Summer Reading Programs 2013

Summer Reading Programs 2013

It is time once again for Summer Reading programs to begin. As always, I think you should sign up for summer reading at your local library. They usually have other fun events to go along with their summer reading programs, and my kids think they also offer the best prizes. For more information about library programs, I have links to some county library systems programs below:

Contra Costa County Library

Alameda County Library

San Francisco Library

San Mateo County Library

Marin County Library 

Solano County Library

These bookstores are running their usual summer reading programs as well:

At Barnes and Noble, kids can earn a free book (from a pre-selected list) for reading 8 books over the summer.

Half-Priced Books is offering kids a $5.oo gift certificate to kids who read for 300 minutes for the months of June and July. Kids who read their 300 minutes each month can also enter to win a bigger gift certificate. 

Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel – Book Review

Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel – Book Review

Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel was a quick favorite with my then kindergarten kiddo. Unlike many other things she loved back then, she hasn't 'outgrown' the Bad Kitty books. She squealed with excitement just last week (now a 4^th grader) when she saw that the library had the newest book in the Bad Kitty series.

The first Bad Kitty book (above) is a picture/alphabet book with one letter for the alphabet for each food Bad Kitty can try when they run out of her regular food, then again for each naughty thing Bad Kitty does, and then another one for each nice thing she does to make up for it. So it takes you through the alphabet several times. However, unlike most alphabet books, the words are not simple. I found it as amusing as my kids do.

The other books featuring Bad Kitty, however, are short chapter books, heavy with illustrations. They were perfect for my daughter when she was a strong enough for longer stories and chapters, but still intimidated by big blocks of text. She would read each book over and over again, and I could hear her giggling every time.

Attend an Event at your Local Library - Fun Stuff to do Anywhere

Attend an Event at your Local Library

Nowadays, every library system has a website including a calendar of events. I’ve found these calendars sometimes cumbersome to use however, and some events I know are happening, I have been unable to find on the calendar. So while the website for your local library is a good starting place to look for these fun sorts of events, a visit to the actual library branch you like to go to is even better. Most will have fliers listing all their upcoming events for the next month or even next several months. While you’re there, you can also then sign up for any event that requires registration to attend. 

There is a whole lot more to do at your local library than just check out books or attend a storytime. At the various placed we’ve lived around the Bay Area, we have attended all sorts of wonderful events at different libraries: movies, holiday parties, or holiday themed crafting events, special performances from magicians, comedians, or actors, author and illustrator talks, wild animal shows, and police dog demonstrations.

Nowadays, every library system has a website including a calendar of events. I’ve found these calendars sometimes cumbersome to use however, and some events I know are happening, I have been unable to find on the calendar. So while the website for your local library is a good starting place to look for these fun sorts of events, a visit to the actual library branch you like to go to is even better. Most will have fliers listing all their upcoming events for the next month or even next several months. While you’re there, you can also then sign up for any event that requires registration to attend. 

Book review: Fancy Nancy: Poet Extraordinaire!

Book review: Fancy Nancy: Poet Extraordinaire!

Fancy Nancy was my own wake-up call about not judging a book by its cover. I avoided these books for my girls because I assumed they were about being pretty and having the right clothes, and things that I didn’t want my girls to get caught up in.

One day, my youngest found “Fancy Nancy: Poet Extraordinaire” at the library and asked to check it out. I do my very best to let them pick out whatever interests them at the library, so I let her. Naturally, then she needed me to read it to her. I was happily surprised by the story.

It turns out that Fancy Nancy like fanciness in all aspects of her life. Yes, her clothing and appearance is one aspect of her fanciness, it is also treated in the book as somewhat of a given, and not discussed. I suppose the illustrations do that part. She also loves fancy words, and this it turns out is the theme of this book. Fancy Nancy is trying to write a poem, and read other poems in her quest to write a great fancy poem. She learns new fancy words along the way, and their meanings. It reminded me more than a little bit of the “Martha Speaks” book and television series in that way.

