5 Summer Reading Tips

As summer quickly approaches I wanted to share one more quote from The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease.

"How can you prevent the traditional summer reading gap? Research gives little support to traditional summer school but a great deal to summer reading—reading to the child and reading by the child."

Children who read at least five (5) books in the summer are more likely to start school in the fall ready to learn. Whereas children who do not read over the summer actually lose the reading gains they made the previous year.

Need motivation to keep your kid(s) reading during the summer? Here are five tips:

1. Set aside a time each week to regularly go to the library. If your library offers a summer reading program (most do), sign-up with your kid(s) and work together to met your reading goals. My daughter isn't two yet and we've already completed half of our 25 summer reading tasks!

2. Pack a reading picnic, where you take books about food and read the books during/after you eat. Can I Eat That? by Joshua David Stein and Julia Rothman is great for this.

3. Set aside time each day when your family can read together or on their own. Set a timer for 20 minutes and pile into cozy chairs or lounge outside in a hammock.

4. Take a reading vacation together! Gabrielle Blair from @designmom talks about her family's experience doing this (complete with itinerary) on her website.

5. Add variety to your regular routine. Try lift-the-flap, wordless, or seek-and-find books. Audiobooks are another great option to keep kids excited about reading. Above are six of our current read-aloud favorites.

For more read-aloud inspiration check out the #littlelitbookseries on Instagram and be sure to check back this Friday (June 3), as we share our favorite summer themed picture books.

The Read-Aloud Handbook

Of all the parenting books in the library I'd argue that The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease is really the only parenting book you need. In fact I've written about it before. My copy was gifted to me at my baby shower and I've referenced it numerous times in the last couple years. A combination of research, personal anecdotes, and read-aloud suggestions (yes, actual book lists) make this book both informative and practical for any adult that reads to children.

If you don't have time to read the book in its entirety, follow along with #littlelitbookseries today on Instagram for key highlights and salient quotes.

"Reading is like riding a bicycle, driving a car, or sewing: In order to get better at it you must do it. And the more you read, the better you get at it. The past thirty years of reading research confirms this simple formula, regardless of gender, race, nationality, or socioeconomic background. Students who read the most also read the best, achieve the most, and stay in school the longest.”

A Conversation with Tee & Penguin

One of the best things about finding like-minded picture book lovers is gushing over some of our favorite stories and discovering new books together. Plus I LOVE having an arsenal of favorite picture books at the ready to give at baby showers or kids' birthday parties. I'm pretty certain that fostering reading with beautiful books is one of the best parts of parenthood! On that note, I'm delighted to be featured over at Tee & Penguin today.

What are 3 ways you foster reading in your home?

Like a lot of new parents I read a TON of board books to my daughter during those first several months. By the time she was ten-months-old I needed some variety, so I started reading picture books to her while she ate lunch. This made the dining experience much more enjoyable for both of us. Now my husband and I take turns reading to her during lunch and it’s one of my favorite parts of the day.

Each week we go to two different storytimes. Depending on the week we either go to the history museum, library, bookstore, or the local animal adoption center. This routine has been a great way to introduce my daughter to reading in new environments. Not to mention the interactivity of these experiences helps her connect reading to something that’s an enjoyable activity.

Lastly, we foster reading in our home by making books available and accessible. Meaning that we have books in every room of the house and in our car. All three of us have our own bookshelf and we have two designated library totes that get a lot of use!

What 10 picture books do you think every home library should have?

Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse
Knuffle Bunny
A Sick Day for Amos McGee
Snow (by Uri Shulevitz)
A wordless picture book (SO many that I love)
The Tea Party in the Woods
Dragons Love Tacos
Max Deluxe 
A Frank Asch book (again, so many great ones)
The Little Prince (although it’s not really a picture book, I couldn’t leave it off the list)

If you had to pick your top 5 favorite illustrators who would they be?

Hopefully I’m not cheating by answering this question with a couple individuals that wear both hats of author and illustrator. Obviously this is a trick question, because there are too many talented illustrators to choose just five.

Christian Robinson
Julie Flett
Zachariah OHora
Tomi Ungerer
Molly Idle

What did your parents do to promote reading in your childhood home?

I have vivid memories of my mom reading a Childcraft book of Poems and Rhymes to me growing up and I’m lucky enough to have inherited that special book. I also appreciate that I was never made to feel bad for anything I was reading, even though some of my 5th grade reading choices were pretty abysmal. Finally, as a child, I loved bringing home those newspaper-like Scholastic book order forms on a regular basis. And even though I may have wanted to order a dozen books every month, my mom always made sure I was able to order at least one or two. Thereby fostering my love of reading and enabling me to grow my own little childhood paperback collection. I wish I still had some of those books. Then again, would I really re-read The Babysitters Club as an adult?

What are you reading right now with your kids?

We’ve been on a poetry kick lately, which has been fun to read bite-sized vignettes to our little girl. Some of our favorites include The Pet Project, Lemonade (or anything by Bob Raczka), and Stories from Bug Garden. Our other recent favorites are Let’s Go to the Hardware Store and The Bear and the Piano.

What are you reading right now for yourself?

Currently I’m reading two nonfiction books: Rising Strong and Bad Feminist; while my husband and I are reading Crucial Conversations together. I also just started reading Pax to have something a little lighter in the mix.

What are your favorite places to shop for books?

I have a love/hate relationship with Amazon, but still, it’s where I end up purchasing most of the children’s books in our home. Also, I try to hit up our local library sale every year because it’s massive and has much better pricing. You can find similar sales here. Lastly, I’ve been purchasing more books from museum gift shops lately, because they offer well-designed and unique selections that are hard to find elsewhere.

Do you have a favorite children's Christmas book? If so, what is it?

Great question! I’ve actually collected children’s Christmas books since I was in college. Which means I have several beloved favorites. How can you not? However, I absolutely adore Red Ranger Came Calling. It’s best for ages 4+, but I’ve been known to read it aloud at holiday Christmas parties.