Kid-Friendly: Summer Reading Programs {and a Giveaway!}

Sad to say, we’re in the home stretch of summer. Just under four weeks to go before the back-to-school madness begins. The kids’ summer camps and CCD obligations are now done, and they have lots of unscheduled chill time for the rest of the month. As we break the budget with full-time babysitters.

So this month, we’re focusing on summer reading. Nick has four books to read before school starts, so one of their excursions with their babysitter this week was a visit to the local library to get started. With an hour a day of reading, he should finish up quickly. Blurring the line between unstructured summertime fun and upcoming school obligations.

The kids are big fans of books and reading, although Nick is a bit reluctant when it comes to obligated reading. If your kids need a little extra motivation when it comes to reading (summer, school, or otherwise), perhaps these free summer reading programs might give them a little push?

Nick was lucky enough to attend a special meet-the-author luncheon for this book series, based upon an essay he wrote.

TD Bank will give kids ten dollars if they read ten books. Yes, please. (And they offer these no-nonsense tips on making reading more fun for your kiddos)

Barnes & Noble will give your child a free book if they read 8.

The folks at Chuck E. Cheese will give you 10 free tokens for two weeks worth of everyday reading.

Tackle the Summer Reading Challenge from Pottery Barn Kids for the chance to win cool prizes.

And, of course, do check out your local library as well. Many of them offer summer reading challenges (not to mention story times and crafts as well).

Madeline and I have started tackling the American Girls series.

In an effort to knock “read chapter books” off our Summer Bucket List, we are currently ensconced in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, one of my favorite escapism books from my own childhood. Imagining that your closet is the gateway to a new, wonderful magical land? How awesome.

Lastly, jetBlue has teamed up with PBS Kids to launch their own summer reading initiative, Soar with Reading. This is the second year of the program, and if you share your favorite children’s book right here, jetBlue will donate a book to a child in need — up to $200,000 worth of books!! — you can see some of the favorite books others have already shared here. While you’re browsing the site, you’ll also find fun reading activities, downloads, and much more.

The generous JetBlue team is offering Sweetnicks’ readers a reading giveaway too. A summer reading pack, featuring a cute, bright blue drawstring bag, activity book, and other little goodies could be winging their way to you …

• TO ENTER: Comment on this post and share your favorite children’s book.
• FOR MORE ENTRIES: … Tweet this post. Or Pin this post. (You can do that by using the handy little buttons at the bottom of this post) Or follow me on Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram, if you don’t already (and come back and tell me you did).
• GIVEAWAY CLOSES: Friday, August 10th at 11pm EST
• WINNER ANNOUNCED: In this upcoming weekend’s Weekend Photos in Review post
• NUMBER OF WINNERS: One
• FINE PRINT: The winner will be selected using random.org.

And lastly, if you’re in the NYC area, there is a Soar with Reading event this Friday …

FRIDAY, AUGUST 10 |NEW YORK, NY | 10:30am – 12pm
Riverbank State Park
679 Riverside Drive New York, NY 10031

Barefoot Books author Susan Reed will be reading to the children along with Mr. Steve from PBS KIDS.

*This is *not* a sponsored post. We just love reading … and books … and people that support such things.

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