More importantly, my daughter loved it, and wanted to talk about some of the words she learned. So it has been a lesson to me. My original rule to myself – to not judge what books my children pick out to read – has served us both well again. And making assumptions about a book I haven’t read or bothered to learn anything about almost cost us a wonderful read, and vocabulary building experience. I don’t know if all the Fancy Nancy books follow this same theme, but I do know that I will no longer be hesitant to check out more to read with my daughter and find out.

Storytime at Your Library - Fun Stuff to do Anywhere

Storytime at Your Library – Fun Stuff to Do Anywhere

Most libraries offer a storytime for young children. All the libraries that we have lived near offered three different storytimes, one for babies, one for toddlers, and one for preschoolers. We have also visited other libraries that only offer one storytime for all ages together. Several times, I have seen evening storytime hours for the whole family, although we haven’t had a chance to attend one of these yet.

Regularly attending library storytimes has benefited both my children and me in a number of ways. When I was a new mom, with no friends who had babies, library storytime is how we made connections with other families with new children close in age. Some of the friends we made there, have remained lifelong friends to this day, over 9 years later.

It also established what I consider a very healthy habit of regular visits to the library. The kids love to pick out a book or two (or six) to bring home. I got into the habit of checking out parenting books that I had heard about without spending a lot of money. One or two were useful enough to me to buy my own copy of, but without the library, I would have given up before I found them.

While libraries don’t usually offer storytimes for school aged children or teens, they do have a lot of other programs for the older kids too. Some have book clubs, movie afternoons, read-to-dog programs, or other regular activities for older kids and teens. And, the programs are all free. Check out what your local library has to offer. Most libraries post their offerings online at their websites.

Free and Discounted Museum Passes with your Library Card

Free and Discounted Museum Passes with your Library Card

A program called ‘Discover and Go’ available at libraries all over the bay area offers free or discounted museum passes to tons of great museums around the Bay.

We’ve personally used the Discover and Go program to visit the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkley, and the Lindsay Wildlife museum in Walnut Creek. Both times getting and using the passes was a simple and straightforward process.

We visited our library’s website, found the ‘Discover and Go’ link, then followed the instructions to find the museum we wanted to visit, and chose from the available days.  We printed the pass at home and presented at the admissions desk at each venue. That’s all there was to it.

Some museums have a limit to how many Discover and Go passes you can print each year. Some only offer free or discounted admission for 1 or two people, so if you have a larger family, you would have to see if you’re able to reserve the same date on multiple library cards, or pay for admission for some of the members of your group. Still, it is a really wonderful deal.

I could not find a complete list of participating libraries, but here are at least some of the libraries that offer Discover and Go:

Contra Costa County Libraries

 Burlingame Public Library

Menlo Park Library

Redwood City Public Library

San Mateo County Library 

San Mateo Public Library

Daly City Public Library

South San Francisco Libraries

Berkley Public Library

Alameda County Public Libraries

Despite some of the venues being located in Solano County, I was unable to find Discover and Go passes on the Solano County Library website. If someone else finds that information, please share it here in the comments.

I don’t know if, or how often the museums in the Discover and Go program might change, but as of this writing, these are all the wonderful places you can visit with a Discover and Go discount:

Aquarium of the Bay

Asian Art Museum

Bay Area Discovery Museum

Bedford Gallery

Blackhawk Museum

California Academy of Sciences

California Historical Society

California Shakespeare Theater

Charles M. Schulz Museum

Children's Creativity Museum

The Contemporary Jewish Museum

CuriOdyssey

Exploratorium

GLBT History Museum

Golden State Model Railroad Museum

Habitot Children's Museum

The Lawrence Hall of Science

Lindsay Wildlife Museum

The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life

The Marine Mammal Center

Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment

Museum of Craft and Folk Art

Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD)

Napa Valley Museum

Oakland Aviation Museum

Oakland Museum of California

Oakland Zoo

Pacific Pinball Museum

Peralta Hacienda Historical Park

Ripley's Believe it or Not! ODDitorium

Saint Mary's College Museum of Art

San Jose Museum of Art

The Tech Museum

UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley

USS Hornet Museum

Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Reading to Dogs at the Library

Reading to Dogs

One of my daughter’s very favorite activities at the library is a program called “Paws to Read”. Volunteers bring their certified therapy dogs to the library, and are paired off with a child, and the child spends 20 to 30 minutes reading to the dog. At our library, the program is not ongoing, but has several sessions throughout the year, and my daughter watches the notices for when a new session is ready to begin to make sure I sign her up for a space.

