We are officially two weeks into this year’s Summer Reading Program, Imagine Your Story. As one of our SRP activities this year, we have created Summer Reading Bingo sheets that are full of book suggestions, activity ideas, and ways to engage yourself and your family in stories and fulfill your reading goals. This week, I documented my journey completing a bingo.
–Read a book with a one-word title. I chose “Dig.” by A.S. King. This book is a YA fiction that dabbles in magical realism while telling the story of five teenage cousins who are lost in the mess of their eerie family secrets. The topics, including race, class, and death, are poignant and relevant while the writing is razor-sharp and wonderfully balanced. Reading this story was a visceral and thought-provoking experience, and I devoured the book in just a few days.
–Write a list of ten things you are grateful for. In no particular order, at this current moment I am grateful for sun tea, my front porch, the many good books coming out this summer, open windows, green onions, pink sunrises, my kids’ ardent interest in collecting bugs, flowers in bloom, community, and overalls.
–Listen to a podcast. Lately, I have been catching up on episodes of the podcast Heavyweight. Delivered with the deadpan humor of host Johnathan Goldstein, Heavyweight tells the stories of people who have lived with burning regrets or unresolved questions about their past and follows their journeys to find the answers they are desperately looking for. My kids have also been enjoying Smash Boom Best, a kid-hosted, debate-style podcast that examines wacky rivalries such as tacos versus pizza, unicorns versus dragons, and lava versus quicksand. It is educational, entertaining, and hilarious for both kids and adults.
–Read a book from the year you were born. The secret is out – I was born in 1989, and one of the best-selling children’s books of that year was “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” by Bill Martin Jr. This book is a classic, with its brightly colored alphabet illustrations and sing-song rhymes, and one I read often with my own kids and my Storytime patrons. Additionally, though I have yet to read it, “Moon Palace” by Paul Auster is another 1989 release that is on my “to be read” list for the summer.
–Dress up as your favorite book character. I chose the delightful Pete the Cat, inspired by “Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons” by James Dean and Eric Litwin. With a yellow shirt, four groovy buttons, and blue cat ears, I would say I am a spitting image.
The Summer Reading Programs runs through July 25. Come into the library to pick up a packet today. Get lost in a good book, engage with your family and community, and imagine your story.
