of her friends are reading and perhaps even taking some cues from the books that she loves. J always enjoys sharing her books with her friends, although her reading level can at times make this challenging. J often talks about being a teacher, so we will be working on our summer reading list for her friends. I’m hoping to get her to write a line or two about each book and why she liked it.
There are a slew of summer reading challenges out there. One big thing that tends to get focused on is reading for a certain amount of time each day. As I said, this is not an issue for us, since I often have to tell her to stop reading and go outside, but I thought it would be fun to join in. Our local library has a wonderful program that encourages reading and coming to great programs at the library. I tried doing the program last year, but struggled with recording the minutes that she read. I just signed her up (locals go to http://tinyurl.com/spplsrp to sign up!) with a goal of 1500 minutes. I have no idea if that is high or low. I figured that it is 13 weeks and it seemed like a nice round number. We also joined Scholastic’s reading program which has a reading timer app that I installed on J’s iPad. The program at our library allows kids to earn “book bucks” as they read and the more they read, the bigger the prizes they can receive at the end of summer. We will get additional bucks for coming to some awesome programs that the library is having over the summer kicking off with a Mad Scientist Lab. It’s already on my calendar!
J is super excited for some books that we are going to be reading this summer. Until we get our book list going, here is her list of summer reads….
1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – I’ve made her wait months before she could move on to book 5 in this series. Given that this book is 870 pages, it might actually take us a little time to get through it!
2. Wednesdays at the Tower (Castle Glower #2) – we both loved Tuesdays at the Castle. This series features an incredibly strong female lead and her siblings who are sworn to protect the castle that they live in. The castle just happens to also be alive and adds something to the building every Tuesday. The first book finds them fighting against an outside presence that wants to take over the castle. In the second book, the castle is hiding some new secret.
3. A Grimm Warning (The Land of Stories #3) – This series by Chris Colfer has become one of our definite favorites that we recommend to EVERYONE! Seriously, girl or boy, adult or child, this is a great series. Who knows what new test the Bailey twins will come up against in this installment.
4. Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot – A friend recommended this book series so I went ahead and bought the boxed set of the first 4 books. The series looks sweet and I think J will enjoy it.
5. Rosemary in Paris (The Hourglass Adventures #2) – We just finished book #1 in this series where a 10 year old girl travels back in time and meets a 10 year old relative. The books are a nice melding of adventure, travel and brain teasers as Rosemary Rita solves various problems and puzzles.
That’s our jumping off point. What summer books are you planning on reading?
Reblogged this on Legacy of Pretty and commented:
Time to sign up for summer reading people. Keep those kids reading and also participate in the free events many libraries offer. From magic shows to drawing camps.