The end of the school year is right around the corner!

For parents that’s no more carpools, no more packed lunches, no more homework battles! Right?

Before you get ready sink into that hammock on the beach… what about summer reading?

Fun and relaxation are important. All work and no play really does make Jack a dull boy. But nobody wants to encourage the “summer slump”. Studies indicate that children lose two months of math and reading achievement when their learning stalls over the summer. Elementary school librarian and children’s lit expert Louise Simone says “Of course, keeping students engaged and using some part of their brains over the summer is a good thing. Reading does that.”

Some kids look forward to plenty of free time reading in the summer. But for others summer reading is like a death curse… hence John Scieszka and Lane Smith’s very funny middle grade novel-

How can you minimize summer reading bloodshed? Consider these ideas-

1. Keep it real. Several years ago New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof proposed a summer reading list that’s a perfect template for how to make your own life miserable and squelch every last ounce of summer reading enthusiasm in your skeptical reader. Sprinkled among Kristof’s ridiculously predictable Harry Potter-ish recommendations were some good old classics like Little Lord Fauntelroy. Really?? Really???  Was he kidding? No. Then he proposed Lad, A Dog, written by Albert Payson Terhune almost one hundred years ago.

Kristof praised the book, saying “this is a book so full of SAT words it could put Stanley Kaplan out of business.”

Indeed! Here’s a paragraph from the first page of Lad-

“The Master had fished the month-old puppy out of the cavern of his pocket and set her down, asprawl and shivering and squealing, on the veranda floor. Lad had walked cautiously across the veranda, sniffed inquiry at the blinking pigmy who gallantly essayed to growl defiance up at the huge welcomer—and from that first moment he had taken her under his protection.”

???

I’m a big dog book lover (not to mention an admirer of high SAT scores). I’m TOTALLY in favor of smart books for kids! But forcing this book on your children guarantees growls of defiance.

Books you remembered from your own childhood? Or your great grandparent’s childhood? Skip them this summer. During the sizzling summer months kids are much more likely to read… and love… modern middle-grade novels, written with today’s pacing and relevant vocabulary. Check out Bobby Pyron’s A Dog’s Way Home

or any of the other fantastic modern middle-grade novels we’ve compiled in reading lists here at From The Mixed-Up Files.

2. Participate!  Some schools have mandatory summer reading lists. Nearly every local library has a summer reading program. Whether you and your child are selecting summer reading books on your own or participating in an established (or required) program fun summer reading should involve parents as much as kids.

Consider reading along with your child. Discuss the book at meal time. Read aloud together, alternating pages. How about a neighborhood summer reading book club? For most people, and that includes kids, going it alone isn’t a lot of fun. Turning summer reading into family reading will pay dividends in ways you’ve never imagined. Read more about parents’ role in creating a rich summer reading experience in this thoughtful article written for the National Summer Learning Association by Harvard professor James Kim.

3. Take advantage of resources-  There’s so much available on the internet these days. Scholastic has wonderful summer reading resources. And check out WETA/PBS’s Reading Rocket’s summer reading tips and activities. Even ordinary moms have posted tried and true summer reading strategies on the net.  When in doubt go with experts like teachers at your own school, the educators at Scholastic, or your neighborhood librarians, and most of all your own good sense. Tune out the dictates of  random newspaper guys who thinks kids want to read Little Lord Fauntelroy for fun… unless your child is that one in a thousand who really gets into Victorian didacticism.

Which is the point of summer reading, actually. Perfect summer reading is tailored to the child. Explore new genres. Delve into great series. Stretch skills but sometimes fall back on old favorites. Let your child pick some books on his or her own. Select others based on your child’s own taste and ability. Summer reading shouldn’t be an unpleasant job for your child–or for you. Have fun reading books! Those lazy hazy days of summer will be a lot less crazy when you and your children settle down together with a stack of great books.

What will your middle-graders read this summer?

Nobody ever had to force Tami Lewis Brown to read in the summer… but she never had to read Lad, A Dog!

We love to watch middle-graders emerge as fluent readers. No longer focused on decoding and sounding out every syllable, a strong reader basks in the glory of a great story.

But reading doesn’t come easy for everyone– it was a huge struggle for me and look at me now! (Okay you can’t REALLY look at me but I’m a true blue book lover and an author.)

Many non-readers must break through two barriers to become book lovers- Confidence and Practice. But practice… that old try and try again… can lead to frustration instead of success. And confidence? How can emergent readers build that? These days an amazing reading scheme is spreading across the country, one I wish had been around when I was consigned to the Sparrow reading group. Known by various names including RUFF, BARK, Puppy Dog Tales, Reading With Rover and R.E.A.D. it all comes down to reading to a dog!

Cute, right? Reading aloud to a dog takes reading anxiety away… and replaces it with cuddles. Gentle reading dogs can boost a fearful child’s social skills, too, as he or she interacts with a friendly, engaged animal often for the first time.

But these programs are MUCH more than cute. They really work and their effectiveness has been clinically proven. Corrine Serra Smith wrote her doctoral dissertation analyzing a Sit Stay Read program in urban Chicago and found ”students in the program group… gaining 8 words per minute more on average, but up to 14 words per minute more in some cases, than students in a comparison group. This represents a 20 percent improvement in the program group over the comparison group in oral reading fluency gain.”  A twenty percent fluency improvement- from reading to a dog! This can be life changing, transforming a child who avoids books and stumbles over words to a confident reading expert, ready to take on other classroom challenges and excel in language arts, history and even math lessons. Research has also been conducted at the University of California at Davis where in only ten weeks they found a thirty percent reading fluency improvement among home schooled students. Kids there said “I feel relaxed when I am reading to a dog because I am having fun” and “I felt like I was reading out loud faster and better.”

