Books on Vacation
By Lisa Von Drasek

Studies have shown that students in a summer reading program are more likely to read at or above their grade level than are their nonparticipating peers, and those reading above grade level are more likely to retain those skills into the next school year. Your school librarian and your public library can help provide structure and incentive to keep kids reading over the summer, and I've got some other tips for you as well. Let's start with the tried-and-true method: the summer reading program.

Ask your librarian
The easiest way to start a summer reading program is by collaborating with your media center librarian. Perhaps he or she already has suggested reading lists to send home to parents. At our school, students in grades one through seven contribute their own summer reading lists. During library time, they book-talk their recommendations.

Your local public library is also a valuable resource for summer reading. Many libraries sponsor summer reading clubs for preschool and school-age children. Children's and young adult librarians would welcome an invitation to speak to your class or to an assembly.

Public libraries often provide age-appropriate lists for summer reading. I like to encourage students' own choices from a wide range of books rather than a limited selection tied to curriculum needs, since self-selection is essential to the enjoyment of reading.

Web resources
Education World, at www.educationworld.com uses readers' contributions to create summer reading lists by grade, along with reviews of new books, interviews with favorite authors and lots of ideas for summer projects to extend reading – projects for kids to do with friends or on their own and projects for families to do together.

From the Department of Education, the Read*Write*Now program at www.ed.gov can help children get the most out of summer reading. The program suggests that during the summer, children read and write five days a week, at least 30 minutes each day and that at least one day a week they read with a learning partner. This partner could be a caring adult, parent, grandparent, an older sibling or teacher.

From the Hennepin County Library, Minnetonka, MN, found online at www.hclib.org click on "Kids Read," then "Good Reads" to access current annotated lists of reading suggestions by topics as diverse as adventure, biography, historical fiction, classics, "If you like Harry Potter...," "If you like Lemony Snicket...," etc.

The New York Public Library's website at www.nypl.org contains seven years of themed summer reading lists that include titles for preK through sixth grade.

For additional book lists, try the Bank Street College Foundation. Some of our suggestions for summer reading can be found in PDF files at streetcat.bnkst.edu Lists include "30 Picture Books You Don't Want to Miss" (for our preschool and first grade students and their parents), which also features tips on reading aloud; "Early Chapter Books" (for first, second and third graders) and, for young adults, a list of "skinny" books under 200 pages.

You may also want to look at Bank Street Corner, at www.bankstreetcorner.com which presents themed book lists on a variety of topics such as Fractured Fairy Tales.

For teachers who are planning author studies, check out www.teachingbooks.net This extraordinary site links to thousands of reliable children's literature sites and author's pages. You can watch original movies about authors and illustrators, access teacher guides for thousands of children's books and connect to author-study materials. Free registration gives you access to all this and more.

Reading and listening
I've found that audiobooks are often overlooked as a tool for strengthening reading skills. The reading specialists here at Bank Street rely on them for students with learning disabilities, and parents love them for commuting and vacation trips. Our preK and kindergarten teachers find that a picture book and its corresponding tape are the perfect choice for a child who can't settle down. As I certainly wouldn't give a child only part of a print book, I recommend only unabridged audio titles.

• What Would Joey Do? by Jack Gantos, read by Jack Gantos, from Listening Library. Joey is back in the third installment of the adventures of an ADHD kid and his uproariously dysfunctional family. This is a treat for the culmination of a Jack Gantos author study.
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, read by Barbara Caruso, from Recorded Books. This is the timeless tale of strong-willed Jo and her three sisters. Recorded Books also makes available a read-along homework pack.
• 26 Fairmount Avenue: Books 1-4 by Tomie dePaola, read by Tomie dePaola, from Listening Library. Tomie de
  Paola narrates the story of his childhood in suburban Connecticut in the 1930s. This is a great example of memoir.
• Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater, read by Paul Hecht, from Recorded Books. This classic for younger children makes for terrific listening when the kids are trapped indoors on a rainy summer day.
• Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli, read by S. Epatha Merkerson, from Listening Library. This 1991 Newbery Award winner gives a literary spark to discussions of race and prejudice.
• How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen, read by Jane Yolen, from Weston Woods. This is a perfect audiobook for the preschooler's quiet time.
• Coraline by Neil Gaiman, read by Neil Gaiman, from Harper Children's Audio. In this creepy read for the reluctant reader, Coraline passes through a mysterious door to an alternative world that gets scarier and scarier.


Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff, read by Hope Davis.

• Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff, read by Hope Davis, from Listening Library. This 2003 Newbery Honor book tells the story of a foster child who's running from home and looking for home at the same time.
• Love, Ruby Lavender by Deborah Wiles, read by Judith Ivey, from Listening Library. Acclaimed actress Ivey brings to life Ruby Lavender, a rambunctious nine-year-old living in Halleluia, MS.

So much to look forward to
Here's a heads-up and something to look forward to: Random House Audio will release J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on June 21, the same day the book will be released. As I write this, a narrator for the audiobook has yet to be named, but all four previous volumes were narrated by English actor Jim Dale, who brought the characters of Hogwarts to life with his dramatic readings.

I hope you'll treat yourself to some good books this summer as well – whether you read them or listen to them. Take some time for yourself, read something just for fun and maybe discuss your reading with your friends. Good books can be contagious!

Have a wonderful summer. I'll see you this fall with more terrific titles you can use in your classroom.

Lisa Von Drasek is Children's Librarian at the School for Children, Bank Street College of Education, in New York, NY.

May 2003, Vol.33, No.8