Summer Reading for Kids!

With summer right around the corner, it’s time to make sure that our children are busy and entertained while school is out!  In my house, I start each summer with high hopes that once a day we’ll have a “quiet reading” time when the kids and I explore the pages of fabulous novels.  And of course, the reality is that I can barely get them to read the two or three books required by their schools!

Finding Great Books for Children

My new thought is that maybe I just need better books to offer!  The lists provided by schools tend to be the same from year to year without a lot of updated selections.  But recently, I found a great website, sponsored by publisher Simon and Schuster which focuses on new releases for children, dividing the titles by both age and grade.  This is not to say that the classics aren’t well represented, but there are hundreds of book suggestions released in 2010 alone!

Consider Forming a Parent/Child Book Group

Another nice feature of this site are the many titles with reading group guides.  Summer is the perfect time to form a parent/child book group!  My daughter and I participated in a book group for years and found the experience exceptional on many levels.  Here are some easy online resources:

• Parent/Child Book Group – For advice on forming a book group involving your children, take a look at Busy Bee’s article on How to Grow a Great Book Group
• Reading Suggestions – Simon and Schuster’s extensive list of Reading Suggestions for Children
• Reading Group Guides – Simon and Schuster’s list of Books with Reading Group Guides.  (Once you are on this webpage, click on the grade level that you are interested in – for example, Grades 7 to 8.  From there, you can select to browse only those books with Reading Group Guides!)

Some Specific Reading Recommendations!

Here are some stand out titles, each with a reading group guide, that might intrigue your children this summer:

Grades K- 3

• The Brothers Kennedy
• Sonya Sotomayor:  A Judge Grows in the Bronx

Grades 4-6

• The Shadow Children
• The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs

Grades 7-8

• Out of My Mind
• A Million Shades of Gray

Grades 9 – 12

• Beneath My Mother’s Feet
• Anything But Typical

I hope that these suggestions are helpful and that this summer bring us all some quiet reading time!

Gift Lit is one of my favorite gift giving websites!  It allows you to give the wonderful gift of reading to men, women, kids and families by selecting a series of books that are then mailed to the recipient over the course of three, six or twelve months!  And from the experts at Gift Lit, here’s a well chosen list of age appropriate Halloween books for children!  I think that a Halloween gift of a perfectly scary book is a fabulous alternative to MORE candy!

Halloween Book Recommendations Selected and Described by Gift Lit

Can You Make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas

Inspire lively activity with this delightful picture book starring a bossy ladybug who will engage youngsters in a frenetic face making frenzy. A terrific and not-so-scary Halloween book, Can You Make a Scary Face, is for ages 2 to 5. See more book recommendations for Ages 2-5 at Gift Lit.

Only a Witch Can Fly by Alison McGhee

This gentle, lyrical tale, of a young girl who dreams of flying, is beautifully matched with dreamy woodcut illustrations, creating a Halloween book that is pure magic. Only a Witch Can Fly is for ages 4 to 8. See more book recommendations for Ages 5-8 at Gift Lit.

Dying to Meet You by Kate Klise

This clever and funny ghost-story makes an ideal Halloween tale, complete with a haunted Victorian mansion, a cat named Shadow, and an irritable ghost. A page turner for ages 8 to 12. See more book recommendations for Ages 8-10 at Gift Lit.

The Eyeball Collector by F E Higgins

This spine-tingling story starring the Eyeball Collector – a one-eyed con man who wants a different bejeweled fake eyeball for each day of the week – is deliciously nasty and perfect for readers with a taste for clever twists, engaging riddles, and macabre plots. For ages 10 to 14. See more book recommendations for Ages 10-12 at Gift Lit.

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

Not for the faint-hearted, this dark, gothic tale with frequent shocks, plagues of monsters, and a spattered miasma of blood and bone, might just be the best horror novel of the year. The Monstrumologist is for ages 13-17. See more book recommendations for Ages 12-14 at Gift Lit.

The Wild Things by Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers new book The Wild Things, based very loosely on the storybook by Maurice Sendak, is funny, dark and personal and shows us a very real Max who is capable of startling acts of wildness. An adult book recommended for teens over 14. See more book recommendations for Teens at Gift Lit.

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Ben Winter

This hilarious and bizarre revision of the classic from Jane Austen is strangely entertaining and preserves the nuanced love story while overlaying rampaging sea monsters, unscrupulous rouges, and plenty of wit. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is an adult book recommended for both parents and teens over 14. For more ideas for 12 to 14 year olds, see Gift Lit’s Chilling Tales collection and general recommendations for 12 – 14 year olds!

