I love summer reading programs, especially those that reward a child with a new book! I still have most of the books that belonged to me as a child, and they’ll always hold a special place in my heart.
These are some of the best summer reading programs 2019 has to offer. But remember, the best programs for your family are the ones that help your child fall in love with reading.
Summer Reading Programs 2019 (with Prizes!)
- Your Local Library: Most libraries have free summer reading programs. Ours awards children with a new book of their choice. They even allow pre-readers to participate by listening to read-alouds.
- Barnes and Noble’s Summer Reading Program: Your child (in grades 1 – 6) reads and records eight books and what they like about them to earn a free book from Barnes and Nobel’s preselected list. There are some pretty good choices on this years list. The youngest and oldest groups seem to have the best selections this year, but kids can actually pick any listed book, regardless of their grade. Here’s a direct link to the chart and prize books for 2018. New this year is a Reading Passport for little ones. They bring it with them to story time to get special stickers each week.
- Amazon: This is new! Amazon is getting into the summer reading program biz. Like B&N’s program, kids log 8 books read to receive one free book. The catch is that you have to live near one of Amazon’s physical stores (which we don’t). But if you do, add this to your summer reading program bucket!
- Half Price Books Feed Your Brain Summer Reading Program: I love that this program allows kids up to age 14 to participate. Kids and teens earn Bookworm Bucks to be used in the store (usually $5, but I don’t see a specified amount). Kids can earn a total of two coupons during the summer by logging 300 minutes (just 15 minutes per day) in June and again in July. Read-alouds count for kids learning to read. Here’s a link to their Reading Log. (And since no mom has time to keep track of all her kids minutes, I recommend these bookmark timers to make tracking minutes simpler).
- Chuck E. Cheese will reward kids for positive behaviors like reading all year long! Just print out and fill in one of their Reward Calendars, log it for two weeks, and bring it with you on your next visit.
Summer Reading Challenges/Clubs/Resources
- Traveling Through the Pages is put on by Pam Barnhill of Homeschool Solutions. This year’s theme is Race Across Space. Kids are challenged to read a book that matches one of several categories. It’s a great way to challenge kids to read a variety of books. The kit includes charts, book suggestions, certificate, morning time plans, and more.
- Growing Book By Book has a summer library challenge that will have your family finding new gems at the library in ways you wouldn’t expect.
- Want to Keep it Simple? Just print out this cute punch card bookmark. You can punch a hole (or just color a star) whenever your kid finishes a book or reads a set amount of time. Make your own rules and decide how to make it special for your family.
Looking for my Reading Hopscotch? You can still find it HERE.
