Summer reading

While it's important that kids sleep late, play outside, get wet and generally goof off during summer vacation, there's another thing they should be doing.

Reading.

To increase the odds that their next school year will be successful, they should read. Educators agree, and test scores confirm, this simple fact: Children who love reading do better in school.

There are things to do to encourage reading. Almost all public libraries offer summer reading programs. Why not schedule a daily "drop-everything-and-read" time for the whole family? And when you're packing for outings, don't forget books.

Here are some great recent titles to look for at the library or bookstore.

"Wish You Were Here (And I Wasn't): A Book of Poems and Pictures for Globe Trotters," by Colin McNaughton -- When traveling, it's always good to bring a sense of humor. This book might help. McNaughton sets loose his British zaniness in a collection of goofy poems and illustrations that are about all sorts of travel experiences, from alien vacations to car sickness to fishing (for compliments). (Candlewick Press, all ages, 61 pgs., $16.99)

"Open Wide: Tooth School Inside," by Laurie Keller -- Often books that aim to teach things such as proper tooth care are not very popular with children. This will be a resounding exception. Keller, author-illustrator of the inventive "Scrambled States of America," has another winner here. Youngsters will learn -- and laugh -- as they follow Dr. Flossman and his class of 32 incisors, canines, premolars and molars through a typical day of tooth school. Some of the information is fanciful, such as the free molar-coaster rides offered by the tooth fairy at her theme park, Toothland. Some is useful, such as the list of relative stickiness of various food. But somehow it's always easy to tell the difference between fact and fancy. (Henry Holt, ages 6 and up, 34 pgs. $16.95)

"Growing Frogs," by Vivian French -- A little girl collects frog spawn from a pond and begins an adventure: watching the eggs grow into tadpoles, then finally to frogs. The book weaves together an entertaining story, facts and bright illustrations by Alison Bartlett. There's enough information to allow a family to try this at home, though French cautions that frog spawn should be taken only from man-made ponds, and that baby frogs should be returned to the same pond. (Candlewick Press, ages 5 and up, 32 pgs., $15.99)

"Bright Beetle," by Rick Chrustowski Here's another good nonfiction story for younger children. The bright beetle is an eternal childhood favorite: the lady bug. It follows one ladybug on her journey from egg, to larva, to newly hatched beetle, to egg- laying mother ladybug. Both Chrustowski's writing and pictures are clear, bright and interesting. (Henry Holt, ages 5 and up, 32 pgs., $15.95)

"Lost! A Story in String," by Paul Fleischman - The power goes out, and a young girl says she's going to "die" without her TV and computer. She forgets all about those things, however, when her grandmother begins telling her the story of a resourceful young mountain girl lost in a blizzard. The grandmother illustrates the story by creating amazing string pictures out of a piece of yarn. Instructions for making the string pictures are found at the back of the book. Dramatic black and white scratchboard illustrations accompany the story. (Henry Holt, ages 8 and up, 34 pgs., $15.95)

"River Story," by Meredith Hooper - This time the author of "The Pebble in My Pocket," tells the story about the journey of a river from where it starts as a trickle of snow melt in the mountains, as it becomes wider and faster, collecting things along the way, until finally the cool, fresh water rushes into the sea. Bee Willey's illustrations are fittingly beautiful. Read this, then go stand by a river and picture where it has been and where it's going. (Candlewick Press, ages 4 and up, 30 pgs., $15.99)

"The Truth About Great White Sharks," by Mary M. Cerullo - This book looks good and feels good, with its bumpy blue cover. It's also a fascinating read. The author has gathered up-to-date information about why scientists study great whites, how their babies are born, why their skin is razor sharp, why most people survive shark attacks, and why we need to keep the great white shark population healthy. Here's just one example of the information contained here. Unlike some other sharks, great white eggs are hatched inside the body of the mother. "Marine biologists suspect that some great white sharks start hunting before they even leave their mother. They have found many more egg cases inside a female great white than the five to 10 pups that eventually are born." The book is illustrated with fine photographs, mostly by Jeffrey L. Rotman, including one scary picture of a man who had 462 stitches after a shark attack. (Chronicle Books, ages 8 and up, 48 pgs., $14.95)

"Toys! Amazing Stories Behind Some Great Inventions," by Don Wulffson - Did you know that in Latin, the word "lego" means "I put together"? That's not where the name of the Lego building toys came from, but it certainly seems appropriate. When the Lego toy company opened for business in 1932, the original Lego blocks were made of wood, with pegs coming out of the tops, but those were expensive and difficult to produce. The plastic building blocks we know today were a hit as soon as they were introduced in Europe in 1949. This book tells some really interesting stories about something that children are truly interested in. Among the toys covered are: Mr. Potato Head (the originals used real spuds), Raggedy Ann, bicycles, Silly Putty and Parcheesi. (Henry Holt, ages 10 and up, 137 pgs., $15.95)

"Buttons," by Brock Cole - This has all the elements of a classic children's farce. Once an old man ate so much that his britches burst and his buttons popped into the fire. He becomes so upset that each of his three daughters comes up with an outlandish plan to procure him some more buttons. The eldest will find a rich man whom she'll agree to marry in exchange for buttons. The next daughter will disguise herself as a man so she can join the army and bring home the buttons off a soldier's uniform. The youngest is going to run through the meadow holding out her apron to catch buttons falling from the sky. After much understated hilarity in words and pictures, one of the plans works, and the three sisters end up finding husbands, as well. So there is a happy ending all around (save the fact that one of the sons-in-law is missing the buttons off his britches). (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, ages 5 and up, 32 pgs., $16)

"Bud, Not Buddy," by Christopher Paul Curtis - Set in the Great Depression, and imparting lessons on race relations, old-time jazz, labor organizing and Hoovervilles, this Newbery medal winner certainly qualifies as historical fiction. But more important, it is the story of one unforgettable 10-year-old boy. Bud lost his mother when he was 6. When the book opens, he is being moved from an orphanage to a horrid foster home. After he spends a night locked in the family's shed, he escapes and sets out to find the man he believes to be his father.

Bud is skinny, funny and irrepressible. When bad things happen to him, and many do, he picks himself up and keeps going. Throughout the book he imparts some of "Bud Caldwell's rules and things to have a funner life and make a better liar out of yourself." Here's Number 83: "If an adult tells you not to worry, and you weren't worried before, you better hurry up and start 'cause you're already running late."

Adults will want to adopt Bud, and kids will be rooting for him all the way. Curtis's only other book, "The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963," won a Newbery Honor in 1996. Both books have also won Coretta Scott King honors. (Delacorte Press, ages 10 and up, 243 pgs., $15.95)

"Our Only May Amelia," by Jennifer E. Holm - The easy first person narrative of this novel will make readers feel as if they are joining the tomboyish May Amelia on her many adventures on the Naselle River in southwestern Washington. Set at the turn of the last century, this Newbery runner-up was inspired by diaries written by the author's greataunt. May Amelia's family is originally from Finland. She has seven older brothers who delight her and drive her crazy. She's hoping that the baby her mama is carrying will be a girl. Full of details about Finnish food and tradition, rivers, sawmills, and life in rowdy Astoria, Ore., this is a lively historical novel about a culture and a place not often found in children's books. (HarperCollins, ages 9 and up, 253 pgs., $15.95)

Copyright 2000 Cowles Publishing Company
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