Lazy Days of Summer (Reading)

Help Kids "Read for Me" This Summer

Growing up, three things kicked off the summer for me: Mountain Dew commercials with the teens jumping into the lake (although to this day I have never even tasted Mountain Dew), the Country Time lemonade commercials, and any of the numerous Beach Boys songs (maybe that has something to do with my name being Barbara Ann). As a child, summer was a magical time. The days were endless and somehow there was always something to do despite the limited technology and screens that existed back in the '80s.

One of my favorite summer activities was going to the library. About once a week, I would ride my bike to the library, spend time exploring the various titles, check out at least 10 books (seriously!), and then ride home, anxious to read my new treasures. Almost every day during the summer I would read in the morning, sometimes for 30 minutes, often much longer. I would read in my bedroom, or sitting out by my pool, or even at a friend’s house. Some of my most favorite books were discovered during the summer. There was a difference to reading in the summer vs. during the school year. Summer reading was fun! It was adventurous! These were books chosen by me! No school report or paper to write. Just reading for the pleasure of it, reading for me.

Today, the world is more complicated than the summer days of my youth. There are more distractions competing for our time. More screens, more technology, both always on. And there are more scheduled activities: soccer camps, cheer camps, basketball camps, the list is endless. Unfortunately, summer reading for kids today often gets lost in the shuffle. But the good news is, it is easy to find again...just get books into the hands of kids! Access to books, and being able to choose their own books, is a key influencing factor for getting kids to read for pleasure.

There are numerous studies which highlight the benefit of summer reading for kids. Kids who read during the summer retain their skills better, keeping them from falling behind while out of school for three months. Reading allows for continued growth in vocabulary and comprehension, and it stimulates the mind and relaxes the body in ways no screen can.

Let's Get Started!

Here at ThriftBooks, we have put together a fun summer selection of kid books and activities for you to consider, including a whole section on Screen-Free Entertainment so that you can take some time to put the tablets away and bond while you play together with activity books and crafts. Additionally, we have our Children's Chapters content to also explore. Personally, I love books series for kids as they are a built in way to keep the kids reading. The characters become more relatable as kids experience them in various adventures, and reading a book in a series helps to develop a child's sense of curiosity and ability to think forward about what could happen or is about to happen.

We have also created our free Summer Reading Challenge printable worksheet. Easy to download, print, and have your child color in a book spine for every 20 minutes of reading. Share a copy of your progress with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and at the end of June, July and August we will select several submissions and give away some ThriftBooks gift cards to keep the reading going!

Putting Books Into the Hands of Readers

One final note, back in November, on Giving Tuesday, ThriftBooks made a 20,000 book commitment to Barbershop Books to get books into the hands of vulnerable and low income children.

In April, we had our first distribution of these curated books to various communities across the country. The response has been very positive. In Springfield, VA, Susan Miller from the organization ECHO said, "It was like Christmas unpacking the books and seeing all of the wonderful titles!" They were able to include two books per enrichment package (pictured) which they distribute to low-income households or households facing temporary emergencies.

In Long Island, NY, the organization Zone 126 was able to distribute 100 books for free at their family food drive pantry. "As parents came to pick up their bag of nonperishable items and fruits and vegetables, we invited them to grab books for their children."

We'll continue to provide updates on our Barbershop Books partnership in the coming months.

Summer is the perfect time for us to encourage kids to embrace these months as their time to "read for me." Together let's make reading a memorable experience for our kids today so in 20 years they, too, can fondly recall it as a highlight of their lazy days of Summer.

Read more by Barbara Hagen