Just for the Summer Fun of It

It’s not always easy getting children to read, especially during the long summer months. Experts say that sometimes the best thing a parent can do is nothing--but make sure books are easily available.

Let children get tired of the same old television reruns, of doing nothing with the same old friends. Let them be bored, and they could become avid readers, according to librarians, principals, teachers, children and those who study literacy.

“Boredom helps,” said Marilyn Robertson, a librarian for the Los Angeles Unified School District and president-elect of the California School Library Assn. “Kids today have so many distractions, they’re not used to downtime. Books become a more attractive option when [children] find themselves with nothing to do.”

Weekly visits to the library might become more attractive during the summer, when students aren’t as bogged down with schoolwork, homework and extracurricular activities.

But even those whose date books are crowded with appointments--soccer games, Scouting, swimming lessons, jobs or summer school--should have enough free time for library trips.

“In our dreams we like to think of summer as slow-paced, but I’m not sure if that fits the reality of the ‘90s,” Robertson said. “But there’s still time for reading.”

Regardless of summer plans, experts urge parents to provide a constant stream of books, whether a scary series by R.L. Stine, adolescent angst books by Judy Blume, E.B. White classics or silly-sounding tales such as “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom,” by Bill Martin, and “The Adventures of Captain Underpants: An Epic Novel,” by Dav Pilkey.

“Given interesting reading material, and a comfortable place to read, most children will become readers,” said Stephen Krashen, an education professor at USC. “It may not happen right away, but it will happen.”

During the summer, most public libraries and bookstores increase their free reading activities, such as teenage book clubs, exhibitions, book signings by children’s authors and story times, often involving costumes, painted faces and theatrics.

Los Angeles Public Library branches sponsor additional activities, including Internet classes, crafts, magic shows, yo-yo lessons. Most branches also offer air-conditioning, a luxury for many students stuck in hot homes.

Librarians don’t care why they come, just that they do.

“The point is to get them to come regularly to the library,” said Anne Connor, coordinator of children’s services for the Los Angeles Public Library. “The hope is they’ll want to keep coming back.”

Parents can turn a library visit into a fun project, such as researching a summer vacation spot.

Or if they go to the beach a lot, children can find books about marine life, or pick out fun summer novels, such as the Babysitters Club series.

Camping trips are perfect opportunities to read books aloud, experts say, suggesting folk tales or books that invite audience interaction.

Many summer day camps highlight reading. The Los Angeles Zoo Camp, for elementary and middle school students, includes at least 20 minutes of reading about animals and wildlife, including such books as “Chimpanzees and Bonobos,” by Ann Elwood, “A Natural History of California,” by Allan Schoenherr, and “The Chumash Indians,” by Bill Lund.

Children also write daily in journals. “It helps connect them to what we read and learn,” said Don Gere, the summer camp director and an assistant curator at the zoo.

At the Westside Family YMCA, kindergartners and first-graders read, are read to, and make their own books during a 10-week day camp. “The children always enjoy the reading activities,” said Ryan Bleecher, a summer camp director.

Librarians and teachers emphasize that parents should allow children to read what they want in the summer. Throughout the school year, children are told what’s good for them to read. If they’re told what to read in the summer too, they probably won’t think it’s fun.

“If they read Garfield books voraciously, then give them more Garfield books,” said Connor. “If your child is 10 and you think [he] should be reading ‘Treasure Island,’ it could be a real turnoff if the child isn’t interested in pirates.”

Stephen Saito, 17, said most of his friends at Burbank High School dislike reading during the school year simply because “it’s something you have to do, not something you want to do.” So during the summer, they want to pursue their own reading interests, like mysteries and books about sports and entertainment, he said.

If all other tactics fail with younger children, librarians recommend J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” about a boy who flees mean relatives to enter Hogwarts School of Witchcraft.

Librarians say the tale appeals to children of all backgrounds--urban, suburban and rural. “It’s the hottest summer book,” said L.A. Unified’s Robertson.

* SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LIVING

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