Summer Holiday Reading

School holidays often equals long periods of idle time to fill and a child’s reading skills can slide during the six weeks away from school. Re-reading a bunch of their familiar favourite books will keep them engaged with reading. Familiarity breeds confidence, pre-empting the familiar twists and turns in the narrative keeps them practicing their reading skills till it’s time to start reading in term one next year.

Re-reading a series of books is of great benefit to reluctant readers, and what better way to fill hot summers day with one they are accustomed to. Already having formed a relationship with the characters and narrative, reading a well-loved series will be less of a struggle.

A series also acquaints young readers with the author’s writing style. Once the first book has been tackled, subsequent books in the series will be less of a challenge, encouraging your child to keep on reading. It doesn’t matter if the story line is sequential or each book is an independent story about a familiar character.

The benefit of a sequential series being the story teller takes the reader on an adventure over a number of books. To keep pace with the characters through the complexities of the story and reach the end of a journey, the reader is encouraged to continue on reading.

Holiday visits to your local library can fill in time, away from the heat of summer, and become an adventure for discovering new series to read and take home. The best thing to do is let your kids choose their books to read and keep reading.

As an example, the non-sequential Lynley Dodd’s Hairy Mc Clary from Donaldson Dairy, a loveable character whose antics keep young readers coming back for more.

Click the link to our summer reading suggestions.