Friday, June 09, 2006

It's That Time of Year Again

Time for the library's annual summer reading club!

Today we made our annual pilgrimage to the "big" library (the one with the greatest selection of books and the best reading rewards) to sign all the kids up for the reading club... even 2.5 year old Quarto was able to sign-up this year! Our library has great perks for participating in the summer reading program: minor league baseball tickets, coupons for free food, a big end-of-program picnic with live entertainment, family movie nights, free books, stickers, toys, and drawings for everything from stuffed animals to autographed baseball paraphernalia.

Most libraries throughout the country have some form of summer reading program, but don't forget to look for reading programs in more unconventional locations as well. Such as:

Barnes & Noble: Summer of Unfortunate Events

-Okay, maybe not "unconventional", but I had to mention it. This program is for kids in grades 1-6. For every 8 books he reads (each child may read 16 total), the student receives a free book from a preselected list plus a chance to win a signed copy of the 13th and final installment of the Series of Unfortunate Events series by Lemony Snicket (due out Friday, October 13, 2006... whenelse?) entitled The End. Primo's summer wish is to win the autographed book!

Commerce Bank: Wow! Zone Summer Reading Program

-Contact your local Commerce Bank branch and pick up a summer reading club form. Each child who reads ten books (limit is ten books per child) receives $10 in a new or existing Young Savers account. There are no fees associated with the account and your child will get personalized deposit and withdrawl forms. Commerce Bank also has free coin counting machines in every branch.

Red Robin Restaurants: Reading With Red

-Ask at your local Red Robin restaurant for a "Reading With Red" book list for your child. For reading ten books, your child receives a free kid's meal. This club is for children ages 10 and under.

Also, don't forget to check your local newspapers. If students complete our local paper's summer reading program, they receive a free child's ticket to a near-by major amusement park plus a pass for free parking.

BTW, each book read can go on ALL the different book club lists until you fill them up. And don't forget to encourage big sister to read to little brother because the book can go onto both lists. (Thus, why both Primo and Quarto have Berenstain Bears: The Big Road Race on all of thier lists!)

And while we are focused on reading programs, I hope you didn't forget to sign-up your homeschool for next year's Book It! program sponsored by Pizza Hut. Free personal pan pizzas are a great motivator!

Get out those library cards and get reading!

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