Summer vacation is right around the corner, but are reading books on your kid's "must" list for summer?
Many times, summer reading can fall to the wayside as some kids may not associate as summer reading as fun; however, this is a myth as research shows a majority of kids do enjoy reading over the summer months.
What can you do to keep summer reading fun and enjoyable? According the Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report: 6th Edition, the top way parents ensure their child reads over the summer is (*drumroll*):
- “Taking kids to the library” (66% of parents with kids ages 6-11; 28% ages 12-17)
- "Let kids choose books through the school book fair or reading club" (60% of parents with kids ages 6-11; 32% ages 12-17)
- "Take books on trips and vacations" (56% of parents with kids ages 6-11; 35% ages 12-17)
Visiting the local library is perfect for any family's budget. It's a great way to see what types of books pique your child's interest. Taking home that pile of books encourages responsiblity and accountability for the child to return books on time - and creates as sense of ownership of his or her reading choices.
In addition, it's a great way to begin building a home library. Kids ages 6-17, who are frequent readers (reads 5-7 days a week), have, on average, 141 children’s books in their homes – more than twice as many as infrequent readers (reads less than one book a week) who, on average, have 65 books in the home.
If you feel stumped on how to build your home library with affordable options, talk to your local librarian. They know all the "tricks of the trade" to keep kids engaged and eager to share the current popular books series and characters that are flying off the library shelves.
To provide some additional inspiration on which books add to your home library, check out our Scholatsic Reading Club's David Allender's top 2017 Book Trend picks as well as our free summer reading booklists from this year's Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge - our free, online and mobile summer reading program that helps kids avoid the effects of the "summer slide" (visit scholastic.com/summer)
To learn more about the state of kids and summer reading in the U.S., visit scholastic.com/readingreport on the latest findings from our nationally representative survey of parents and kids.
Scholastic
