Summer Journaling

I’ve got another literacy tip to keep your child practicing their literacy skills in a fun way this summer.  Practicing their writing skills sounds like a chore but remembering the fun parts of the day can be appealing!  If you add taking pictures or drawing that makes it even better.

It’s not too late to encourage your child to keep a summer journal.  This is a good discipline that will strengthen writing skills and create a record of the summer.  Have them write one fun thing that they did that day or something funny that happened that day. They can draw pictures in the journal or add photographs.  Keep a journal yourself and share journal entries.  It’s a nice way to look back on the day together and talk about the good parts of your day.  These journals are also fun to go back and read in later years!

Reading is fun. Especially in the summer!

Keeping reading fun for kids through the summer  can be a challenge, but kids have a chance to do more leisure reading in the summer and you can take advantage of this.  They can read just for the fun of it and on any topic they choose!

Try making a weekly trip to the library together and let your child pick out books.  They may have interest in books that are too difficult for them to read on their own, but their interest can be a big motivator.  Try reading these books together.  Share the task and talk about the book together to ensure that they are understanding the content.  They also may pick books that are very easy for them.  This is not all bad.  Such books may give them confidence in their reading abilities.  Is there a younger child that they could share the book with?  

Even if your child is not reading yet, picking out their own books can be fun.  You can always sort out anything you might think is inappropriate before actually checking them out.  For many kids this is like going into a candy store and they can pick out whatever candy they want.  Yes, they do need some oversight!  

While you’re at the library pick out some books to read with your child at bedtime!  Don't forget that chapter books are great at bedtime for older children.  Read one or two chapters each night.  This is a good opportunity for the child to “re-cap” what has happened previously in the story before beginning each night.  Bedtime reading is great at any age.  We all want to know what’s going to happen next. I love being read to at nighttime and I’m not so young!  Is it bedtime yet??

Mix some reading into your Summer travels!

In my June 25 post I encouraged everyone to join one of our summer reading programs.  There are actually programs for everyone 0 – 100 years old  ... and older! 

Registering your child in a summer reading program is just one way that you can help them avoid the ”summer slide” where a child can actually lose reading skills if those skills are not exercised over the summer months.

There are other fun ways to keep them reading.  I’m planning to post some of my ideas on this topic in the coming weeks.  I am hoping you find some of the tips useful and fun!

Traveling this summer?  Check out a few books first.  We have books on Michigan and all the other states, other countries, wildlife, fishing, camping, bugs, outdoor sports, and much more.  This can make your trip more meaningful.  It may spark some latent interests!  Make it a family adventure and learn together.

Not traveling this summer?  Check out a few books and do some armchair travelling with your child!  You can go anywhere your imagination takes you!  Ancient Egypt, modern day China, France, Hawaii, Mars ...  You can even pick the weather!  This can be great fun.  Draw pictures of where you have traveled and write letters home to tell everyone about your activities and what a great time you are having!  Maybe you can even build a vehicle together for your travels.  Just imagine…..

Tom Rademacher at Herrick District Library!!

Our second author visit of the summer is but a week away!  Tom Rademacher, local legend of newspaper fame and master storyteller of the people around us, will be speaking on Tuesday night (that's the 16th) at 7:00 in the auditorium at the downtown library.
In case you aren't familiar with his work, Tom has written two books, Splitting Wood and Knocking at Your Door. His writing is best known for engagingly profiling stories of Western Michiganders both struggling and soaring--you might even find your neighbors featured in his work.
Mr. Rademacher's reputation for being a showman precedes him as we are told that he not only reads from his work, he is also a masterful harmonica player, forever ready to exhibit his talent!  Join us for the fun!
Tom will be available for signing after his talk, and his books will be available for sale the night of his talk.
See you there!

It's not too late!

Registrations for the children and teens reading programs will be available for most of the summer on our website or at the library.  We would like to encourage you to register your child, or set some reading goals for him/her, to help them keep their reading skills strong over the summer.  Make it fun! 

Story times continue through the summer and we are also offering some great special programs including a visit from the Traveling John Ball Zoo, Kalamazoo Nature Center, and Drummunity.  Get the details on our website or stop by to pick up an events calendar!

Time to Read Aloud!

Need any more convincing about reading out loud to your kids?  Take a look at this....

I copied this from Nancy Ann's Blog, and she's got the right idea!  I, for one, am headed home to construct some bookshelves in my son's bathroom.

Happy Reading, y'all--remember to share it!

Keep ‘em Reading!

Do you have a child who hasn’t discovered how much fun it can be to read a good book?  Do they find reading a chore?  We have a a few programs designed to help them through the summer and keep them reading!  Both programs require preregistration.

Reading Buddies is a program where a young reader is paired with an older reading buddy (teen or adult) and they read and share books together once a week at the library.   

Growing Bookworms is a program designed to reinforce math and phonics skills for children going into 1st and 2nd grades.  We will read stories together and have fun with games and puzzles to review some basic skills.

