Summer Reading

     School is nearly out and the library is gearing up for summer reading.  Reading is one of the pleasures of summer especially for children, swaying in a hammock or lying on the beach with a book in hand, reading by flashlight in a tent or on a bunk in a summer camp cabin. Here's a plea to parents, if only for the summer, please allow your children to read whatever they want. Too often during the school year I see parents directing their children's reading, letting them read only from recommended lists the parents hold, checking each book a child selects to see if it is too "easy". Lighten up, parents, please, because you are removing much of the joy of reading from your children. It hasn't ever been about "hard" or "easy", it's about story first and foremost. Part of the fun of choosing books at the library is the joy of discovery, finding a book you may or may not like, taking it home and seeing if you do like it. It's summer, the library is free, and if your child doesn't like a book it's okay for him not to finish it. Most everything we have in the library is recommended in one way or another, so just for the season, let your child choose her own books. Reading has never been a ladder to climb, it's a pleasure to savor. The fact is, I think this pressure has turned many children off to reading. I am no longer seeing the kind of child readers who once frequented the library, checking out stacks of books, spending time examining each one to see what it is about. Yes, parents of preschoolers still check out many books, but school age children, on their own, rarely do. Instead reading seems to be another chore, another task to master to please their parents. It's not a way to raise a reader, someone who will find joy, amusement, solace and information from books all their lives. Adults, do yourself a favor too, and read whatever you want this summer, maybe something you have always wanted to try. As for me, I'll be rereading a favorite book from my own childhood,  Little Women, something I have wanted to do for some time .