Summer Reading Saturdays!

It's a return to Summer Reading Saturdays!

This year, for Boo and Mister, I'm modeling things on the 30 book challenge that Mister did in school a year or two ago.

For each month I will give them a list of genres and how many of each they need to read, totaling 15 books per month.

(Does that sound like a lot?  Boo was on book 3 on day 2.  I promise they can do it.)

Actually technically it's 14 books plus one title that I'm requiring (for June it's Real Friends-- review next week).

I'm trying to get them out of their ruts, so Boo's list does not have fantasy on it (it does require one Robin McKinley, because McKinley's amazing and Boo's been weirdly resistant about her books).

They both need to read a classic (which for Boo means things like Little Women and for Mister means things like Newbery winners from before he was born), a couple of mysteries, at least one verse novel and one graphic novel, 2 or 3 historical fiction, etc.

We'll see how June goes and maybe we'll tweak July.

Their reward will be the ice cream sundae parties each month like we did last summer.

What about MeiMei, you ask?

MeiMei's goal is just to finish what she starts.  She's the child that starts a book, reads a chapter, puts it down, starts another book, etc, etc.

Even when she's really enjoying a book she does this.  It makes me batty.  I cannot read that way.

What are YOU doing for summer reading?

Summer Reading Saturday

Wowsers, where did the summer go??

So, this year the library added a "Ravenous Reader" option-- basically when you finish your 30 sessions you can get a new form and when you finish that set of 30 you can get a new one... etc etc.

Boo and Mister have filled in 2 each.... I need to go get them more.

Boo asked our branch's teen librarian for reading suggestions and checked out a huge pile of books... which lasted her one week.  Not even kidding.  She finished like 11 books in that week.  (And I'm not talking short books here, people!)

Thankfully they were mostly series, so we can keep putting more on hold.  Tamora Pierce's books are her main obsession right at the moment.  She's read 7 of them in 2 weeks.  (Four of those were part of the 11 the first week.)

Mister?  Well.... Mister's harder.  He tends to lose interest partway through a series.  Unless it's Diary of a Wimpy Kid (which wouldn't be my first choice really, but he reads them over and over again) or Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales (which I think are great, but at some point, dude, you gotta read something new!).... He does better with nonfiction to some extent so maybe we need to browse that more.

People talk a lot about how there's inequality in literature and there aren't as many books with girl protagonists.... I don't see how that's true.  I have a MUCH harder time finding something for Mister that is the right reading level but that isn't just basically one big fart joke.... finding books with girls for Boo is much easier.  And has been at every reading level.

MeiMei is tricky for different reasons-- the main one being I have NO DESIRE to read a mound of Rainbow Magic fairy books to her like I did with Boo at this age.  I'm pretty over those, lol.  But we've found some really fun options.  She loves animals, so that's where we've been focusing.

LuLu just loves to be read to.  I don't think she cares what sometimes, lol.

Pixie just wants to eat the books, so that's trickier.  ;)

Well, that's a nice rambly post to make up for my lack of Summer Reading Saturday posts!  How's summer reading going at your house?

Chickies-- Summer Reading Saturday LuLu Edition

Oh my gosh, the love that girl has for these chickie boardbooks!  (We received them for review)

Bedtime for Chickies
by Janee Trasler

"It's bedtime for chickies, it's bedtime for sheep.  It's bedtime for pig and cow, let's all go to..."
*page turn*
"Cheep cheep cheep.  We can't sleep.  We're thirsty."

Everyone in my house has this memorized.  LuLu brings it to someone to read multiple times a day.

While not actually my favorite, it is cute and can be fun to read.
(And the pictures are hilarious.)

Dinnertime Chickies

"We can't eat this, it's too drippy.  We want something chocolate-chippy."
"Just one pint-sized peewee peck? You might like it you should check."
*page turn*
"Mmmmmmm.  Pass the meatballs, pass the peas, pass the macaroni please!"

THIS one is my favorite.  It cracks me up.  And has a good message to boot-- the chickies end up liking everything they try.

Pretty sure everyone has this one memorized too... LuLu's on quite the kick.


There is a third one-- Potty Time Chickies or something, which we also received, but I'm not that into potty training books... and this one was just kind of... weird.  Funny as an adult, but weird thinking about reading it with a child.... and there were a couple of "let's not give the kids any ideas" type moments.

Bottom line-- Bedtime and Dinnertime are highly recommended for the ages 1-4 ish set.  :)

Summer Reading Summary

Or should that be "summer-y"?

