With schools all over the U.S. out for the summer, it’s time to think about educational summer hobbies for our kids. Jan Kristo, author and UMaine professor of literacy education, recommends keeping reading on children’s radar to help them maintain and strengthen the gains made in reading over the school year.

Although it’s easy to plop down in front of the TV or tune into the latest video game, time spent reading both fiction and non-fiction is time spent enriching the mind. Have you ever read a great novel, and later watched the same thing as a movie? Is the movie EVER as good as the book? I don’t know about you, but my imagination is richer than anything I’ve ever witnessed on screen. It’s an imagination finely developed by years of reading enjoyment.

Parents and grandparents can make reading meaningful and memorable for children by suggesting reading about topics that augment family trips, outdoor hobbies, exploring nature or gardening, Kristo says. Connect books to long or short family trips ahead of time and find books about the places they’ll visit – the ocean, other states or countries, for instance, she says.

“Link books to what children may study in the back yard, from ants to bees, to planting a garden, and visit your local library for great book suggestions that capitalize on your child’s interests,” Kristo adds. “Read together as a family, and read aloud.”

CDs of children’s books from the library also can make long rides in the car educational experiences, she says. Other ideas include having a lunch break with children to share children’s poetry, a book of jokes and riddles, or a book of facts. Planning a book party for friends, where each child brings a book to share, is another way to inspire reading. Adults can help children prepare a food that goes along with the book, and children can come to the party dressed as a character from the book.

Also, adds Kristo, “let your children catch you reading. It’s contagious.”

Kristo recommends the following 2009 titles.

Books for Very Young Children

• Read It, Don’t Eat It! by Ian Schoenherr, a delightfully funny book about the proper way to treat a book;
• Wombat Walkabout by Carol Diggory Shields, illustrations by Sophie Blackall, a fun counting poem, complete with a glossary of Australian words in the book;
• A Very Curious Bear by Tony Mitton, illustrations by Paul Howard, a story of Big Bear and Little Bear taking a walk, with Little Bear’s never-ending questions about everything along the way.

Books for Young Children and Up to Age 9

• Posy by Linda Newbery, illustrations by Catherine Rayner, about an adventurous day with Posy, a kitten;
• Once Upon a Saturday by Leslie Lammle, about June, who wants to have adventures all day, but first must tend to all her chores, so she looks at her chores as adventures;
• The Underground Gators by Tina Casey, illustrations by Lynn Munsinger, a hilarious story with illustrations about alligators in the sewers of New York City, complete with an author’s note about this urban legend;
• The Plot Chickens Mary Jane and Herm Auch, about Henrietta, the star of Souperchicken, who entertains readers by sharing her enthusiasm for books and the “eggshilarating” experience of creating her own.

Books for Older Readers

• Waggit Again by Peter Howe, a sequel to Waggit’s Tale, the story of Waggit, determined as ever to rejoin the team of dogs he considers his real family in Central Park after trusting a person and being taken far away;
• Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking, and Other Natural Disasters by Lenore Look, about a little boy who is afraid of everything, and now his dad is taking him camping;
• Wild River by P.J. Peterson, about Ryan, a 12-year-old who’s more interested in video games then athletics, and experiences a frightening kayaking trip down the Boulder River;
• Faith, Hope, and Ivy June by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, about two seventh-grade girls from Kentucky who participate in a student exchange program and share their different homes and communities with one another;
• T-Minus: The Race to the Moon by Jim Ottaviani, Zander Cannon and Kevin Cannon, a graphic novel and fascinating historical and fictional account of the countdown to send the first men to the moon.

Some suggested nonfiction titles:

• Cat by Matthew Van Fleet, photographs by Brian Stanton, an over-sized interactive board book with flaps, pull tabs to showcase photographs of different breeds of cats in a variety of situations (For toddlers and young children);
• What Can You Do with an Old Red Shoe?: A Green Activity Book About Reuse by Anna Alter teaches young children, assisted by adults, to create new things from throw-away household objects (Ages 4-7);
• Don’t Lick the Dog: Making Friends with Dogs by Wendy Wahman, a delightfully illustrated picture book sharing important messages about what young children need to know about approaching new dogs (Ages 4-8);
• You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?! by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Andre Carrilho, a visually graphic picture book biography depicting Sandy Koufax’s rise to fame as the greatest lefty baseball pitcher (Ages 4-9)
• A Young Dancer: The Life of an Ailey Student by Valerie Gladstone, photographs by Jose Ivey, a beautifully photographed essay of a 13-year-old African-American girl, a gifted dancer training at the famous Ailey School in New York City (Age 7 and up);
• Mermaid Queen: The Spectacular True Story Of Annette Kellerman, Who Swam Her Way To Fame, Fortune & Swimsuit History! by Shana Corey, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham, an excellent picture book biography of Australian Annette Kellerman, a frail child born in 1886, who became a record-setting swimmer, movie star, and even designed a bathing suit for women that broke with the style of the times (Ages 7-12);
• How Weird Is It? A Freaky Book All About Strangeness by Ben Hillman, an over-sized book features two-page photographs of strange phenomena and descriptions. (Age 10 and up);
• Butterflies And Moths by Nic Bishop, an exquisitely photographed collection of butterfly images and interesting text about them. Also see Bishop’s other titles, Spiders and Frogs (All ages);
• And Crocodile Safari by nature writer Jim Arnosky, about a trip to the Everglades to research alligators; included is a DVD depicting Arnosky researching and sketching crocodiles (All ages).

This article is from The University of Maine, UMaine News.

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