When school lets out, students can fall into the summer reading gap trap, where they enter school again in September with deteriorated reading skills.
“We talk about this with our students so that they know that they really do need to spend some of that unstructured summertime reading a book,” said Caroline Akervik, an elementary school librarian at Lakeshore Elementary in Eau Claire and author of middle-grade and young adult fiction.
Reading doesn’t need to be from a thick novel. Reading the newspaper or how-to books count, too, said Becky Wojahn, a school librarian who teaches children’s and young adult literature classes in the Library and Information Services program at the Chippewa Valley Technical College in Eau Claire.
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It helps to get kids books on topics that interest them, the librarians agreed. Bartering might work, too — say, an hour of Fortnite for an hour of reading or a penny for each page read.
Wojahn, who also writes books for kids under the pen name W.H. Beck, and Akervik compiled a list of genres and titles that can help turn eyes from the television screen onto the pages of a book.
How-To Books
These types of books tap into natural questions that kids have, said Wojahn, who pointed to her own children using YouTube to look up something they want to learn how to do.
“Learning how to read directions and figure things out from a book is also a really useful skill,” she said.
The book, “Dig In: 12 Easy Gardening Projects Using Kitchen Scraps,” is an easy favorite for Wojahn, who said it teaches children, for example, how to grow vegetables from scraps such as romaine lettuce and garlic.
“It gives them a purpose for reading but also something to actively do as well,” Wojahn said.
Other books, such as Amanda Thomsen’s “Backyard Adventure: Get Messy, Get Wet, Build Cool Things, and Have Tons of Wild Fun! 51 Free-Play Activities,” teaches readers sequences and following instructions.
Along with cookbooks, joke and riddle books are among the most popular choices of children in Akervik’s school library, she said, noting they are also great reading options for kids.
Short Reads
Akervik said reluctant readers might think a thick novel is pretty intimidating and may find shorter reads much more accessible.
Wojahn said shorter reads during the summer are particularly feasible when schedules change, and the days can become filled with other activities.
The “Guys Read” series, edited by Jon Scieszka, is a great option for those looking to finish a story in one sitting. Each book in the series is based on genres such as funny business, sports and thrillers authors have contributed.
The Wonderopolis website is a resource that takes a “wonder of the day” and explores it. For example, looking at the science of why the sky is blue or the culture of why pennies are considered lucky.
“I could see that being just a quick check-in for a kid to be able to read a little bit more and sometimes those are also launching pads for reading longer, too,” Wojahn said.
Graphic novels are good options, too, the librarians agreed. Look for graphic versions of classics which can help bridge to the full version.
“Anything that holds their interests and wants them to keep doing it is excellent,” Wojahn said.
Audiobooks
The appeal of audiobooks is their accessibility, Akervik said. And, despite some perceptions, listening is as effective as reading in terms of vocabulary development.
Public Library Overdrive and Sora are streaming media subscription services that offer free audio and e-books to borrow with a library card.
Audiofile Sync Audiobook for Teens is a summer program that gives away two audiobook downloads each week through an application.
“These tools allow us to, at no cost, have audiobooks and e-books available to us, like up to 10 at one time,” Akervik said.
The librarians have compiled a list of popular books based on genre and topic. Here are some highlights:
Favorite Recent Titles: Picture Books
The Rough Patch, by Brian Lies, 2019.
The Lost Forest, by Phyllis Root, 2019.
Blue, by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, 2018.
The Remember Balloons, by Jessie Oliveros, 2018.
A Big Mooncake for Little Star, by Grace Lin, 2018.
Easy Readers/Early Chapter Books
Dragons in a Bag, by Zetta Elliott, 2018.
Meet Yasmin! by Saadia Faruqi, 2018
Mr. Monkey Bakes a Cake, by Jeff Mack, 2018.
Middle Grade
Small Spaces, Katherine Arden, 2018.
Sanity & Tallulah (graphic novel), by Molly Brooks, 2018.
Finding Langston, Lesa Cline-Ransome, 2018.
Lovely War, Julie Berry, 2019.
I, Claudia, Mary McCoy, 2018.
By Interest
Another option is to search the library catalog with a hobby or interest and add “juvenile biography.”
Monsters: Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein, by Linda Bailey, 2018.
Music: Guitar Genius: How Les Paul Engineered the Solid-Body Electric Guitar and Rocked the World, by Kim Tomsic, 2019.
Art/Insects: The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian’s Art Changed Science, by Joyce Sidman, 2018.
Dogs: Rescue & Jessica: a Life Changing Friendship, by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes, 2018.
Baseball: Silent Star: The Story Deaf Major Leaguer William Hoy, by Bill Wise, 2012.
TV/Entertainment: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, by Trevor Noah, 2019.
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