Boo: 126 hours for the summer.  Now, I will say that that may be lower than truth.  It's actually really hard to keep track of how much they read when they read all the time.
Favorite books of the summer?  She says she doesn't know.  Okay, no she says it's the Geronimo Stilton Kingdom of Fantasy books.  That she read Saturday.

Geronimo Stilton has been very popular at my house this summer.

Mister: 64 hours.  Again, hard to say that's completely accurate, especially because he's the only morning person in the house and so he does his own thing for a while before anyone else is up.
Favorite books?  He's reading a lot of Geronimo Stilton, some Boxcar Children, and various super hero short chapter books.

MeiMei:  I have not kept any track at all.  None.  She has "read" some everyday and asks me every night if she can read in the morning.
Favorite books?  Um... hard to gauge.  Sleep, Black Bear, Sleep and It's Me remain high on the list, of course.  We also have several "back to school" titles in our book crate right now.  I'll review those later this week, I hope.

LuLu: Yeah, she just eats them.  Loves them, but isn't kind to them.  She'll figure it out.

How was your summer reading?  What's changed with school back in session?  Boo is actually reading MORE now.  She's read a ton in the last week or so.

Me:  Sigh.  I've read quite a bit, 3 books over the weekend, for example, but I'm still 20 or so books behind.  I need to either read faster, stop watching Sherlock, or read shorter books.

I'm not giving up Sherlock. ;)

Summer Reading Saturdays-- Update

Wow, sorry for the radio silence.  June was a CRAZY month. C R A Z Y

But we did read.  Not as much as we'd hoped, maybe, but we did read.

Boo: read about 34 hours in June.  Maybe more, but it's actually harder to keep track when they read all the time.

Mister: read about 20 hours, so he's right on target.

MeiMei: did we say 10 hours?  Can I take it back? lol.  So the whole "read to her" thing... yeah, not so much.  However she has probably "read" a good 3-5 hours, so that counts for something, right?

LuLu: um, yeah.  She just wants to eat the books.

Me: Sigh.  I read quite a bit in June, 13 books.  Not a huge month for me, maybe, but a lot better than I've been doing recently.  Unfortunately, it means I'm still about 20 books behind on my goal for the year.  Oh well.

In other news, Boo and Mister already finished the Barnes and Noble summer reading challenge, and everyone is either mostly or entirely done with the library summer reading program, so that's not too shabby. :)

It's That Time Again!!

It's back-- Summer Reading Saturdays!!

Today marks the kick-off of our library's summer reading program and we are super excited!!

We've got big goals this month--

Boo's goal: 150 hours.  That's 50 hours per month.  I think she'll pass that actually, but we'll see.

Mister: 60 hours.  That's 20 per month and that's pretty ambitious, but he's starting to read more and more on his own so I think he can do it.

MeiMei: 10 hours.  I know, it's a huge drop from the others, but since she's not reading on her own at all (okay, we'll probably count listening to books on tape, but still) I think we're going to try to be reasonable.

LuLu: um... yeah.  She's less than a year old.  I don't think we're going to set a goal beyond actually reading to her.  lol

As for me... I don't know what my goal is.  I'm trying to read something I own at least every 4th book... and I need to catch up on my goal for the year, so I guess that's my goal.  Catch up on the 20-some-odd books I'm behind.

What are YOUR summer reading goals?

Summer Reading Saturdays

Well, that's it, we've come to the end already.

That's right, we're all done with the library summer reading program.

So, what did we get as our Free book prizes?

I got City of Bones which I haven't read yet.

Boo chose The BFG.  She's been on a Roald Dahl kick of late.

Mister chose a Pokemon book of some sort: Ash Battles His Rivals or something.  He's slightly obsessed.

MeiMei got Olivia and the Babies.  We haven't read it yet, but it looks cute, though it's based on the cartoon rather than being one of the "real" Olivia books.

How's your summer reading going?

Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It by Gail Carson Levine

False Apology Poems

5 stars
picture book

This is just to say....

Based on the William Carlos Williams poem "This Is Just to Say", this book is full of some of the funniest "apologies" ever.

Some are immediately recognizable fairy tale characters, some are just funny situations, and a few are even directly from the author to the reader.

Mister was amused, though I'm not sure he understood why it was funny.

Boo thought it was hilarious.  She recognized most of the fairy tale-based poems right away and had a lot of fun spotting those.

Summer Reading Saturdays- Picture Book Roundup

Zorro Gets an Outfit by Carter Goodrich
Cute story and it's about puppies, so MeiMei is all over that!

