To ward off the learning loss that many children experience during the summer, sharing books is a great way to launch reading and learning adventures in your own community. Encourage readers of all ages to pull on their reading suits!
For Younger Readers
OVER AND UNDER THE POND by Kate Messner and art by Christopher Silas Neal (Chronicle, 2017)
As a small black boy and his mother paddle across a pond, she describes the plants and animals that inhabit that world in, under, and around the water.
Read, Discuss and Explore:
Warm summer days are ideal for combining reading and outdoor exploration. Take readers Over and Under the Pond and Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt with books by Kate Messner before heading out on your own ecosystem adventure. Provide kids with a notebook to serve as their nature journal where they can sketch and note their outdoor observations, their feelings about nature, and any research they are inspired to undertake about specific plants or animals.
Learn More About:
- Using Kate Messnerto explore the environment with this Author Study Teacher Guide from Chronicle Books.
- How teachers can make the most of nearby nature with the comprehensive Into Nature guide from the Back to Nature Network.
For Middle Grade Readers
LOWRIDERS TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH by Cathy Camper and Raul the Third (Chronicle Books, 2016)
When their beloved cat goes missing, Lupe Impala, Elirio Malaria, and El Chavo Octopus set off in their awesome lowrider following a trail that leads them to the Aztec god of the Underworld.
Read, Discuss and Explore:
Lowriding has a style and art which is distinctly its own and is much more than just customized cars. It is also a way of life for many. Challenge students to search for articles and video that help them explore lowriding culture. Then get them thinking about ways they might alter an ordinary way of getting around
Learn More About:
- Using the Lowriders series in the classroom with this Teacher Guide from Chronicle Books.
- How Latinos transform their cars, with humor, a sense of history and identity, and mechanical prowess, into popular art with Lowriding, a multidimensional presentation and activities from Smithsonian Education.
For Young Adult Readers
THE INEXPLICABLE LOGIC OF MY LIFE by Benjamin Alire SSal, who is white, has always been certain of his place with his adoptive gay father and loving Mexican-American family. But now Sal is questioning his own history and life-altering events force him and his best friend, Samantha, to confront issues of faith, family, loss, and grief.
Read, Discuss and Explore:
Students who read The Inexplicable Logic of My Life will discover numerous themes and issues to discuss and explore, including: grief, loss, identity, belonging, family, friendship, faith, coming-of-age, anger management, adoption, neglect, addiction, love, and intergenerational relationships. The theme of family is an especially interesting opportunity to explore the diverse configurations that form families. Ask students about their own definition of family and encourage them to think about their personal situations, their concepts of family, and consider how others think of.
Learn More About:
- Family Customs Past and Present: Exploring Cultural Rituals with primary sources and lessons from the Library of Congress.
- How race, religion and family shape a person’s personal identity with video and lessons on Exploring Identity from POV.
Additional Resources
- Get Ready for Summer! Ideas for Teachers to Share with Families from Reading Rockets
- Camp Wonderopolis, free online summer-learning full of fun, interactive STEM and literacy-building topics boosted by Maker experiments from NCFL
- Get Ready for Summer Reading with recommended links from NEA
- Summer Reading Tips from Librarians provided by Scholastic
- Summer of Reading Collection from PBS LearningMedia
Read Across America Featured Partner
Start with a Book, a project from Reading Rockets, offers great ideas for summer reading, exploration, and learning. The website offers books and activities to help kids explore a variety of subjects like dinosaurs, money, rivers and much more. Plus, their Summer Science collection includes a DIY summer science camp, and you can sign up for Reading Tips to Go to get summer learning tips, in English or Spanish, all summer long.
