Summer Reading Round-Up
Update: This post is about reading programs for summer 2008. If it's helpful, you might also enjoy my post about summer reading in 2009.
The school year is officially finished for me, and I am all signed up and ready to go for my local library's reading program: Catch the Reading Bug, which it turns out is part of the larger Collaborative Summer Library Program. My goal for the summer is to read 22 books, which would catch me up by the end of August on my 4-a-month plan which I made in December. Right now I've read less than 2 books a month; sad but true. If you include magazines that ups my count by quite a bit, or books with recipes in them that I didn't read. I don't feel comfortable listing those because I didn't really read the whole book, you know?
If your library's reading program is lacking or if you just love to pile it on when it comes to reading, the internet is full of options for you.
Reading Is Fundamental has a Summer Reading Guide. You'll find crafts, booklists, and more.
Harper Collins is sponsoring the Reading Warriors Summer Reading Challenge. This challenge is targeted at 8 - 12 year olds and challenges them to read at least 10 books this summer. The website is rich with content. This challenge includes a rewards program. For adults, there's a whole section on the site on being a reading mentor. Promotional material like posters and bookmarks abound. There's plenty there to explore!
Over at Scholastic, they've got the Summer Reading Challenge going on. Readers can register to log their reading and "feed the reader meter." Much like at the Reading Warriors challenge, there's plenty of supplemental content for adults who want to encourage kids to read.
If you're looking for specific recommendations of books to read, the web has a host of lists.
Little Willow is my favorite recommender of books. You can find her summer reading list here. Parents Magazine has a list here; Education World has one here.
For tips on helping kids read this summer, see these articles:
Summer Reading Tips @ The Children's Book Review [via Jen Robinson's Book Page ]
Summer Reading @ The Post and Courier [via Jen Robinson's Book Page ]
How to Raise a Book Lover @ Parents [via The Children's Book Review ]
Hot Tips From Cool Authors @ Becky's Book Reviews
What are your goals and plans for summer reading? I'm going to catch up on old readergirlz issues and read some Buffy novels.