by the Editor     Reading over the summer is a wonderful way for children to maintain and build on their reading skills, improve their vocabulary, and stretch their imaginations!  Encourage your child to read for enjoyment, and you will see their reading skills blossom.

Research that shows that kids who read books over the summer holidays can avoid the phenomenon called the "summer slide," or the loss of reading skills due simply to being out of school.  Access to reading material that matches children’s interests and reading ability is important.

A great place to start is at your local library.  This year, the Summer Reading Club Program running in many local libraries has the theme: ‘Scare Up a Good Book.’  This program has been set up to give children between the ages of 5-15 the opportunity to discover the joy of reading through games, activities, presentations, crafts and story times.

What are the popular books this year?

Movies based on popular children's books perpetuate the popularity of the titles they're inspired by, heavily influencing what children choose to read. The finding is one of the key reading trends found in the newest edition of What Kids Are Reading: The Book-Reading Habits of Students in American Schools, 2011 edition report, by Renaissance Learning.

Jeff Kinney's The Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief, also released as movies earlier this year, have pushed the titles in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series out of top spots for some grades. Three of the four titles in the Twilight series have also been released as movies, with the theatrical release of the series' third title, Eclipse, in June 2010.

The report also found that contemporary 'classic' titles, such as S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders and Lois Lowry's The Giver have also overtaken last year's list-dominating Twilight titles.

Kids Choice Favourites

There are a number of awards conducted where kids vote for their favourites. These include:
The COOL Awards (ACT), the KROC Awards (NT), the YABBA Awards (VIC), the KOALA Awards (NSW), and the INKY Awards (teen reader’s choice).

The favourites across all these awards for this year have been:

• Picture Book: Fearless by Colin Thompson… how does a dog live up to his name?
• Younger Readers: The Big Fat Cow that Goes Kapow!, by Andy Griffiths… more rhyming mayhem and comic madness
• Intermediate Readers: Boy Overboard, by Morris Gleitzman… a story about soccer glory and adventure
• Older Readers: The Battle for Rondo, by Emily Rodda… a return to the magical world of witches and wizards

Award-winning books

Prestigious awards given to children’s books include the state and territory premier’s awards, and the Children’s Book Council Awards.  Awarded books include…

• Picture Book: The Hero of Little Street, by Gregory Rogers… a story of mystery, a boy, and a mischievous dog
• Early Childhood:  Bear and Chook by the Sea, by Lisa Shanahan… a story about unexpected friends
• Younger/ Intermediate Readers:

Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool, by Odo Hirsch … about a boy, his friends and his family name;

Star Jumps, by Lorraine Marwood… the joys and heartbreaks of a farming family;

Toppling, by Sally Murphy… a warm story about the importance of friendship;

Krakatoa Lighthouse, by Alan Baillie… about the son of a Javanese lighthouse keeper

• Older Readers:

Jarvis 24, by David Metzenthen… about a private school boy who takes on work experience in a car yard;

When the Hipchicks went to War, by Pamela Rushby... the story of a dancer who heads off to entertain the troops during the Vietnam war

While fiction books are a wonderful way to relax and learn over the summer, don’t forget the value of reading magazines, newspapers, information texts, and even comics… anything that engages your kids and teens and piques their interest will help to improve their reading skills.

Happy reading!

Links:

YourKidsEd recommended books

Award-Winning Books for Kids and Teens, 2010

OR to find out more about these books or to order, go to:

SeekBooks.com.au - Over 1.5 Million Book Titles To Browse Online.

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