Summer Reading

The summer holidays can be a time when children lose momentum with their reading. Katherine Woodfine writes about how to counteract the 'summer reading dip' during the long summer break

The summer is the perfect time for reading. Long lazy days on the beach, by the pool or in a deckchair in the garden, with plenty of time to catch up on some great books... right?
 
In fact, although many of us relish our holiday reading time, and book sales soared to a 2012 high in July (in part thanks to the record-breaking success of E L James' Fifty Shades of Grey, undoubtedly this summer's most popular poolside hit) for children there is often a significant 'dip' in reading over the summer. Research has shown that those who don't have access to books or regular reading opportunities at home tend to lose momentum with reading over the summer, and reading skills can often slide backwards as a result.
 
Luckily, programmes such as the Reading Agency's Summer Reading Challenge offer children great opportunities to enjoy reading over the summer break. The Summer Reading Challenge encourages children to read six books from their local library over the summer holidays: between July and September this year, 98% of UK library services will run the Challenge, which was taken up by 780,000 primary aged children last year. Over 90% of children have reported that the challenge makes them 'better readers' and taking in part can encourage not just children, but whole families to visit and join their local libraries, and to engage with reading over the holidays.
 
This year's Summer Reading Challenge draws on the current national enthusiasm for the Olympics, forming part of the London 2012 Festival, with children winning Olympic style medals for reading books. Popular children's authors supporting the Summer Reading Challenge include Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson who launched this year's challenge, saying: 'It's free, it's a fun thing to do in the summer holidays and its going to create lots of life-long readers. So let's get hundreds of thousands of children joining in...'
 
If you're looking for some books to inspire young readers during the long summer break, why not take a look at this list of our favourite summer reads? These fun, adventurous and engaging stories are perfect books for holiday time, and are guaranteed to grab young readers’ imaginations. Sports fans glued to the London 2012 Olympics might prefer to choose from this list of great children's books about sport, whether they prefer horse-riding or football, ballet or basketball. Meanwhile, for teenagers and young adults, we have a list of books about life-changing summers to remember. And for your own sun-lounger or airplane reading, don't forget to take a look at our recommended summer books for adults too.
 
Happy summer reading!