Artie reading at B and NWe just returned from a trip to Barnes and Noble with 3 of our grandchildren and we had our usual fun outing reading new and classic picture books (we all LOVE “When the Crayons Quit” and enjoyed “The Snatchabook” and “Superworm” –more on those later). But what really interested 2 of my new readers who are in kindergarten and first grade was the display of Ninja Turtle and Lego themed early readers. I told them they could each pick out a book and they chose “Super Heros Phonics,” “Lego Movie Awesome Adventures,” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Doze Control!”

I have to laugh, here I was looking for the next great picture or early reader book for the PAL Award and they all chose movie themed books to take home and read. I get it. Reading specialists have been telling me for years to just get kids reading. Kids aren’t that imgres-7different from adults in that they will read more when they are interested in the topic. I know these aren’t the best written necessarily, but there is some challenging vocabulary and the phonics books are great with the vocabulary of robot, drop, flog, lock, shot, rock, stomp and stop!

With summer coming, parents are very interested in maintaining their child’s reading level and interest. I’ve heard of parents planning camps, tutoring and outings with teachers to keep up academic skills over the summer break. Reading should be a top priority for the whole family so get ready to let your kids choose their books!