Wrap Up Summer With A Good Book
As summer winds down, take a break from the heat and spend some time at your local library or bookstore. We’ve supplied book recommendations, and each list, organized according to grade level, contains suggestions for wonderful, recently released children’s books. Below you will find some suggestions of fun activities to help your students grow as readers, using their summer reading books.
There is nothing wrong with children reading just for the sake of enjoying a good book. If you are looking to engage your children in an activity or two to help them grow as a reader, you may enjoy the following projects:
- Younger children will have a great time putting on a puppet show as a method of retelling the story. Allow them to choose the characters, as a way to practice identifying the main characters, and to retell the story in their own way, as a way to practice summarizing. Creating the puppets and backdrops makes this a fun, hands-on way to practice important reading comprehension skills.
- Older students may appreciate the opportunity to take on the personality of one character in a book. Allow them to explore their creative side and build technology skills by writing a mock blog from the perspective of a favorite character. This will encourage children to explore aspects of character development.
- Write a book review. Online booksellers are great sources of book reviews. Spend some time reading through the reviews of books your children have read, and encourage them to write their own review of a book. If you feel it is appropriate, help them publish their reviews online. This is a great way to help students think critically about the stories they read.
- Write a sequel or prequel. Children are often enamored of favorite characters from a book. Encourage your students to explore their thoughts about what might have happened before or after the stories they read. This is a nice way to grow skills in predicting as well as explore story elements.
- Create a book jacket. Children are often drawn to a book based upon the cover art. Ask your children to think about creating new covers for favorite books. They can focus on favorite scenes, important events, etc., that would draw other children to the story. Older children should be encouraged to write a summary of the book to be included on the back or a flap of a book jacket.
Pre-Kindergarten-First Grade
Gilbert Goldfish Wants a Pet by Kelly DiPucchio: Gilbert has almost everything his fishy heart could desire: a castle, a chest filled with treasure, and food that falls from the sky. But there’s one thing missing from his life: a pet. So Gilbert begins the exciting search for the perfect fishbowl companion.
The Day Dirk Yeller Came to Town by Mary Casanova: When Dirk Yeller scours the town for something to stop his itchin’ and twitchin’ and jumpin’ and rattlin’, no one seems able to help. Sam, who’s been following Dirk all day—and who can sometimes be a little fidgety, too—knows the perfect solution.
A Sick Day for Amos McGee, the 2011 Caldecott Medal winner illustrated by Erin E. Stead, written by Philip C. Stead, tells the story of zookeeper Amos McGee who gets the sniffles and receives a surprise visit from his caring animal friends.
We Are in a Book! by Mo Willems: Elephant and Piggie realize that their trademark blank background is, in fact, a page, and the pair has a blast convincing the reader to say funny things out loud—until Piggie mentions that the book will soon end. A 2011 Geisel Award Honor Book.
Second-Third Grade
Grandpa Green by Lane Smith: The tale follows Grandpa Green’s great-grandson into a garden he created, a fantastic world where memories are handed down in the fanciful shapes of topiary trees and imagination recreates things forgotten.
Postcards from Camp by Simms Taback: A charming story featuring postcards and funny letters that readers will enjoy pulling out of their envelopes. Michael is new to sleepaway camp, and it’s not going so well. He thinks his counselor is an alien, his bunkmates are pranksters, and it’s constantly raining. So he sends his dad a series of urgent notes pleading for rescue.
Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave, a 2011 Caldecott Medal Honor Book by Laban Carrick Hill that shares the life of a skilled potter who lived and died a slave in 19th-century South Carolina. Dave’s story is told in simple, powerful sentences that outline the making of a pot.
Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee: Three short stories sharing the adventures of two odd-couple friends who know the true meaning of friendship. Winner of the 2011 Geisel Award.
Fourth-Fifth Grade
The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson: Based upon a true event, Larson shares the story of Miss Kanagawa, a doll sent as an ambassador of friendship from Japan, as she passes through the lives of four girls.
Under the Mambo Moon by Julia Durango: Marisol helps out in Papi’s music store. As customers come and go, they share memories of the Latin music and dance of their various homelands, expressed in a wondrous array of poetry.
Candy Bomber: Story of the Berlin Airlift’s Chocolate Pilot by Michael O. Tunnell: This is the story of the Cold War soldier who made a difference during the 1948 Berlin Airlift by dropping candy from his airplane to children waiting below.
When Life Gives You O.J. by Erica S. Perl: For years, 10-year-old Zelly Fried has tried to convince her parents to let her have a dog. But when her eccentric grandfather, Ace, hatches a ridiculous plan involving a “practice dog” named OJ, Zelly’s not so sure how far she’s willing to go to earn a dog of her own.
Middle School/Sixth-Eighth Grade
Wildwood, by Colin Meloy, is a classic fantasy novel that is a spellbinding tale full of wonder, danger, and magic that juxtaposes the thrill of a secret world and modern city life.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick: Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. When his world suddenly collides with an eccentric girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo’s undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy.
Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus: A 2011 Newbery Honor Book based upon true events, tells the story of 14 year-old Manjiro and his fellow fishermen who find refuge on a remote island after a storm destroys their ship. When they are rescued by an American whaleboat captain and given the chance to return home with him, Manjiro accepts the offer. His encounters a land that he has been taught is barbaric and his subsequent efforts to return to Japan shape him into an admirable character.
Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool: In this 2011 Newbery Medal winner, 12-year-old Abilene can’t understand why her father has sent her away to Manifest, Missouri, a town he left years earlier; but over the summer she pieces together his story. In 1936, Manifest is a town worn down by the Depression, but it is more welcoming to newcomers than it was in 1918, when it was a conglomeration of coal-mining immigrants who were kept apart by habit, company practice, and prejudice. Abilene quickly finds friends and uncovers a local mystery.
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett: This story mixes mystery, puzzles, possibilities, and art. Set in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, outsiders Petra and Calder become friends as they try to find out what happened to a missing Vermeer painting.