Spicing up Summer Reading

Part 2 in finding new ways to make summer reading more fun…

Timing your reading and logging what you’ve done will only take you so far. Although J is already on a roll. Last night she logged 35 minutes in our library challenge and wrote a review to the book she finished (Rosemary in Paris). This was her review, with only a tiny bit of help from me –

This book was about three girls named Rosemary (Rose for short), Sophie and Gracie. Rose goes back in time by flipping a magical hourglass and this book takes place in Paris in 1889. The girls went after 12 thieves in order to get Gracie’s locket back from one of the thieves. When Rose chased the thief that had stolen Grace’s locket, the hourglass had fallen out of her bag. A girl picked it up and threw it in the lake. Then Rose plunged into the lake and got it and 3 men pulled her out of the lake. Then she flipped it over and went back to South Carolina in 2001.

But of course there are tons of resources out there to spice it up. I have to admit that I am a Pinterest addict. I mainly use it for recipes and keeping track of great children’s books, but there are some great ideas out there as well. I will be pinning anything that I see to spice up reading on my children’s book board.

While I was playing around yesterday looking to see what kind of summer reading charts were out there, I found a brilliant concept for changing up what we read. The website Chocolate on My Cranium has a chart called Around the World in 80 Days. The kids have to read a book that takes place in or mentions one of the places on the Summer Reading Bingo card. When they get a bingo they get a special prize. The only rules are a book can only be used once, and that only one book from a series can be used. What a great idea to expand your reading list right? Not only does this website give you the bingo card, but then they have a great list of book ideas. There are of course other ideas including some options from books that I have been eyeing for some time. We are going to have to hit the library and have some fun with this!

Looking for a new book for your kid? James Patterson has a website to encourage kid to read and has a selection of book ideas for kids if you are looking for something new. The site is broken down by age group and then book type.

A source that I ALWAYS return to for book ideas is a fellow blogger Pragmatic Mom. Mia is a prolific blogger and brilliant list maker. She also gathers information from tons of other book bloggers. Check out her post on summer reading lists and then play around on her site to see all of the other fun things she has. To top it off, she also moderates and organizes a list on children’s books on Pinterest.

Another great blogging resource is Erica at What do We Do All Day. She writes a wonderful blog and also has great lists of books. She has pulled together a summer reading resource page as well.

Finally, another great website is No Time for Flash Cards. They have come up with a great summer reading challenge for 2014 that starts TOMORROW! She has calendars for June, July and August with missions. This is aimed more at younger readers and focuses on picture books, but still an awesome way to keep reading interesting.

Happy reading!