(photo courtesy of UC Davis)

What sort of dogs can participate? In some communities certified therapy animals who’ve undergone extensive obedience and other training are preferred but other places welcome any calm, well behaved (and clean!) pet. The point is a safe non-judgmental audience.

What sort of kids can participate? Obviously not every person is a dog lover but any child who’s not allergic or exceptionally fearful can benefit from reading to a dog. You need not be a struggling reader to enjoy sharing a story with a man’s best friend. This is definitely an “all join in” activity. School and libraries across the country are inviting dogs to join their reading lessons. The question isn’t whether reading to a dog is a good idea. It’s where’s the program nearest you– or how can you form a new program for your middle-grade readers.

Ready to start? The Reading With Rover site has some great tips for founding your own dog reading program. In the Washington, DC area, where I live, you can contact People Animals Love. They operate a successful pet therapy programs, including reading to dogs, all over the metro DC area. The New York Public Library supports the R.E.A.D. program. Reading to a dog has even gone international with a fantastic program in Staffordshire, England! In fact there are too many independent programs to list. To find an existing program near you I’d recommend you do a Google search with “read to a dog” and the name of your own community.

From the Mixed-Up Files can even help, with a list of our favorite “no dogs die” dog books. What canine companion can resist Because Of Winn-Dixie?

Arf! Arf! What are you waiting for? Hook up that leash, crack open your favorite book, and get reading!

What book would you read to a dog?

Tami Lewis Brown is a big book and dog lover. Her three Cavalier King Charles Spaniels love hearing her read from her works in progress and aspire to be profession reading therapy dogs themselves.

Today we welcome Candlewick editor Kaylan Adair to From The Mixed-Up Files.

Kaylan has edited a number of outstanding middle-grade novels including Down Sand Mountain by Steve Watkins, Small As An Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson and the upcoming Garden Princess by Kristin Kladstrup.  She was even the American editor of A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, a novel that straddles that tricky YA/Middle-grade line.

Welcome Kaylan! What excites you about editing middle-grade novels?

Middle-grade novels are what turned me into a reader. I struggled with reading for much of my early life but in fourth or fifth grade, my (incredibly patient) school librarian convinced me to give the novel Follow My Leader a try. The book struck me as being intimidatingly long, but it was about a boy who’s blinded in an accident and gets a guide dog and I was obsessed with dogs at the time (particularly German shepherds), so I decided to give it a try. It’s the first middle-grade novel I remember reading for pleasure. And it’s no exaggeration to say that that experience changed my life. Suddenly, countless worlds opened up to me. I quickly discovered Lois Lowry and devoured everything she’d ever written.

I signed up to read books for our state book award (the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award) and twice read enough books to be selected to go to the awards ceremony — quite an accomplishment for the girl who’d been so stressed about having to finish an assigned book that she’d thrown up on the novel the year before. (In class. In front of everyone.)

 To this day, middle-grade novels seem magical to me. They remain portals to other worlds — as many books are, certainly, but with middle-grade novels, I am keenly aware of the huge significance they can have on a young reader, on someone who’s still learning about the world and about herself. Whenever I work on a middle-grade novel, part of me can’t help wondering how this book might change some child’s life.

What were your favorite books when you were 9-12?

Lois Lowry was there for me at a very important time in my life. I remember reading the ending of The Giver during a school assembly in the auditorium. I couldn’t bear to put the book down, and when I finally finished, I sat there in a daze, trying to puzzle out the ending. (I have no idea what the assembly was about, by the way.)

We know you’re excited about the publication of Garden Princess, the story of an unlikely princess and a strange, enchanted garden (with a heart-stoppingly GORGEOUS cover sure to tempt any middle-grade reader.) Anything else in the middle-grade world you’re looking forward to this spring?

Yes! I’m excited and honored to attend the Highlights Whole Novel: Middle Grade retreat from March 3-9.  

I’ve never participated in anything like this before (and perhaps there is nothing else like this out there!), so I’m very much looking forward to the opportunity to connect in a deep and meaningful way with authors and with their manuscripts. My hope for the writers is that they leave the retreat feeling energized and excited to continue working on their projects. Perhaps they’ll gain some new insight into their story or characters because of our week together, or perhaps even just the choice to prioritize their writing for this one week will have a lasting impact and they’ll continue to prioritize their novels long after our time together has ended.

The good news for you, dear From The Mixed-Up Files readers and writers, is there’s still space available at Highlights’ Whole Novel Retreat: Middle Grade. Get more information here. It’s a chance to take your own middle-grade novel to the next level, work with wonderful mentors including Kaylan, gorge on the famous Boyds Mill farm cuisine, and immerse yourself in books and writing… it doesn’t get better than this!

Tami Lewis Brown is hard at work on her next (whole) middle-grade novel and she looks forward to joining editors Kaylan Adair, Molly O’Neill (HarperCollins), Elizabeth VanDoren (Boyds Mill) and a slew of fantastic writers and mentors at the Highlights retreat this spring.