OH! The place you can go when you read a good book! Keep your kiddos reading this summer. Take them to your local library to check out books, or join their summer reading program (hopefully they have one!). Many libraries and book stores have story hours where a guest or an author will read a favorite book AND most of these story hours are free. I also found a great summer reading program with Barnes and Noble.

Can’t find a program? Here are some ideas:

1- Start a book club. Even the younger readers like to share a good book they’ve read with others, especially if they have read the book too.
2- Take a favorite children’s book and turn it into a puppet show or a skit.
3- Is there an activity that could go along with a favorite book?  Remember the story Stone Soup? Gather the kids and read it, then create your own stone soup. (I have done this with my own kids and they loved it!)
4- Have a book reading contest. See who can read the most books in a week. If older kids are involved, make it more about who read the most pages.
5- Do any of the books you have read talk about real places? Why not look on a map where they are located and learn about the place.
6- Is the book about a real person who is still living or has died? Go online and learn more about them. With the Internet, I went online with my kids and looked for photos of Laura Ingalls Wilder to see what she looked like, Helen Keller too. It was fun and made the person even more real for my kids.
7- Write a different ending to a book.
8- Write your own version of a favorite book and maybe from the perspective from one of the other characters.

I think you get the idea. Be creative and turn a book into a real adventure! Reading can take you and your kids on an adventure, but what you do with the story after you have read it is where a whole new adventure begins. Go for it and have fun!

May I recommend some of my books?

I write both Young Adult novels and Children’s books (some are FREE). Here are the links:

untamed dreamsare you smart?hey! all kids are smart