Dinosaur Vs. the Library by Bob Shea
I love the Dinosaur vs. books.  Hilarious.  This one rocks.  (Note that it is a picture book, not a board book like Dinosaur Vs. Bedtime)

Dinosaur Vs. the Potty by Bob Shea
Also adorable.  Since we're potty training it's very timely.  Cute cute book. (Again, picture book.  Really wish this was board book.  Maybe it's available as a board book but our library just has the picture version? Don't know)

Dot by Patricia Intriago
Cute, but not as cute as I wanted it to be.  Some parts feel awkward when reading aloud.  My kids really seem to like it, though.  Simple text and illustrations make it great for little ones.

Bink and Gollie I've reviewed before, but this time around the kids are reading and loving it too.

When Dinosaurs Came with Everything is another we've reviewed before, but still a favorite.  Such a cute book.

I'm Big! by Kate and Jim McMullan
I gotta admit, I'm disappointed with this one.  Not nearly as good as I'm Dirty or I Stink or any of the others we've read.

Summer Reading Saturdays- Progress

Summer Reading:
Me: 8/8 complete  (shocker, I know)
Hubby: 3/8 complete (those Wheel of Time books should count double, though-- dang they're long)

Boo: 27/30 complete (that's hour-long sessions and probably I've missed a few)
Mister: 11/30 complete (this is totally my fault)
MeiMei: 15/30 complete

How's your summer reading going?

Summer Reading Saturdays

It's that time again!  Welcome to Summer Reading Saturdays!!


Boo:
Boo is reading on a 5th grade level (that's LATE 5th grade) and reads CONSTANTLY.  (I'm finally finding some sympathy for what my parents dealt with when I was a child: PUT THE BOOK DOWN FOR TWO SECONDS!)
Accordingly, her Summer Reading sessions are 60 minutes.  She only needs thirty to complete the library program.  She seriously may hit that by the end of June.

Mister:
Mister could probably read long crazy sessions, too, but Mommy is just not quite up for it and MeiMei gets jealous/grumpy, so we compromised with 15 minute sessions.  His grasp of phonics is getting pretty good, too, so we're hoping to be working on sounding words out this summer.

MeiMei:
Sigh.  MeiMei loves books.  LOVES them.  Sometimes to death.  (Unfortunately literally.)
But she loves them on her terms.  She often wants to sit on you while she looks at a book, but you are not allowed to touch the book or read it to her.  You are allowed to answer her questions.  And provide a place to sit.  That is all.
Not feeling overly ambitious- Mommy went with 5 minute sessions for her this summer.

(The adult program is 4 books and 4 free choice, which could be books but could also be things like reading to a child or writing a review.  I'll be done by the end of June.)

What Boo's Been Reading

In case anyone is wondering, here's some of what Boo's been reading lately:

Little House in the Big Woods
Misty of Chincoteague
the Oliver Moon books
the OZ books (that's right, ALL FOURTEEN of them)
rereading the Enchanted Forest books (again....)
the first Sisters Grimm book... and maybe the second, but she says they're too scary
She prefers the Very Grimm Guide, though I won't let her read all of it, too many spoilers!

And, of course, lots and lots and lots of Rainbow Magic Fairy books.

Summer Reading Saturdays!!

Summer reading is here again!!

Okay, so it's been here for a month, but still.

The library adult program is once again reading 4 books plus 4 "free choice" options (which could also be reading books).  I'm done.  They need to make it more challenging.  (On the Goodreads group it's read 5 books from 5 different continents.  I'm almost done with that too.)

Anyway, the kids are ALL signed up this year-- Baby J with 5 minute sessions, Mister with 10 minute sessions and Boo with 30 minute sessions.

Overall, we're all doing a lot of reading... it's the timing and keeping track that I'm having a hard time with.

How about you, what are YOUR summer reading goals??

Summer Reading Saturdays!-- We Have Reached the End

Boo and Mister picked out these snazzy books as their prizes. 

Since today is the end of the library Summer Reading Program, we have read, I kid you not, a good 6 or more hours this week.

Next summer we'll pace ourselves better... I hope....







Hubby and I got these:

The adult selection is usually a bit slim, which is sad, but these looked interesting.











Then the monkeys went to Borders (with Daddy, not alone) to get their books from the Border's Summer Reading Program.

Yeah, Ranger's Apprentice probably isn't ideal for a toddler, but there weren't any little kid options, which seems silly, and they were running out of the titles you could choose from.  (We were hoping for Flat Stanley.)









All in all, it's been a good summer for books!

