Watts: Keep kids reading in summer
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TD Summer Reading Club is Canada's biggest, bilingual summer reading program for kids of all ages, all interests, and all abilities. This free program is offered at 2,000 public libraries across Canada, including here in Greater Sudbury. The Club celebrates Canadian authors, illustrators and stories, and inspires kids to explore the fun of reading their way. This is key to building a lifelong love of reading. Programs have been taking place for the past seven weeks across the local community as part of this initiative and will continue for another week.
Parents can still bring their kids into any local library branch to pick up a free notebook and stickers to track ongoing reading, to talk to library staff about books and to discover great programming and reading adventures. Studies show that kids who keep reading during the summer do better when they return to school in the fall. TD Summer Reading Club is a great way to keep them engaged and there is still time to take advantage of the last few weeks of summer. Looking for a rainy day activity? There is an online element to the reading club that allows kids to register online to write jokes, stories and book reviews to share with other kids across Canada.
The TD Summer Reading Club develops a top recommended reads list every year. These Canadian children's books have been carefully chosen to keep your kids entertained during their summer reading adventures:
Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family's Journey by Margriet Ruurs is geared to ages 6-10. In this dual-language picture book (English and Arabic) a young girl and her family are forced to flee their once-peaceful village to escape the civil war and make their way toward safety in Europe.
A Boy Named Queen by Sara Cassidy is geared to ages 8-12. A powerful and gentle story about an unlikely friendship between Evelyn and the new kid at school, Queen.
Sea Change by Frank Viva is geared to ages 8-12. Eliot's parents ship him to Nova Scotia for the summer and the trip changes his life forever.
A Family is a Family is a Family by Sara O'Leary is geared to ages 5-7. No matter its makeup or size, your family is a family, and perhaps not as unusual as you think.
My Heart Fills with Happiness by Monique Gray Smith is geared to ages 0-4. Beautiful illustrations show that simple pleasures like fresh-baked bannock and walking barefoot through grass can fill us with joy.
Make reading a part of your children's lives. Here are some tips from Canadian librarians:
- Read for fun, and let kids choose what to read.
- Read anywhere, anytime, and anything.
- Be a family of readers. Read together and read aloud.
- Start young. It's never too early (or too late) to read with your children.
- Visit the library often. Find new books to always keep things interesting.
-- Jessica Watts is co-ordinator of outreach programs and partnerships at the Greater Sudbury Public Library.