Providence Schools' 2011 Summer Reading Lists

Via Kidoinfo, I found info on the Providence Community Libraries' "Un Mundo, Muchas Historias/One World, Many Stories" summer reading program and the Providence Schools' 2011 summer reading lists for kindergarteners through eighth graders (FYI, that link opens a PDF - here's the summer reading list in quickly converted text form). The list offers lots of interesting titles that the Providence Community Libraries will have on hand. I don't know how the Providence Schools' list was developed nor how individual schools may plan to use it; I'll ask around to try to find answers to both of those unknowns.

A few are our family favorites; I know that Rosemary Wells' My Kindergarten will be in heavy rotation among Henry's nightly books as he gets ready for kindergarten in the fall. Many are new to me, and I suspect new to my kids, who, in addition to the rising kindergarteners, are heading into third and sixth grades.

Our incoming sixth grader is already fired up for lots of reading time this summer; he already has plans to get busy with The Hobbit, an interest sparked by what he's learning in library during school, which offers the perfect chance to say yay and thank you, school librarians! I'm interested to see titles from the list catch his eye.

Our incoming third grader was breezing through the Harry Potter books for  a few months with great delight but he's slowed down. At home, he isn't reading as much as he used to, and I'm not sure why. I've been looking forward to unrushed trips to the library with him and have been eager to figure out what will capture his interest.

And as Mr. Incoming Kindergartener would tell you, he can't read yet. But he's getting very very close! He loves books passionately and doesn't let his place on the far side of the reading line slow him down. I am eager to keep him swimming in a sea of books all summer; there's nowhere he'd rather be (except maybe in a sea of Legos) and there's no better way to get him ready to learn in the fall.

Assuming (hoping desperately) that the current dispute between the Providence Community Libraries and the Providence Public Library will be resolved, we'll see you at the library this summer!

Update: Here's a bit more about Providence's library dispute.