Tips for Summer Reading

Memorial Day is past and for many of you, summer break has begun. Well, good for you. We still have 6 days of school left. We had a great long weekend celebrating my daughter's 7th birthday (the picture above is from our beach trip), but today we had to get back into the routine and finish up school. I'm never sure exactly what they're doing these last few days. My daughter's end of school party is next Tuesday, so remind me again why she needs to go to school next Wednesday?

Anyway, I know that I have a better summer with my kids if I'm intentional about it. I usually make a list of fun things we want to do and try to have a loose schedule for our lazy days at home so they don't turn into "can we just watch one more show?" kinds of days. Reading is a great summer activity that also helps fight against the summer slump. Here are some ideas for keeping your kids reading this summer.

Reading Programs

• Check your local library for summer reading programs.
• Scholastic has an online summer reading program.
• So does Barnes & Noble. (Kids can earn a free book!)

Reading Recommendations

• This blog, of course! You can find books organized by age and theme on the side bar. Or check out my Pinterest page.
• Indiebound has a Kids' List of book recommendations from independent bookstore owners.
• Look at your child's school website. Many of them have recommended reading lists for the grade your child will be entering.
• There are lots of great reading blogs. I recently found a good one called Everyday Reading. It has book recommendations for both kids and their parents.
• Lots of libraries have book lists based on age or theme that you can find in the children's or teen's sections. Or you can even ask a librarian.
• The New York Public Library has a list of 100 Great Children's Books.

Reading Activities

• Visit the library (often!).
• Browse a bookstore. If you can, give your kids a small allowance to spend on books.
• Have a read-a-thon. Save this for a day when everyone's burned out from too many summer activities. Or in our case, for hurricane watch days when we're stuck inside.
• Keep a reading journal. Keep it simple: use a lined note book and write down the title, author, and what you liked or didn't like about the book.
• Have independent reading time, even for your kids who just look at the pictures. Literacy starts early.
• Choose a fun book to read together. My early reader and I take turns reading a page each. I'm excited to start the first Harry Potter book with her this summer.
• Choose a book that you read aloud as a whole family.
• Read local. Find a book that is set in a nearby place. When you're done reading, go visit the place.
• If you're taking a road trip, buy or borrow an audio book that everyone can listen to.
• And last but not least--bring a book! If you're going to the beach, going camping, or having a picnic, bring books and read them.

What are your favorite summer reading resources and activities?

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

My first grader and I took a break from Magic Treehouse books and read Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman together. It's a silly story that a dad tells his kids to explain why it took him so long to go to the market to get the cereal for their milk. It's full of dinosaurs, aliens, pirates, time travel, and a volcano god.

I love Neil Gaiman and I'd read this book on my own before. My daughter thought it was fun and loved the silly illustrations. She also thought it was a little weird, which Neil Gaiman is. I like a little weird. And if you or your kids do too, you'll like this book. It's easy enough for some early readers to read alone, but it's fun to read together.

__________

Fortunately, the Milk
By Neil Gaiman
Illustrated by Skottie Young
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 2014
Ages/Themes: Early Readers, Silly Stories

Calamity by Brandon Sanderson

I find I have more time to read when I do it on my Kindle. I read while I'm putting my little one to sleep or before I go to sleep at night and don't have to worry about lights. (That's why I love the Kindle Paperwhite--no harsh lights.) I've been on the ebook waiting list for Calamity for a few weeks. But when I saw the paper version sitting on the shelf of the library, I snagged it and thought maybe I'd start reading this one and then pick up when I got the ebook.

Well, I'm still on the waiting list for the ebook version and I finished Calamity last night. Turns out I find time to read better when it's a page turner, which the entire Reckoners series is. It's an entertaining, fun, adventure. Now that I've started to get to know this author, I have a lot more on my TBR list!

The Reckoners series is great because it takes a well-loved theme, superheroes, and gives it a fresh look. The characters are interesting and the story keeps you guessing. The content is clean and appropriate for any kid old enough to read the books, As entertaining as the book is, it's more than that. I'm still thinking about the ending and contemplating what some of it might mean.

Have you read any Brandon Sanderson books? Which ones are your favorites?

__________

Calamity 
By Brandon Sanderson
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Year: 2016
Ages/Themes: Middle Grade Books, Young Adult Books, Science Fiction, Adventure, Series, Books for Boys

Newbery Books Worth Reading: Island of the Blue Dolphins

I can't remember the first time I read Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell. It was published in 1960 so it was already an old book when I got my hands on it. But I do know that I read it over and over again until my copy was falling apart.

Adventure and survival books with female protagonists may be common now, but not so much when I was growing up. Karana in Island of the Blue Dolphins is left on an island and survives alone for 18 years. It was a remarkable story to read as a young girl because I could not conceive of surviving alone, and at the same time, Karana helped me imagine that I could.

Sadly, my childhood copy has not survived. But Newbery books often stay in print and my research shows that a 50th anniversary edition was printed in 2010. I plan on putting it on my list of books to buy for my daughters.

What are some of your favorite adventure books for girls?
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Island of the Blue Dolphins
By Scott O'Dell
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Year: 1960
Ages/Themes: Middle Grade Books, Books for Girls, Adventure, Diverse Books, Newbery Books

The Night Gardener by The Fan Brothers

After seeing it in Indie Bound's Spring 2016 Children's list, I checked out The Night Gardener by Terry Fan and Eric Fan from the library.

It's a magical story of a gardener who comes and turns the trees into beautiful creations every night and the influence it had on a young boy. The illustrations are lovely. My six-year-old described them as looking like "real drawings and paintings." Which means like something you'd frame and put on the wall rather than cartoonish.

