One happy discovery for me upon joining the blogosphere was the connection with fellow bibliophiles. There are countless book reviews and reading suggestions, as well as character references and theme dissections. Discussions are always enriching and inspiring, causing my books-to-read-someday list to grow ridiculously long.
Reading challenges are another facet of the blogging world. The challenges themselves are quite creative, from the 1% Well-Read Challenge—in which you read 10 of the top 1,001 books from 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (Peter Boxall, ed.)—to the Books Into Movies Challenge—for which you read any two books that have made their way to the silver screen.
I’ve joined two such challenges so far: One was the Well-Seasoned Reader Challenge, which was designed to stretch your book selections based on various criteria for the book’s title. The other was the 24-hour read-a-thon I completed in April.
These blogosphere challenges have awoken a long-slumbering competitive vein in me—not to crush the competition, but to push myself to read and expand the sort of books I choose to consume.
So when my sister mentioned that she and her kids were joining a summer reading challenge again, I jumped in too. This one is old-school though: through the local library.
This challenge is called A.R.K.S.: Adults Reading Kids’ Stuff. There are various categories to complete, for a total of 25 books:
Juvenile Nonfiction (2)
Juvenile Paperback
Picture Book or Fiction (4)
Your Choice (4)
Questioned/Challenged Book
Monarch Award or Honor Book
Fairy Tale
Coretta Scott King Award or Honor Book
Series or Graphic Novel (3)
Juvenile Biography
Rebecca Caudill Award or Honor Book
Caldecott Award or Honor Book
Beginning to Read or Easy Reader (2)
Newberry Award or Honor Book
Poetry or Illinois Author
And there are prizes! Incentives aren’t necessary to get this gal to read, but it does make it more fun. Who wouldn’t want a free cookie or milkshake? Cookies and books just go together, I think.
So my summer reading will be full of books that I wouldn’t have read otherwise. That’s what makes it a good challenge. Let’s just hope I pick some good ones! Feel free to drop some suggestions, as this is really not a genre I’m familiar with anymore.
And come back soon for more thoughts on ARKS and my progress—books reviews, reading suggestions, character references, and theme dissections. You know, all that good book stuff.
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 8:45 am
Thanks so much for sending me your blog address, Erin! It’s funny this is the first post I am reading; I’m an avid children’s literature fan! My kids are doing the same reading program as your sister’s children, but I added a twist this year. They have a Bingo sheet to complete with some “required” titles Mom would like them to read, and they get prizes as a reward. (I borrowed this idea directly from ARKS!) Here are some titles from my 10-year-old’s list along with a few of my favorites thrown in. Some of these are Newbery Award books:
The Giver by Lois Lowry (this book will make you think!)
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (any of her books are good)
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth Speare (another great author)
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George (thumbs up from my 10-year-old)
The Riches of Oseola McCarty by Evelyn Coleman (biography picture book)
My Rows and Piles of Coins by Tolowa Mollel (a picture book with the story set in Tanzania)
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Some other great authors you may remember from school days: John Steinbeck, Scott O’Dell, Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Dick King-Smith (The Water Horse, Babe)
I’m on a roll! If you need any more ideas for a particular category, let me know. You’ll have to tell me which books you read this summer are particularly enjoyable or thought-provoking.
Leah—I’m so glad you stopped in! And the suggestions are awesome. I will add these to my books-to-find list. Come back and toss in your thoughts anytime. —es
Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 12:46 pm
I really need to get to the library ASAP, but until then in desperation I’m re-reading some books from my shelf that I haven’t read since I was too young to understand them: Til We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis and The Once and Future King by T.H. White. The first one isn’t much help with your challenge but the second one might be. Perhaps you could add a category for “forgotten classic.”
Queenie—I read the Lewis book just a few years ago, but was in the midst of a difficult refining stretch and that book was like reading through muddy glasses! I so wanted to get it, but it just did not click. You’ll have to explain it to me. We’re about due to meet . . . can’t wait to catch up. —es
Friday, July 10, 2009 at 2:24 pm
[...] summer reading programs, Waterless Mountain | Leave a Comment One of my first reads for the A.R.K.S. summer reading program was Waterless Mountain by Laura Adams Armer. The tale follows Little Brother through several [...]