For more fun ideas on Halloween parties, decorating and gifts, see Busy Bee’s Halloween Roundup:

I love to read and during the school year, I belong to two book groups, which in turn requires that I read two specific books each month.  But this summer, I’ve set a very specific goal for myself: to read my way through a very tall stack of “non-book group books” that I’ve accumulated over the past year!  Some of the books on my personal list include:

• Testimony by Anita Shreve
• Prague by Arthur Phillips
• World Without End by Ken Follett (the sequel to Pillars of the Earth)
• The Story of Edgar Sawtelle – A Novel by David Wroblewski

Beyond My Personal List

But beyond my own list, there are so many fabulous reads on the market that there is no excuse for failing to read this summer!  So here goes:

• The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafron – this novel by the author of The Shadow of the Wind (which was fabulous) details the life of a young writer in 1920′s Barcelona who is commissioned by an older publisher to write a book which sets him off on a dark adventure of love and tragedy.
• Brooklyn -  is a classic coming of age novel in which the protagonist leaves post WWII Ireland for a new life in Brooklyn.
• Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout -  this Pulitzer Prize winning novel is a collection of linked stories about a New England woman for whom the term “backbone” was coined.
• The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee – this novel takes place in Hong Kong where at two different points in time, two vastly different women fall in love with the same dangerous man.
• Queen Takes King by Gigi Levangie Grazer – the author of The Starter Wife (a mini-series that I loved!) has penned a sinfully fun read about a high profile Manhattan couple in the midst of a very messy divorce!
• Time of My Life: A Novel by Allison Winn Scotch – a stay at home mom who appears to have a perfect life but is personally fed up, magically wakes up in her past, living with an ex-boyfriend in a shabby apartment. As she decides upon the life she wants, it’s funny and fantastic!
• Madness Under the Royal Palms – Love and Death Behind the Gates of Palm Beach by Laurence Leamer: set in Palm Beach, Florida, this work of non-fiction, that reads like fiction, examines the innermost workings, scandals and scions of this rarified society.
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows is a fictional story set in post World War II London and Guernsey and told through letters. The characters, their love of reading and the fascinating history of the Occupation of the Guernsey Island make for a wonderful read.

I am so hopeful that one or more of these titles will catch your interest this summer!  And for even more suggestions, take a look at last summer’s beach read round up!

You may also enjoy:

• Busy Bee’s Beach Books
• Great Recommended Reading
• Captivating New Authors
• Starting a Women’s Book Group
• Start a Mother-Daughter Book Group
• Great Books for Kids and Teens

Listmania

At amazon.com you’ll find a service entitled Listmania which allows readers to access lists of suggested books arranged by grade level.  These lists each offer about four or five reading choices. 

Book Crush 

Another clever resource is entitled Book Crush: For Kids and Teens – Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment and Interest by Nancy Pearl.  In this reference book, over 1000 books are divided by age (from the very young to age 18) and topic. (available at amazon.com) 

500 Great Books for Teens

This excellent reference book by Anita Silvey has received rave reviews from teens, parents, teachers and librarians!

My Own Book Group Selections!

Here are the titles that my own mother-daughter book group has read!  I’ve marked my personal favorites with a star!

Fourth Grade

• Cheaper by the Dozen
• Walk Two Moons
• Ella Enchanted*
• Harriet the Spy
• A Handful of Time
• Tale of Despereaux*
• Daddy Longlegs

Fifth Grade

• Stargirl*
• Megan’s Island
• Running Out of Time*
• My Louisiana Sky
• Elizabeth Blackwell
• Behind the Attic Wall
• American Girl’s Guide to Middle School
• City of Ember*
• People of Sparks*

Sixth Grade

• The Westing Game*
• P.S. Longer Letter Later
• A View from Saturday
• The Outcasts from 19 Schuyler Place
• Do you Know the Monkey Man?*
• Jacob Have I Loved
• Elsewhere
• Criss Cross
• Prophet of Yonwood*
• Ring of Endless Light*

Seventh Grade

• Bread and Roses*
• The Golden Compass*
• Chasing Redbird
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond*
• Gathering Blue*
• The Glass Castle*
• The Picture of Dorian Gray (try the Young Classic version for this book!)
• The Book Thief*
• Rebecca*  

Eighth Grade

• Thief of Time
• Love, Stargirl*
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn*
• Life of Pi
• The Body of Christopher Creed
• Dairy Queen
• A Northern Light*
• The Face on the Milk Carton

Do you have a favorite book for kids or teens?  We’d love to hear your ideas!