The idea is that dogs are wonderful listeners. If the child is having difficulty with a word, or read awkwardly, the dog won’t care. It won’t correct them, or be disappointed in any way. Plus, kids love dogs. If your kid does not love dogs, these programs are not for you. They aren’t a way to get kids over a fear of dogs. They are just a way to encourage reading.

I’ve since learned that there are many different, but similar programs all over the bay, run by different groups. The groups I’ve found are:

Paws to Read

All Ears Reading, from Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF)

Angel Ears, from the Homeless Animal’s Lifeline Organization (HALO)

I expect there are others as well. If you know of another, please leave a comment. These programs are very popular at all the libraries I’ve seen them offered at. Usually, they are so popular that advanced registration is required to get a reading spot. The dogs and their handlers are all volunteers, and there are just so many to go around.

Various libraries work their dog reading programs in different ways. I mentioned that ours has several sessions throughout the year that usually run for two or three months. Each child can sign up for a maximum of 3 reading appointments during a session. I’ve seen other libraries that have an ongoing program on an assigned day of the week.

Not all libraries have dog reading programs, but they are becoming more popular all the time. I suspect, one of the factors preventing the programs from expanding is the lack of dog and handler volunteers. The dogs have to go through training and certification to be eligible. It’s a big dedication on the part of both the dog and owner to take part in these programs. If you have a friendly dog, perhaps you’d be interested in looking into the requirements at the program links listed above. 

Summer Reading Programs 2012

As the school year begins to draw to a close, libraries, and bookstores begin their summer reading programs. Your kids can earn free books, and other prizes, and keep up their reading skills over the summer. Win, win!

The first place to check out, for summer reading programs, is your local library. They always have a summer program, and in addition to prizes for reading, they usually offer other fun summer programs, like special guests or show, or storytimes.
In Contra Costa County Library, the summer reading program begins June 9th.
Alameda County Library's program begins June 11th.
San Francisco Library's program begins June 1st.
San Mateo County's Library Program runs June thru August.
Marin County Library has many Summer Reading Program launch parities scheduled for this and next week.
Solano County Library's runs from June 11th to Aug. 11th.

The bookstores are sponsoring their usual summer reading programs as well:

At Barnes and Noble, kids can earn a free book (from a pre-selected list) for reading 8 books over the summer.

Half-Priced Books is offering kids a $5.oo gift certificate to kids who read for 300 minutes.

Summer Reading Programs around the Bay Area

My kids and I have participated in Summer Reading Programs since they could toddle into the library (actually, maybe even before that). They love filling out the little forms, and collecting their prizes. Every county library in the bay area has a Summer Reading Program for kids, most of them begin today, June 14th. Some local bookstores also have reading programs, and kids can earn free books.
For more information on the library programs, here are the county library websites:

Alameda
Contra Costa
Marin
Napa
San Francisco
San Mateo
Santa Clara
Solano
Sonoma

Half Priced books, that has several locations around the Bay Area offers a Summer reading program as well. Kids can earn a $3.00 store credit each week for reading 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week. You can read more, and print out the reading log at the Half Priced Books website.

Boarders Books, requires kids to read 10 books over the course of the summer, and they can earn one free book from a preselected list. To see the reward book choices and print a log form, check out the Boarders website.

We are also fortunate in the Bay Area to still have some smaller, independent bookstores. I don't know if any offer summer reading programs, but many sell used or hard-to-find books, and are just great places. Here is an independent bookstore finder, so you can see what shops are in your area.