Growing a Reader: Kids' Books, Tips and More

Ahhh…summer vacation. The perfect time to sit and relax with a good book. Afterall, reading is always a quiet, passive activity, right? And nothing too wild ever happens while you're turning the pages of a book. Unless you happen to be Duck…

Duck's Vacation

By Gilad Soffer

Ages 0 – 5, 6 – 8

Duck is ready for a nice, relaxing vacation by the sea:

Ice Cream Cone – check.  Beach Chair – check.  Sunglasses – check. Someone to turn the pages and mess up the perfect vacation…wait-a-minute! 

Duck soon learns that when an enthusiastic reader becomes engaged with a good book, reading becomes anything but a nice, quiet activity!

Reading can be a lot more involved than just sitting down and quietly turning the pages. You can read out loud, using different voices for the different characters.  Or take it a step further and act out the story. Or let the book inspire you to write your own story, draw a picture, or make a craft. 

During this year's summer vacation, libraries across Canada are inviting kids to go WILD at the TD Summer Reading Club. And with TDSRC Programs taking place at libraries all around the city, Toronto Public Library is making sure that your summer reading will be anything but quiet!

There are lots of ideas in the TD SRC notebooks (which you can get FREE along with a web access code when your child registers for the TD Summer Reading Club at your local library) on how to add a little “WILD” to your summer reading:

• Read upside down (but not for too long).
• Read while standing on one leg.
• Read together in a forest or garden.
• Read around a campfire (real or pretend).
• Make an animal mask and read while wearing it.

With so many different ideas to choose from, it's clear that reading might just be a little less passive and a lot more interactive than most people think. So…

How are you going to make your reading a little more WILD this summer?