I'm going to spend a few minutes talking about my life as a librarian here. I'm also going to copy this post onto my blog "Books for Teens". Believe me, it's all related.
One of the most important parts of my job is getting kids fired up about reading. As a person, I want to live in a well educated society. I want the kids we raise to be smart, intelligent critical thinkers who are capable of making inferences, drawing conclusions, and making great leaps and discoveries that will benefit all of mankind. All of that begins with the library. My professional/personal philosophy is that kids spend 9-10 months a year being taught how to read. The summer should be all about parents helping their kids to love reading.
How do we do this? We encourage our children to find books that they enjoy reading. Whatever those books may be. Whether they are above or below grade level doesn't matter. If the kids are tearing through a pile of books that you think may be "too easy" for them, they are increasing their fluency and comprehension. Those skills are critical for school success come fall. When they finish the current series that they are working their way through, they will find another series.
As one of my teachers says "Life is too short to read books you don't love. If you don't like the one you're reading, find another one."
I spent the last week of May and the first week of June talking with the kids at our schools about summer reading. I introduced them to books that I love and that I think will appeal to them. I talked about the summer reading program at our library. And I encouraged them to come in and find books that they love.
I talked with the elementary grades. Children in grades K-5.
I want to share the books that I found with you. I think they're awesome, and I hope you will love them as much as I do.
I wanted to post this today, on Monday. Each day this week, I'm going to post a different list.
If you have favorites that you feel belongs in each category, feel free to add them in the comments!
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