Stop the 'Summer Slide'!

You may be thinking, encouraging summer reading over the school holidays may seem tricky but it doesn’t need to be!

Books can encourage children and adults to become imaginative and inventive thinkers and spark creativity in all of us. Not only does reading over the summer break promote positive creative play and maintain literacy skills, it also prevents the ‘summer slide’ which refers to the loss of literacy skills over the summer holidays when children do not read.

Join in on the YPRL ‘Big Summer Read’ program to engage in reading for fun and to support your child’s literacy development. There are so many positives to joining the Big Summer Read, there are prizes and great incentives to keep kids reading over the holiday, we even have Swap Cards available at branches whenever you borrow books! Read more about them here.

Linking storybooks to real life adventures can be so much fun! Here are a few examples that you may like to try over these summer school holidays.

Embrace the wonder and new learning journeys that this summer can bring through the world of reading!

Bluey and Bingo’s Fancy Restaurant Cookbook

Reading Recipes: Wherever you are over the holidays, you can access one of our eBooks on BorrowBox to cook up a storm! Join Bluey and Bingo at their Fancy Restaurant and learn how to make lots of yummy recipes - for real life.

Have you seen the Gruffalo?

Drawing and Reading Maps: Explore the deep dark wood in your own backyard or your holiday destination by drawing a map to see if you can spot the Gruffalo. You can act out the story by playing the roles of the Mouse, Fox, Snake or Owl whilst trying to find the Gruffalo.

The 13-Storey Treehouse

Treehouse Designs: Create your very own storey tree house design and even build it out of safe materials found at home.

Deadly Science – How Plants Thrive

Gardening: Explore the garden over the summertime and how plants thrive in ‘Deadly Science’. In this book you will discover seeds that need fire to crack open, encounter carnivorous plants that eat insects, and others that can be used to make a drink for sore throats.

Amulet. Book 1, The Stonekeeper

Comics and Graphic Novels: Explore the Amulet series as an eBook through the YPRL apps Libby or BorrowBox or a hard copy of the book! Just like the characters adventures, you can choose one character and create a series of diary entries on your holiday travels. You can also explore thousands of comics, manga, and graphic novels on Comics Plus by Library Pass on our YPRL website.