What’s your recipe for summer reading?

by Librarians Katy Vance and Viki Radford

Hey there! It’s your friendly librarians reminding you that summer is the perfect time to read! Support your child in having a deliciously book-filled summer. Showing them that you enjoy reading demonstrates the importance of reading in your life and theirs. How can you do that?  Think of it as a good dinner party, and create a plan that will help lead you to success.  

Plan your reading recipe
Have a want-to-read list: Students in ES and MS will be working on their summer “To Read” lists. Make one of your own, share it with your child and ask to see theirs.

Design the perfect place setting 
Surround your family with books! Put them in the bathroom, on the kitchen table, in your bag, in their bags, in their rooms. Bring them with you in the car, plane, boat and train. Make book-filled places a part of your vacation plans - visit gorgeous bookstores, public libraries, weekend festivals and used book shops. 

Make it a party 
Make reading a social activity! Invite your child’s friends over for a reading party where they can discuss books; arrange a book-swap with a few families; start a parent-child book club where everyone reads and discusses the same book. 

Give a Toast 
No one is ever too old to listen to a read-aloud, but as we age, these opportunities occur less frequently. Pick a book and read a chapter aloud to your child everyday. 

Listen to your dinner guests
Listen to audiobooks and podcasts. We have a selection of audiobooks (and ebooks) available at yis.wheelers.co for anyone with a YIS email. For podcasts, try these recommendations from CommonSense Media:
StoryTime - for preschoolers and kids
The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian - for kids and tweens
Book Club for Kids - for middle schoolers
The Unexplained Disappearance of Mars Patel - for tweens
Welcome to Nightvale - for teens

Think about timing
Create a reading routine for your family. Growing up, Ms. Katy’s family always read before bed, and she still does that to this day!  Ms Viki’s family made weekly visits to the local public library for their summer reading, and she will be visiting that same local library when she goes back home this summer!  Whether your family prefers to read in the morning, in the car on the way to swim practice or listening to a story podcast over family dinner, sit down and read yourself. It’s essential that children see their important adults as readers. 

Experiment and Explore
Summer can be a great time to try to push your own habits of reading, as long as it doesn’t feel like a chore. Set a reading challenge, compete against each other if you want, challenge each other to read each other’s favorite books and revel in the shared experience. Just keep it light and fun. 

Every YIS student will receive a Recipe for Reading Bookmark and recipe sheet. We’ll have a summer reading party in the first few weeks of school to celebrate our summer of reading and share our “recipes”. Please encourage your child to record their favorite “ingredients” from their summer of reading.

Use the resources below to supplement your reading and to search for your delectable, mouth-watering literary meals.
YIS Catalog - Search for books you want before we leave on summer vacation. 
YIS eBooks & Audio Books - Read ebooks and listen to audiobooks with your YIS email address. 
Tumblebooks - Children’s ebooks. Email libraryinfo@yis.ac.jp with a YIS email for the password, or email your librarian or classroom teacher. You can also install the TumbleBooks App on your tablets or phones. Just search "TumbleBooks" in the iTunes App Store, or Google Play. 
Teen Book Cloud - Ebooks for tweens and teens. Email libraryinfo@yis.ac.jp with a YIS email for the password, or email your librarian or classroom teacher. 

Thank you to English teacher, literacy expert and reading enthusiast Pernille Ripp for the blog post that inspired these suggestions.