A great place to visit and spend the summer this year is your local public library. Every year around the country, public libraries celebrate the Summer Reading Program. It starts on June 1 and ends on Aug. 1. It is a game where every minute you read equals one point. You also can earn points by attending events and looking for secret codes in the libraries and other places around town. Your goal is 1,000 points.
Have you heard of the concept of a Little Free Library? A Little Free Library is a box filled with books; the concept is take a book or share a book. My family put one up in our neighborhood recently! It was a lot of fun to organize!
First I got in touch with my neighborhood’s HOA (Home Owners Association) to ask if I could have permission to install the library. Once I got permission, my family had to order, paint, and assemble the library to the library’s post. My family used paint stain to protect and seal the library wood and post.
“Under the Desert Skies: The Stinky, Curious, and Disgusting'' is a children's book about animals that live in the Sonoran Desert. Illustrated in a crafty and charming paper cut mosaic style, this book was written and illustrated by Ana Lewis and her sister-in-law, Corinne Lewis. Ana Lewis’s grandson who “loved books” inspired it.
I was lucky enough to interview author Katherine Applegate. She is the author of “The One and Only Ivan,” “The One and Only Bob” and her most recent book is “Odder.” “Odder” is about the life of an otter and the struggles she faces. A fun fact I learned from Applegate: otters sleep a lot.
“Dear Polar Bear...” by Barry Ablett is one of my favorite books. It is great for learning about different types of bears from around the world, their habitat and their environment. Polar Bear writes letters to his friends in other parts of the globe, and Postman Penguin delivers them. I love it because I also like to write letters to my friends!
The book starts with a big colorful map. It shows where the bears live and the mode of transportation used by Postman Penguin to deliver mail. There is a short description of each bear, its favorite food and fun facts.
Over the summer you can participate in the 2022 Pima County Public Library reading challenge. To participate in the Oceans of Possibilities Summer Learning Program, all you have to do is read 20 minutes a day. The program started June 1 and goes all the way until July 30, 2022.
You can read anything from chapter books to comic books or even listen to an audio book. The reading challenge is for kids ages 6–13. You can pick up the reading challenge information any time your local library is open.
Have you ever seen a library on wheels? The Tolleson City Library now has a library on wheels. Book Mobile clerk, Chip, told me about the Library on Wheels.
Chip is an ASU graduate and loves to read. His dream was to work in a library. Chip got the job with a one day application. Chip has been with the Tolleson City Library almost a year.
The book “Front Desk” is a very memorable story written by Kelly Yang. It tells about 10-year-old Mia Tang and her struggles as she moves from China to California. Mia wants to enter an essay contest to win a motel for her family. She thinks that this will change her family’s luck in California. She uses all of her pennies and her dad’s lucky pennies to get $300 to enter.
I recently read the book “One Moment in Time” by Ben Lerwill and Alette Straathof. It is fun! It is like going around the globe, from USA to Australia and from Scotland to India.
Did you know that morning, afternoon, and evening happen at different times in every part of the world? This book explains that children at one moment in time are doing different activities because each of them lives in a different time zone. For example, while it is morning in Brazil, and a child is in math class, in Turkey, a child is borrowing a book from the library in the afternoon.
“I Wish I Had a Wookiee: And Other Poems for Our Galaxy” is a great book for children who loved the Star Wars series. This book of poetry features poems about things that actually happened in the movies. For example, it shows Jango’s and Boba Fett’s relationship in a way that’s similar to the films. It also features new concepts entirely, such as a poem called “Looking for Gungan City.” That poem is about a girl swimming to try and find the underwater city of Gungan, which did not happen in the Star Wars movies.