Find out more and sign up on our website here, call the children’s department at 616-355-3736, or stop by and we would be happy to help you in person.

Note: We are still looking for a few more older reading partners for the Reading Buddies program.  Sign up here!

Get a Jump on Summer Reading!

Beginning Saturday, June 1, you can sign up and print out the reading charts right on our website!  This is a first for us!  We don’t officially start the programs until June 10 but children and teens will be able to get an early start and avoid waiting in line to register in person. Try it out and let us know what you think!

You can begin signing up for the reading programs in person at the library beginning June 10 or at our big kick-off party for the younger kids at Centennial Park on Tuesday, June 11.  See our website for details.

Can't make it on June 11?  Worry not.  We register kids for the reading programs through much of the summer.  Join us and register when you can, either on-line or here at the library! 

Read with Kids this Summer!

Do you like to read with kids?  Check out our 8-week Reading Buddies program for the summer!

We pair teens or adults with young readers, they meet weekly, and enjoy books together!  What could be better??  It’s great fun for all involved and it keeps the kids practicing their reading skills through the summer.

There are always loads of children who sign up for this but we would like to tap into more “big” buddies.    We have even added an evening session for those of you that work days.  We don’t like turning youngsters away! 

There is one required orientation session to show you some techniques to use as a reading partner.  Teens can pick up an application for this program in the Teen Department at the Main Library or at the North Side Branch. Teen applications are due by May 24.  Adults can sign up on our website here beginning May 13.

If you are interested in similar opportunities throughout the year you may want to consider becoming a Literacy Hero.  We begin our next training sessions on May 14.  Sign up here.

Summer Reading, Redux

And then I have to ask myself, what could you possibly need me for?

Via Teach.com and USC Rossier Online

Is anyone else just a little bit tempted to get this tattooed somewhere?

Summer Reading Lists: The Biggies

Remember last week when I mentioned that ever news media source is going to come around to publishing a Summer Reading list?  Here's two of the big ones:

The Sunday Book Review for the New York Times released their list this weekend, which is surprisingly light on fiction. It did, however, come with this snazzy artwork that I cheerfully borrowed for this blog post.

The L.A. Times, on the other hand, brought out a veritable party of every sort of reading delineation you could possibly imagine!  And it's so pretty...  No really--lots of covers, book review links, the works!

Happy Reading!

Summer Reading Lists -- An Intriguing Spin

Hey--remember that thing I promised I would do?  The thing where I compile the Summer Reading lists for you?  Here's one I've decided I love!

Library Journal is a magazine near and dear to my heart--read it every month, thought about naming my son after it (not really, but I wanted to make sure you were paying attention).  Anyway, they made this nifty reading list that pairs new books released for summer 2012 with titles that are a couple years older.  Got a book you love from five years ago?  It could well be on the list, paired with a new book released for this summer.  Cool, huh?

Happy Reading!

Newly Notable...literally by the dozens....

It's that time of year, folks--as surely as the snow eventually melts and there is a last day of school looming in the near future, a plethora of school spring concerts and performances begin racking up, most news media organizations will publish a Summer Reading List.

As they begin to trickle in, here are a few of my favorites...

NPR's list is a perennial favorite of mine--the recommendations are typically made by independant booksellers who are near and dear to my heart (thank you, best college job ever!!!).

The Wall Street Journal is always worth a look--they tend to nab a number of the books whose reviews I find intriguing.

Also worth checking out is USA Today's funky new format, and a newcomer to my radar, Good Housekeeping, which has some very promising sounding listings. 

Happy Reading!

Find Your Perfect Personal Summer Read!

Still searching for the perfect beach read?

Check out this snazzy toy courtesy of the folks at Oprah.com! It's a Summer Reading List generator! Tell them what you want, what sorts of things you like, and vwa-la! It gives you a reading list!

Beach days are sneaking away quickly--make sure to cache in on as much summer reading time as possible!

More Summer Reading...

If you're still creating the perfect summer reading list (some of us will still be doing that in October), NPR has weighed in on the issue as has The Daily Beast's Book Beast. And surely these are only lists two and three of a multitude to come, so if you are already overwhelmed, here's my recommendation: either cancel all your plans and spend the entire summer reading every book recommended on every list (my ideal plan) or look for the common listings.
Then give your friendly librarians a call and ask us to put the titles on hold for you! And rest assured that as more Summer Must Read lists become available, you'll be able to find them right here. Happy Reading!

What are you reading this summer?

Hey Everybody! Here comes Memorial Day!!!
Know what that means to us? The beginning of Beach Read Season!
And as much as I would love to read every new book on the market and give you a synopsis and honest review of all of them... Fortunately for me, the Los Angeles Times has done it for me.
Check out this awesome set of lists for almost every sort of book you can think of! Then give us a call and we'll be glad to help you get your hands on them--just in time for beach season!