Summer Reading Guide

TIPS FOR K-2

Read your child’s favorite stories aloud.
Let your child read aloud to you. Reading the same book multiple times is natural and beneficial for new readers. You might also want to try reading a page to your child and then ask your child to read the same page back to you. Keep it fun or make it into a game.
Practice the names of letters and the sounds the letters make. “Do you see the letter ‘b’ on the page? What sound does that letter make?”
Practice the sounds in words with your child. Young children often do not hear all the sounds that make up words. Use rhyming words: cat-> hat -> mat -> bat. Sound words out with your child: “Where’s your book? B-b-b--oooo-k.”

Set up a comfortable space in your home for reading, free from distractions like TV/computer/games/phones. Placing pillows or cushions on the floor is an easy way to make any space into a reading space.
Have reading materials such as books, magazines, newspapers, etc. throughout your home and easily accessible to your children.
Always bring a book to read on public transportation and when you anticipate having to wait in a line.
Create a special place for your children to keep their books in the home. For example, a specific section of a bookshelf, a box in their room or in a designated place at home, etc.

Read your child’s favorite stories aloud.
Let your child read aloud to you. If their reading sounds choppy, practice the page(s) several times. Alternatively, you read the page first, and then ask your child to read the same page back to you. Keep it fun or make it into a game.
Find materials to read aloud wherever you go: menus, advertisements, brochures, street and store signs, bus and subway maps, catalogs that come in the mail, free newspapers, etc.

Set up a comfortable space in your home for reading, free from distractions like TV/computer/games/phones. Placing pillows or cushions on the floor is an easy way to make any space into a reading space.
Have reading materials such as books, magazines, newspapers, etc. throughout your home and easily accessible to your children.
Subscribe to a children’s magazine and have the magazine sent directly to your child. Show interest when it arrives: for example, “Show me your favorite article,” “I love that picture of the sea lions.” Some popular magazines include Highlights, Ranger Rick, Sports Illustrated for Kids and National Geographic Junior.
Use reading as a vehicle for learning. For example, if your child is interested in flying a kite, read an article on making a kite at home.
Ask relatives and friends who do not live near you to send letters or emails to your child.
Always bring a book to read on public transportation and when you anticipate having to wait in a line.
Create a special place for your children to keep their books in the home. For example, a specific section of a bookshelf, a box in their room, etc.

Book Title	Author
A Gift from Abuela	Cecilia Ruiz
All the Way to Havana	Margarita Engle
Blue Sky White Stars	Sarvinder Naberhaus
Carmela Full of Wishes	Matt de la Peña
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus	Mo Willems
Frog and Toad Together	Arnold Lobel
Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors	Hena Khan
I Am Enough	Grace Byers
Last Stop on Market Street	Matt de la Peña
Llama Llama Red Pajama	Ann Dewdney
Malala's Magic Pencil	Malala Yousafzai
Monsoon Afternoon	Kashmira Sheth
Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons	Eric Litwin
Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat	Javaka Steptoe
Sugar Hill: Harlem's History Neighborhood	Carole Boston Weatherford
The Undefeated	Kwame Alexander
Under My Hijab	Hena Khan
We are Grateful: Ostaliheliga	Traci Sorell
Where are You From?	Yamile Saeid Méndez
You Hold Me Up	Monique Gray Smith