Summertime and reading go together like ice cream and a cone

Summer time reading liberates reading from the long list of assignments that often accompany

reading during the school year.
The tyranny of the assignment—

Read for 20 minutes

Keep a journal of your reading

Answer these questions

Write a book report—

Assignments so often rob the pleasure

out of reading.
Lets hear it for—Read whatever you choose and like

Reread a favorite book. You get to revisit a book you loved. You get to love it all over again. You now bring more to that reading experience so you get so much more out of the book.

There is absolutely nothing you have to do, other than read for pleasure. There are no assignments lurking that asks you to prove how much you understood the book.

There is no one saying you are not a fast enough reader

There is no one saying you are not reading challenging enough books

There is no one saying there is no purpose in rereading a book.
You know the story.

When we look at all the messages adults give children that suck all the pleasure out of the reading experience, it should come as no surprise that reading for pleasure is going by the wayside for too many children.

Replace those messages with—

Read what you want

Read what you choose

Read to get lost in a story

Read to meet new people and go new places

Finish a book and immediately begin to read it again—you are not yet ready to leave the story.