Stand Back:  Heroes (No Villains) Land in Your Library for Summer

Children's Summer Reading Program YA

Do you remember the glorious childhood feeling of the last day of school? Walking out of your classroom with your face to the sun, eager to explore a whole summer of swimming, biking, and…reading! Wait, reading?

Studies show that children who don’t read or who read rarely over the summer stagnate or decline in their reading skills. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Consider these studies:

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Summer Reading Now and Then

Kids Summer Reading Books and Authors

By Debra Kirby

With summer fast approaching and news related to educational standards, common core, and the increasing need for students to focus on reading skills to meet the demands of the 21st century, educators and parents will be looking for ways to keep student skill levels high over the long break. A summer reading list is one way to meet that goal. Helping spark a child’s interest in reading and keep them reading through the summer, and hopefully for life, often hinges on finding the right book – one that will draw them in and introduce them to the wider world waiting to be discovered.

With that background, being part of the editorial teams responsible for the Books and Authors and the What Do I Read Next? (print and ebook) series of products has been especially gratifying, but somewhat frustrating too. Editors who work on this series make ample use of these resources to create their own personalized reading lists. For example, last summer, I used the targeted search features of Books and Authors to find what I felt would be the perfect book to take on vacation to Mackinac Island. By searching on “Romantic Suspense,” “Island” and “New England,” I was able to find the perfect light summer reading.

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