Summer Reading July 2017 is going splendidly in our house. We are reading so many great books together as a family and everyone is working on something independently.
This post is part of a series of posts where we share what we are reading each month. We hope that you will get some inspiration for your reading and reading with your children.
Free Book from Barnes and Noble
First, I finally got around to reading my son’s end of the year teacher letter. It got set aside after kindergarten graduation. Then we were off to the cabin and it got buried. Okay, so what I just read got me really excited: free books for my kids for reading! Apparently, Barnes and Noble has a summer reading incentive. If your child reads eight books and he or she (or you) writes down the titles, authors and favorite part, and you take that journal to Barnes and Noble before September 5, 2017, your child will get to pick out a book (from a list). Unfortunately, this is only for grades 1-6, but if you have kids that fall into that category, be sure to take advantage of this one!
My Summer Reading July 2017
I mentioned in my initial Summer Reading 2017 post that I was looking forward to reading Eowyn Ivey’s new book, To the Bright Edge of the World. And it is everything I hoped it would be. The story is super engaging. It takes place in the late 1880s on the Western Frontier of Vancouver and Alaska. Husband and wife each narrate their own stories. Allen is mapping new frontier on the Wolverine River of Alaska for the army and Sophie is left behind on base in Vancouver. Both write journals of their experiences that are compelling and at times, heart wrenching. Ivey is an excellent story-teller. She effortlessly switches between the two narrators, and just like Snow Child, she incorporates elements of mythology and magical realism into the tale.
Sunshine’s Summer Reading July 2017
Sunshine is devouring books this summer. A little bit on her own and a lot together. She read the three Chicken Squad (Doreen Cronin) books out loud to me and The Boy. They are easy for her to read, so they helped to boost her confidence. She can’t pick a favorite among the three books that we read: Chicken Squad: The First Misadventure, The Case of the Weird Blue Chicken and Into the Wild. The Boy favors the second book, The Case of the Weird Blue Chicken, which we actually read twice!
Independently, she is reading Frannie K. Stein, Mad Scientist: Fantastic Voyage. I really enjoyed watching her bring this book to the beach to read at times when she needed a little rest from the roughness of the boys.
Her favorite book so far has to be The Door to Andara. This book was a gift from her reading teaching, whom the kids call Mrs. J. Smith because there is another Mrs. Smith in the building. Mrs. J. Smith’s husband, David R. Smith, is also a teacher and he is also the author of several children’s books. Throughout the school year, Mrs. J. Smith read several of her husband’s books to her second grade group. At the end of the year, she gave each child a personalized and autographed copy. Sunshine was super excited to get the book and get started on it.
Even on nights when she is so tired she can barely climb into bed, she wants to hear a chapter or two. We are pretty nearly done. I, too, am looking forward to finding our just what happens in the parallel world of Andara where Nate and Annalyn must use their twin powers to save Andara (and possibly earth, too) from the evil Morloch.
The Boy’s Summer Reading July 2017
Reading to and with The Boy is sometimes a challenge, but we have found a few favorites to keep his attention. He did great with The Chicken Squad books. So I think we will move on to the fourth book in the series: Dark Shadows: Another Misadventure. The chickens are super quirky and the story is filled with irony which is a great skill to help kids develop. We are also reading and enjoying the first book in The Adirondack Kids series. The second book, The Adirondack Kids: Rescue on Bald Mountain is in our queue.
In the picture book zone, we are reading The Great Gracie Chase (Cynthia Rylant) and the new Pout-Pout Fish Book: The Pout-Pout Fish, Far, Far From Home (Deborah Diesen) As we read these books, The Boy “helps.” I read along with my finger on the words until I come to a sight word that I know he knows. Then it is his turn and he read his words. Occasionally, I try to add a word to his repertoire like we added “dog” with The Great Gracie Chase.
Coming Up
We are always looking ahead to what we will read next. I have my eye on a couple of additional Doreen Cronin chapter books about J.J. Tully who is a character in the Chicken Squad books. I don’t know if these are part of the series or a companion series, but J.J. Tully is a fun character in the Chicken Squad books: a retired search and rescue dog. The first book is J.J. Tully: The Trouble with Chickens and it is on our list for August.
Sunshine has started another series: The Cobble Street Cousins by Cynthia Rylant. These books have been on our shelves for a while and I’ve had trouble convincing her to read them because the cover is not as flashy as some of the other series we have. I forced her to start the first book the other day: In Aunt Lucy’s Kitchen and she is totally hooked. It’s about three cousins who are living with their Aunt Lucy while their parents are on the road for work. In the first book, the girls start a cookie business In Aunt Lucy’s Kitchen. Like the Chicken Squad books, these are easy for her to read so they add to her fluency and confidence.
Your Turn
So tell me, what are you and your children enjoying this summer? We would love to hear what you are reading.
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