Every summer at our house, the boys enthusiastically look forward to Daddy’s Super Summer Reading List.  The boys enjoy reading, and the Summer List is a great way to help them broaden their genre horizons.  (What, not another Goosebumps?!)  At the end of the summer, the boys earn a prize for having finished their lists—sometimes it’s a gift certificate to Barnes & Noble or our local bookstore; sometimes it’s a fun day hiking, biking, and getting ice cream with dad; once it was a trip to an amusement park!

In addition to Dad’s prize, kids can often earn prizes from bookstores.

At Barnes & Noble, for example, kids can win a free book by reading 8 books during the summer.  As kids read, they fill out the Barnes & Noble Reading Journal.  When they turn it in between 5/24 – 9/6, kids can choose a free book from the Barnes & Noble list (on the back of the Reading Journal form).  The books are for kids in grades 1-6, and include Stanley, Flat Again; The Batboy; and Gregor the Overlander.   In the 3-4 grade range, they have La telaraña de Carlota (Charlotte’s Web),a perfect choice for your little Spanish reader!

This isn’t a Barnes & Noble promo, however.  Lots of local bookstores and libraries have summer reading programs.  Our library lets kids earn coupons for free candy and toys at local businesses, where, of course, mom is likely to spend a few more dollars while the kids redeem their prize.  It’s a win for the kids, a win for local businesses, and mom gets some caramel popcorn.  Who could say no?

Interested in our book lists?  Here are the book lists for our boys at 5, 8 and 10-years-old.  Tomorrow, I’ll post the they boys’ book lists from when they were 4, 7, and 9 years old.

Happy Reading!