FOR THE KIDS / LIBRARIES : Paging All Parents : A countywide summer program offers a great way to encourage children to read or simply keep them entertained.

Are your kids looking for something to do this summer besides chomping down Big Macs, watching Daffy Duck cartoons and going bug-eyed over Nintendo?

Take them to the library.

Yes, the library. All the libraries in the county have summer programs for kids. Some will encourage children to read, while others will provide entertainment with everything from magic shows to telling jokes. And it’s all free.

Last summer the 12 libraries that make up the Ventura County Library Services Agency sponsored a reading program that drew more than 8,000 children. Kids read books and picked up clues to solve a mystery.

This summer the program has a different twist. It’s called Talespinners, and it’s a 10-week series that features 15 characters from folklore around the world.

It works this way. The kids first come into the library and sign up. Then, after they read at least one book, they get an orange folder with little tongue-in-cheek vignettes about five characters.

Take, for instance, Scheherazade. Kids learn that this character is from “The Arabian Nights: Tales of Wonder and Magnificence.”

They read a little “creative history” about the character:

“Scheherazade was married to an unhappy sultan, and as you know, unhappy sultans are dangerous sultans. To cheer the sultan up, Scheherazade told him one story a night for 1,001 nights.”

They find out Scheherazade likes “books, Persian rugs (the kind that fly) and grapes.” Dislikes include “goats, genies and lamp salesmen.”

You get the picture.

Every time the younger kids read three picture books, (or hear them read) they come to the library and get one of five stickers representing each of the characters in the folder. (Older kids read one book for every two picture books.) Each week they go to the library and receive one of 10 cards, featuring other characters and vignettes.

After they have read 15 books, they receive an iron-on T-shirt transfer depicting Coyote, a character from American Indian folklore.

At the end of 10 weeks, the children will pick the best storyteller among the 15 characters. As the story goes, Coyote was picked best storyteller last year at an international “telling,” and this year’s 15 contestants are challenging his title.

The program starts this week and runs through Aug. 16. To kick it off, the library agency has scheduled puppet shows and dramatic presentations based on well-known stories at 15 libraries and locations in the county during June.

At the new Oxnard Library and its South Oxnard Center Branch kids from preschool through sixth grade can take part in the summer program called Tons of Fun at the Library.

Kids sign up for the independent reading program after they’ve read--or have heard read--one book. After 10 books, they get little prizes and put their name in for a drawing.

The summer program also includes activities on Wednesdays at both libraries. The kickoff is a magic show June 20 at 1 p.m. at the main library and at 11 a.m. at the branch library.

The Wednesday shows, beginning June 24, are at 3:30 p.m. at both libraries. The hourlong sessions include crafts, hobbies, riddles and jokes, musical instrument, telling scary stories and caring for pets. The finale will be a bluegrass demonstration Aug. 1.

The Thousand Oaks Library also has its own Tons of Fun program. Kids can participate in the Summer Reading Club. Every week they come into the library and list the books they have read or heard read and they receive a little prize, such as a bookmark, coloring sheet or fast-food coupon.

* FYI

For information about the summer reading program Talespinners, sponsored by the 12 libraries under the Ventura County Library Services Agency, call the individual libraries or 652-7541. For other information, call the Thousand Oaks Library, 497-6282, or the Oxnard Library, 385-7535.