Summer Reading Saturdays!-- Kids Books For Review

My kids LOVE it when we get picture books for review!!  We've gotten a few in the last little while, so here are our (mini) reviews.

Pele, King of Soccer
While I loved the cool swirly illustrations, they're a little hard for small children to see what's going on.  Boo was entertained enough to sit through it, but Mister wandered off in the middle of it.  It's not bad, but I'd say it's better for slightly older audiences-- say 4 and up or something.  Overall.... I think the kids could take it or leave it.

The First Pup
Again, I LOVE the illustrations.  They're hilarious.  As for the text, not bad, but it could have been simpler.  There's a lot more about the inauguration and stuff like that than you need for the story of how the dog got to the White House.  Boo and Mister like the pictures, but I don't know that they really cared for the text.  I think they'd rather just look at this one than read it.



A while back we got our first Pinkalicious book-- which both kids loved.  Especially Boo!!  So she was SUPER excited when 2 more showed up in the mail.

Both of these were lots of fun-- Tickled Pink is about a joke book and a "laugh-off", which Boo thought was hilarious and School Rules! is about taking Goldilicious (her unicorn) to school one day.  School, unicorns and all things pink, what more could you ask for?!

These 2 were VERY VERY much enjoyed by both kids.

Summer Reading Saturdays!-- Progress

Or, a lack thereof, maybe....

I am so not good at this....

So, I decided that this year the kids have to do at least part of each reading session on their own.  Now granted, neither actually reads yet, but it's the concept of reading alone that is what I'm going for.

Largely because Boo keeps going on strike about the whole thing.

Cat the Cat Who is That? is one of Mister's favorite library picks right now.  It's hilarious to listen to him go through it himself singing out "Cat the Cat, Who is that?" on every page.

Anyway, the way things are going, I'm having to keep a constant tally in my head of how long we've read to each child vs how long the child has "read" by themselves.  It's exhausting. ;)

Here's where we stand thus far--
Hubby, 3 books down.  He's reading his fourth and he's done at least one free choice.
Me, I'm done.  It's only 8 books after all.
Boo, 10/30
Mister, 6/30

Mister would have more, but he fell asleep while we were reading.  lol

Summer Reading Saturdays! Choose Your Own Adventure

Boo has discovered the amazing world of Choose Your Own Adventure books.  And it's been fun.

Except that the child can't make a decision to save her life. lol

In fact, half the time she makes Mister choose.

Of course, we always end up going back to see where the other choice will lead us.

There are a bunch of these CYOA for younger readers-- with between 7 and 18 possible endings (from what I've seen).  They're kind of dumb stories, but my kids are really loving them.

We're plugging along on our reading charts.... more or less.  I'll give chart updates next week. :)

Who else is playing?  How are you doing with your summer reading?

Summer Reading Saturdays! The 108th Sheep

by Ayano Imai
5 stars!

This large picture book is utterly adorable!

When Emma can't sleep, she decides to count sheep, sure she'll be asleep before she gets to 11.  Imagine her surprisewhen she gets to 107 and is still awake.

But where is 108?

Such a cute storyline and fabulous illustrations-- I think we probably need to buy this one. 

Boo really enjoyed the story (we had an interesting conversation about "bleated" vs "bleeded" lol).  Mister lost interest, but really, he was sick so his opinion doesn't count!

Definitely recommended-- I'd say ages 2-7 or 8 or something.... :)

Summer Reading Saturdays!

Oh wait, that means we have to actually read..... hmmm...

So here we are, two-thirds of the way through June... and where we stand ain't lookin' good.

The Breakdown:
Mike- Has read 1 book (4 books required, then you have 4 "free choice" that can be magazines, reading to a child, etc.)
Me- Done.  I've read more than 8 books, so all my "free choice" spots are books. lol
Boo- um.... I filled out her name and how many minutes on the chart.... that's about it.  She's on a reading strike because she doesn't want to go to school.  Sorry, kid, it's the law.
Mister- yeah, all we've done is filled out his information too.

Basically, we're in sad shape.  It shouldn't be that hard, right?  Sigh.  Maybe it'd better be "World Cup Saturdays" until the tournament is over. ;)

It's That Time Again!!!!

Time for SUMMER READING!!

So we shall once again have Summer Reading Saturdays!

Read along with us!!

If you're in the SLC area, you can get more info on the Summer Reading Program on the Library Website and regardless of where you are, you can play along with No Time For Flashcards-- Read and Win! Challenge.

I'll have more details on Saturday, in our first Summer Reading Saturday of the year!