If you enjoy reading, you may also be interested in:

• Start a Mother Daughter Book Group
• Forming a Women’s Book Group
• Great Reading Recommendations
• Busy Bee’s Beach Books
• Captivating New Authors

Tags: book recommendations for kids and teens, good books for kids, mother daughter book group

I so thoroughly enjoy my own book group, that when my daughter and I were approached to join a Mother-Daughter Book Group, we were thrilled!  My daughter and I both share a love of reading and this was a perfect opportunity for some bonding and learning!  At Busy Bee, we received a reader request for Mother-Daughter book group advice and so here are my thoughts on this terrific topic!

Gather a Group

• I’d recommend between four and six mother/daughter pairs to get started.  If you have too many members, there won’t be enough time for everyone to voice their opinions. 
• Look for girls who read at a similar level and who share a love of books.  Don’t be overly concerned that the girls are the best of friends, or all from the same school.  For this type of group, it’s nice for the girls to be exposed to friends outside of their regular circle and to maintain friendships with girls who might attend other schools.

Meeting Specifics

• Plan to meet once a month.
• As a group, choose a meeting time and date. 
• Decide if a weeknight or weekend is best and then, day or night time.
• Make things easy for yourself by designating a specific date and time for each meeting and stick to it! (For example, the 3^rd Wednesday of each month at 7:00 p.m.)

Host Duties

• Arrange for members to take turns hosting the monthly meetings! 
• The host should be responsible for providing discussion questions and refreshments.  Whenever possible, pair your snacks to the setting of the book! (With that in mind, The Tale of Despereaux, a story told by a mouse, required a buffet of cheese offerings!) 
• You can also get clever with the presentation of the discussion questions.  One selected novel lent itself to slipping the questions into fortune cookies and in another case the set of questions were attached to tea bags!

Appoint a Secretary

Every successful book group requires an attentive secretary!  The duties of the secretary include:

• Keeping the members aware of the upcoming novels and future meeting locations. 
• Creating a brief summary of the group’s thoughts on the book of the past month! 

E-mail is the easiest way to accomplish these duties!

Selecting Your Books

As always, this is the most important facet of any book group!  If members don’t enjoy the selected books, your group will not survive its first meeting!  When selecting a book consider:

• The girls’ reading level
• The content of the book
• The possibility that many of the girls may have already read that fabulous book you’d like to recommend! 
• And don’t forget about your daughter’s required summer reading list!  Don’t hesitate to choose a book that will fulfill a school requirement, while also being a great book group read!
• For ideas on resources for selecting great books, see Great Books for Kids and Teens.

As a group, you will need to decide how each month’s selection will be chosen. 

• In my daughter’s group, the month before we host we bring 3 or 4 books to the meeting.  A vote is taken with a majority rule. 
• In other groups, each member brings a few books to the meeting and one or more books are chosen by consensus.  

Both options have their benefits – the voting method gives the host family a sense of ownership over the book, and the consensus method allows the group to select several books at a time and the reading can then be done at your convenience. 

Tricks of the Trade

• Buy Two Copies – Unless the book of the month is only available in hardback, buy two copies – one for you and one for your daughter!  Another idea is to buy one copy and get the second from the library.  Sharing one book gets a little stressful if you both want to have the book read and digested in time for the meeting!
• Head to the Internet – Don’t hesitate to head to the internet for discussion questions!  You’ll be amazed at what is out there!  Just google your book title along with the phrase “book group discussion questions!”
• Have Fun! – Keep in mind that this is supposed to be FUN!  Try not to pressure the girls for answers or make the meeting too serious!
• Plan Enhancement Activities – Try to enhance your meetings with other activities.  Has your selected book been made into a movie?  Rent the movie or head to the theatre!  In addition to watching movies, our group attended a local theatre production of Stargirl and an operatic production of The Picture of Dorian Gray!  

Wrapping Up 

Establishing a Mother-Daughter Book Group is a wonderful endeavor!  With little effort you can enrich your relationship with your daughter, encourage exciting reading choices, promote friendships and initiate stimulating discussions.  This is a fabulous combination and I hope that Busy Bee readers will give it a try! 

Let us know if you decide to launch a group and what you decide to read! 

If you enjoy reading, you might also like:

• Starting a Women’s Book Group
• Great Reading Recommendations
• Busy Bee’s Beach Books
• Captivating New Authors

Tags: mother daughter book group, book group for girls, book recommendations for girls