Summer Boredom Busters It's Monday, What Are You Reading? May, 19, 2014

Monday! What are you Reading is a meme began by Sheila at Book Journeys as a way to share what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and what is in store for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading. I first learned about it from Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers and have become a regular linked up blog. Thanks #PLN

Here are pics of some of the books I read this week but I mainly want to share ideas for 
2014 Summer Reading Programs. There are many more out there but these are available in my region.
READS this week:

See my reviews of Bug on a Bike and Julia's House for Lost Creatures HERE 

(release date: October 1, 2014)

LOVED IT! (release date October 14,2014)

 Found by Salina Yoon
While walking in the woods, Bear finds a floppy bunny who seems to be lost. He takes the little fella home and makes some Found posters and begins to search high and low for the bunny's family. It's hard to part with a new friend but Bear knows it's the right thing to do. This is a sweet little story about doing the right thing and the reward that can come from doing so. Loved it and thought of my friend Niki Barnes who is a fan of Salina Yoon books.

Peggy by Anna Walker
Peggy lived in a small house on a quiet street until one day a blustery wind swooped her away and off into an adventure in the city. Peggy saw new and interesting things but she missed her home. The clever and brave chicken uses her wits to follow a sunflower onto a train and out into the country where she soon finds herself back home with the help of some familiar pigeons.

The pages of Peggy are rich, thick, and creamy filled with witty images of things Peggy discovers on her windy adventure. One page in particular was quite striking-"Peggy saw things she had never seen before" appears to be a blend of water colors and photographs. I gazed at this page for a long time eventually laughing at Peggy appearing on several TV screens. You have to love this chicken! The strength of the story comes from its illustrations. The only awkwardness in the story (from a read aloud perspective) was that it seemed heavily edited cutting out wording that would have made the story flow better. 
 
Love Your Dog by Judith Heneghan

Colorful informational picture book detailing the care, feeding, training, and needs of a dog. Children will repond positively to the bright colorful format and photo illustrations that accompany the text. Book includes an index, glossary, additional web resources, and a "How well do you know dogs" quiz.

Summer “Boredom Busters” Reading Programs 2014

Local Library programs – Visit your local library for a great summer reading program!

Fizz Boom Read is the 2014 Public Library theme. Program help can be seen here: http://www.teachingbooks.net/show.cgi?f=cslp 

Here is a cute video I am partially using to introduce the program in my area. It was created by St. Tammany Parish Library.

http://youtu.be/hPki7YDFvjs  Fizz Boom Read commercial. So cute

Customize a Summer Reading Challenge at home:
Create-Your-Own Summer Reading Program with these printables:
http://www.prekinders.com/summerpacket/SummerBookBingo.pdf
http://www.howdoesshe.com/summer-reading-star-free-exclusive-printable
http://playfullearning.net/summer-reads-bingo/

Read for My Summer highlights a special book for you and your child to read online from the We Give Books library every week, along with fun activities and reading tips to make each book come to life, including custom activities from Read Write Think. This free 10-week program helps parents, schools and libraries offer children an exciting online reading experience, while helping to share books with public libraries in the US.           http://www.wegivebooks.org/give/summer  


Barnes and Noble Summer Reading - Read 8 books and submit the provided reading Journal for a free book from selected list. Form has choices for grades 1-6. Program ends 9/2/14. Kelsey, the local BN representative came out to my school to drop off a packet of reading logs and information.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/summer-reading/379003570/  

Half Price Books – Children ages 14 and under can earn a $5 gift card each month for reading 15 min/day in June and July.   http://hpb.com/fyb/

Chuck. E. Cheese's Reading Rewards Calendar - Redeem the reading certificate for 10 FREE tokens. Limit 1 free token offer per child, per day. Only at participating locations.   http://www.chuckecheese.com/_content...ds_RC_1213.pdf 
Additional rewards calendars:  http://www.chuckecheese.com/activities/rewards-calendar

Scholastic Summer Challenge - kids can log their reading time to win virtual rewards like book and audio chapters from kid favorites and virtual badges. http://www.scholastic.co/ups/campaigns/src-2014

Visit Scholastic The Stacks for more fun: http://www.scholastic.com/kids/stacks/

Book Adventure - free reading program from Sylvan Learning. Kids can take quizzes on books they've read to earn points for prizes.

http://www.bookadventure.com/home.aspx 

American Girl: This is more of an interactive web site that includes ideas, quizzes, and a list of upcoming store events.    http://www.americangirl.com/reading/
  
Pizza Hut Spark Your Greatness Summer Reading Challenge June 1-August 15, 2014. The Challenge incorporates reading with games, activities, printable materials, and a chance to win prizes.http://www.bookitprogram.com/summer/default.asp 

HEB Grocery Summer Reading This is a terrific program but they do not post the information until school is already out. http://www.hebuddy.com/content/pdf/readingclub.pdf

Have a wonderful reading week!