Summer Reading!

From The Golden Gate to Breckenridge to Central Park...Parish readers are everywhere this summer, and great books are part of the adventure! 



Finishing Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Reading Farmer Boy between courses at Hearthstone









Summer Kick-Off at BooksmArt

Parish readers were so lucky to have the chance to see and hear some of the very best children's authors and illustrators at the Dallas Museum of Art's BooksmArt Festival. The day was loaded with fun and activity for book and art lovers of all ages. Some of our Parish friends met David Wiesner, the author/illustrator of Art and Max. I was so excited to meet Jerry Pinkney, the illustrator of the Caldecott winning The Lion and the Mouse. I also was thrilled to meet Norton Juster who wrote the almost 50 year old beloved classic, The Phantom Tollbooth and my very favorite of all...Caldecott winner, The Hello, Goodbye Window.

Summer Reading

Summer! It is the perfect time for reading! I've been building a pile of books for three months to savor this summer. We've been talking about setting reading goals for the summer this week in the library. The first and second graders brainstormed specific goals that they might work toward this summer. It may be to find a new book series or to try a new genre. It might be to read more books in a series that is already familiar and fun. This week all of the first and second graders will write one goal on a summer sun. I'll save the first graders' suns and pass the second graders' on to Mrs. Wilson, the librarian at Midway. It will be a perfect starting point for book talk in August and a great way to look back at our summer reading accomplishments.














Kim Maughan, the fantastic children's librarian from our neighborhood Fretz Park library, treated the first and second graders to a lively reading of Wild About Books, and then she described the summer reading fun planned at the Dallas libraries. There are many fun and free programs being planned for children.
Bookstores also offer incentives for young readers in the summer. Here are a few:
Borders
Barnes and Noble
Half Price Books

Our Parish summer reading lists are posted on our school website. Remember that these lists are only a starting point for ideas.

Parents, if you are looking for a summer reading challenge of your own, you might like to scan the new Lariat List of recommended adult fiction created by the Texas Library Association.


Happy summer reading!

TumbleBooks

Parish families now have access to TumbleBooks, a collection of online animated talking picture books. Have fun exploring all of the books, games, and features on the site. TumbleBooks are designed to be experienced in either automatic or manual mode. In automatic mode, the pages turn by themselves and are narrated. In manual mode, the narration is turned off and users turn the pages at their own speed. This might be a fun resource for summer reading for our children. Be sure to let me know your thoughts! Just click on the link below. Happy reading!

http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/asp/home_tumblebooks.asp

User name: parishreads
Password: tumble