My children loved the story and the pictures. It feels like a bedtime story, one you should snuggle up under a blanket together to read. I recommend you at least check it out from the library, but it would make a beautiful gift book as well.

__________

The Night Gardener
By Terry Fan and Eric Fan
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Year: 2016
Ages/Themes: Picture Books, Young Children, Bedtime Stories

Samanthasaurus Rex by B.B. Mandell

I went to the library without my youngest two children on Saturday. When I brought home the books, my four-year-old grabbed this one from the pile and exclaimed, "Oh, I love this one!" Since it's newly published, she had never even seen this one before. But that speaks to the power of a good cover and fun illustrations.

Samanthasaurus Rex is a T-rex who just doesn't act like a T-rex. She uses her brain instead of her brawn and feels like she might be a disappointment for her family. But then she has the chance to use her smarts and find a place in her family, even though she's different.

__________

Samanthasaurus Rex
By B.B. Mandell
Illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Year: 2016
Ages: Picture Books, Young Children

Newbery Books Worth Reading: Princess Academy

I'm sure you've heard that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover (though as every book marketer and seller will tell you, people do it all the time). Well, I sometimes judge a book by its title. And that's why it took me a few years to give Princess Academy by Shannon Hale a chance.

I actually love fairy tales and their many retellings, but for some reason having the word princess in the title kept me from reading this book. But I changed my mind after reading it. It's certainly not for everyone, but middle grade girls will likely love the story, and lovers of young adult and middle grade books (like me) will likely enjoy this book as well. I don't think it's Shannon Hale's best, but it's still a good one. (Book of a Thousand Days is her best if you're wondering.)

Are you a Shannon Hale fan? Which book of hers is your favorite?
__________

Princess Academy
By Shannon Hale
Publisher: Bloomsbury Books for Children
Year: 2005
Ages/Themes: Middle, YA, Fairy Tales, Fantasy

Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

For a few years I happily read and followed along with many of the most popular YA trilogies. I read the Hunger Games, Divergent, and Matched trilogies. But over time, I got really sick of trilogies. I've started some YA series and not moved on to the second book, because I'm weary of the books never ending. I really got sick of it with the Maze Runner series. I found the first book entertaining, but I think that the second book could have told the story in a couple of chapters and been part of the third book. It seems that authors have this great idea for a longer story and they know the ending, but since trilogies are a thing now, they have to come up with something for the middle.

Well, Brandon Sanderson has broken that stereotype for me. I really enjoyed Steelheart, so I was eager to read the second book, Firefight, despite my misgivings about trilogies (and the second book in particular). Firefight continues the story of the Reckoners, but it stands alone as a good story, and has a complete ending along with anticipation for the conclusion. It had important plot developments and character growth. I really can't wait to read the conclusion, but the second book's conclusion left me with a sense of completion that so many second books just don't do anymore.

So, the point of my long rant about trilogies and second books comes to this: read Firefight. It's just as good as Steelheart. It has adventure and humor and great storytelling.

What is your favorite trilogy? Is there one you think could have skipped the second book?

__________

Firefight
By Brandon Sanderson
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Year: 2015
Ages/Themes: Young Adult Books, Middle Grade Books, Fantasy, Adventure, Science Fiction, Series

Marvin Gets Mad! by Joseph Theobald

Marvin Gets Mad! by Joseph Theobald is about a sheep named Marvin who gets mad because someone ate the apple he wanted for himself.

This book was a favorite of my daughter's when she was two years old. It brought up memories of her reading along and even reading the memorized book to herself. My kids like imitating Marvin as he gets mad. And if you wanted to, you could even use this book as an opportunity to talk about emotions and what to do when you get mad. Or you can just have fun imitating a mad sheep.

__________

Marvin Gets Mad!
by Joseph Theobald
Publisher: Scholastic
Year: 2008
Ages: Picture Books, Young Children

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

I came late to reading all the Harry Potter books, and so am just now getting around to reading the companion book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I love Harry Potter, but I don't think I would have read this book if it weren't for the movie version coming out in November.

The book is small and as a pretend text book, it would read a bit dry if it weren't for the bits of humor added throughout, both by the "author" and by the pretend notes written in it by Harry and his friends.

This book is definitely for Harry Potter fans, and would make a good gift for a child who already had all the Harry Potter books. The movie trailer looks really good and I'm interested to see the plot they attach to a book with no plot at all.

What about you? Are you a Harry Potter fan? What level of obsessed are you?

___________

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
By Newt Scamander (aka J.K. Rowling)
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Year: 2001
Ages: Early Reader, Middle Grade Books

Kid's Indie Next Spring 2016 Picks

One of the places I like to find good new kids' lit is Indie Bound' Kid's Indie Next List. Owners of independent bookstores make their recommendations that is an alternative to big lists like the New York Times. There are some crossovers, but the Indie Next List often gives attention to books that I might otherwise miss. They only come out with a kids' lit list a few times a year, so I'm always excited to read it. Here are a few books I'm going to check out from their Spring 2016 list:

Pax by Sarah Pennypacker
I'm not always a huge fan of books focused on animals, so at first glance, I was not interested in this one. But it's recommended for those who love The Giver, so I might have to give it a chance.

Summerlost by Ally Condie
I already read, loved, and recommended this book. If you needed any more encouragement to check out this middle grade novel, here it is.

The Night Gardener by Terry Fan and Eric Fan looks pretty. Which is reason enough to check out a picture book in my opinion.

Hour of Bees by Lindsay Eager is about family and memory and storytelling, all things I love. The description of the book brought to mind the movie Big Fish.

Let's Play! by Herve Tullet. We already own and love Press Here and Mix It Up!, so we'll definitely be checking out Tullet's newest book.






Do you think you'll check out any of these books? Where do you like to find book recommendations?