Reading with Riggs :: Summer Reading Program at Palmer Public Library - week one

Whew, that was a long title! We're big readers in my family. Growing up, we'd have dinners once in a while where we were all allowed to bring a book to the table (usually when my mom wasn't home - thanks dad!) and we'd all just sit in silence and read while we ate. There's just something so comfortable and relaxing about getting caught up in a good story.

It makes sense then that every year when school got out, my sisters and I were always so excited for the summer reading program at our library. I think we participated every year, or at least signed up and started strong. As I got older, I remember how much I loved keeping track of all the books I read, slowly writing down each title on the packet the librarian would give us for that purpose.

So when I went into the Palmer Library earlier this week and saw that their summer reading program was starting up, I was so excited to sign Riggs up. Not only am I happy to share a tradition that I loved as a kid with him, but I'm also glad to sign him up because he loves to 'read'. He spends at least an hour every single day looking at the books in his room. He points to the words and says, "ba-da ba-da ba-da" and squirms excitedly as he turns the page, then continues to repeat that process on each page. Right now his favorites are any of the yellow covered Curious George books, for some reason he just loves them.

I've done a series over the last year sporadically that I called ::Reading with Riggs:: and I plan on continuing to do so for as long as Riggs likes to read and for as long as I continue to blog. For the next seven weeks I'll post a special summer reading program edition each week with updates on what books we read and other reading-related activities we did.

Each week kids in Riggs age group have to read/be read 10 different books. Riggs likes to read the same books over and over, but I'm going to try to read him some new books each week. This week we checked out a few books from the library - Riggs' first time checking out books ever! I want to try to have all ten books read and recorded by Friday in case the weekend is too busy.

Week One - 12 books

1. Moby Dick (a baby lit book) by Jennifer Adams
2. All of Baby, Nose to Toes by Victoria Adler
3. Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle
4. Alaska's ABC Bears by Shannon Cartwright
5. Curious George Learns to Count from 1-100 by H.A. Rey
6. Curious George Plants a Tree by H.A. Rey
7. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
8. Nobunny's Perfect by Anna Dewdney
9. Moongame by Frank Asch
10. Wake-Up Kisses by Pamela Duncan Edwards
11. ABC's of Kachemak Bay by Ann Keffer
12. This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie

Are you involved in a summer reading program at your local library? Share some good book ideas for toddlers!