And the winners of the Amazing Summer Reading Race are . . .

about to get one of these amazing summer reading race trophies!

Thank you for reading with me this summer from A to Z.

Love, Grandma

Reading Y-Z's

Oh me, oh my . . . Why we're nearly at the end of the road

of the amazing summer reading racetrack.

Maybe you would like to read:

"You are Special" by Max Lucado

my "Yankee Doodle America" alphabet book

"The Year of the Book" by Andrea Cheng

"A Year with Friends" by John Seven

or "The ABC's of Yoga for Kids" by

Teresa Anne Power

Some zany "Z" titles:

"Zap! a Brief History of Television"

"Zap! I'm a Mind Reader"-- one title in a series called

"The Zack Files" by Dan Greenburg

"A Zeal of Zebras--an Alphabet of Collective Nouns"

"Zelda and Ivy"--two fabulous fox sisters

in a book by Laura McGee Kvasnosky

"Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin" by Lloyd Moss

"ZooZical" by Judy Sierra

and the zaniest of all:

"Z is for Moose" by Kelly Bingham

This may be the end of the alphabet . . .
but the actual reading race does not end until
the end of August. You all still have time to
win an amazing summer reading race trophy
(even if all you read is one book, Zach!)

Happy Summer Reading!
Love, Grandma

Reading X

Did you read any of the favorite books of your cousins this summer?
If so, put an "X" by the title . . . or rather put an "x"
on your amazing summer reading racetrack.

 

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books by Jeff Kinney
are favorites of both Brody and Coltin.

   

Any "Series of Unfortunate Events" books
by Lemony Snicket are favorites of Eddy.

"Harry Potter" books by J.K. Rowling
 are Jack's favorites.

A "Pete the Cat" book happened to be on top of
the book basket the day Lindsay picked her favorite
book . . . but according to her Mom, every time
they go to the library Lindsay finds a new "favorite" book!

Luke likes the "Fly Guy" books by Tedd Arnold.

Nash likes the board book "Peek-a-Who?"

Owen's favorite board book is "10 Trick-or-Treaters".

Parker liked a "Duck and Goose" board book on this particular day.

Ryan's favorite book is "Buzz's Big Mission"--
from the Disney Pixar Storybook Library.

Wade loves legos and his "Amazing ABC" lego book.

And Zach doesn't like reading much,
but does like "The Unwanteds" series by Lisa McMann.

Happy "X marks the spot"!
Love, Grandma

Reading W's

My wagon is full of "W"onderful books like
"Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak
"Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White
and "Old McDonald Had a Workshop"
which is a twist on the song "Old Mcdonald Had a Farm"!

The "Whatever After" series of cute chapter books are about
a sister (Abby) and a brother (Jonah) who jump into a magic
mirror and visit fairy tales like Snow White in "Fairest of All"
. . . Cinderella in "If the Shoe Fits" . . .  the Little Mermaid in
"Sink or Swim" . . . and Rapunzel in "Bad Hair Day".

Another fun series of chapter books are "Weird School"
books by Dan Gutman like "Miss Daisy is Crazy" . . .
"Mr. Klutz is Nuts" . . . "Ms. Hannah is Bananas" . . .
"Mrs. Yonkers is Bonkers!"

Perhaps your Moms remember this weird book,
"When the Wind Changed" and would love to
read it to you sometime!?

But, of course, you could read about many other
things like the weather . . .wheels . . . witches . . .
the world . . . Winnie-the-Pooh . . . or books
written by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

I remember my 5th grade teacher reading our class
"The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Graham,
but I sure couldn't remember anything about it. So that is
one more library book I found and read this summer.

Whatever you read, have a wonderful day!
Love, Grandma

Ll is for Lindsay Lu

Lively, little Lindsay Lu  turns four years old today!

Happy Birthday Lulu!

Love, Grandma

Reading Roadblock Blue

Once you hit the blue section of your Amazing Summer Reading
Racetrack, you will not only be close to the finish line, but you
will be ready for your very last reading roadblock challenge!

Have a family read-a-thon!

Find a comfy, cozy spot . . . and maybe a few pillows, too.
Gather up a pile of books . . . and maybe a few tasty treats.
Invite the whole family . . . and read to yourself or out loud
or any combination for at least 30 minutes!  Maybe longer
if you're having loads of fun. Let me know when you're
done and it will be time to pick another goodie from
my Suitcase of Summer Surprises.

Happy Read-a-thon!
Love, Grandma

Reading U-V's

Under my umbrella are book ideas for both the letter "U" and

  the letter "V" including "Un-Brella" by Scott E. Franson.

In this wordess book, a little girl uses her magic umbrella to give her

 the weather she wants, regardless of what the conditions really are outside.

 

Zach is a fan of a series called "The Unwanteds"
by Lisa McMann-- a series described as
"The Hunger Games meets Harry Potter."

Other "U's" you might choose to read:

"Up and Down" by Oliver Jeffers"

"The Ugly Duckling"--a classic fairy tale

or a book about the universe or the USA or Utah!

Or a book about under the sea or Uh-Oh . . .

"Underwear:What We Wear Under There"--

a non-fiction title you might find at your local library!

I read an interesting book called "Under the Egg" by

Laura Marx Fitzgerald.  In this book Theodora Tenpenny spills

a bottle of rubbing alcohol on her late grandfather's painting of

an egg and she discovers what seems to be an old Renaissance

painting underneath it. So she sets out to solve the mystery

in this 5-star book!

As for the letter "V",  I read "The View from Saturday"

which is a 1996 Newbery Medal winner by E.L. Konigsburg.

It was a very good book, also and told the story of four members

of an extraordinarily successful 6th grade quiz bowl team.

Other books you very well might like to read:

"The Velveteen Rabbit" by Margery Williams

or books about vegetables, Vikings,  volcanoes

or valentines including a book "Unvalentine"

by Sam Beeson which could count as a "U" or "V" book.

So there you go!

Love, Grandma

Reading T's

There are ton's of terrific titles for "T" reading:

"Tarzanna" by Babette Cole
"Tea Party Rules" by Amy Dyckman
"Teddy Bear Picnic"
"Town Mouse Country Mouse" by Jan Brett
"Come to Town" by Ann Rockwell
"T is for Tugboat--Navigating the Seas from A -A"
(a book from my travels to Canada)
 

Maybe you could take a break from TV and read about or
under a tree today. "Maple" by Lori Nichols is a darling
book about a girl and a tree who grow up together.

Of course, you could also read tongue twisters,
Thanksgiving stories or a tooth fairy book. Or

take some time to read about trains, tigers, turtles,
treasures or "The Adventures of TinTin" by Herge. 

I read "The Phantom Tollbooth".
One day when Milo was totally bored, he drove through
the toll booth he found in his bedroom and began a crazy
journey through all kinds of "wordy" places. This is a
fun book to read more than once.

Ta ta for now.
Love, Grandma 

Reading S's

"Summer Reading is Killing Me" by  Jon Scieszka
is a book I highly recommend to boys who believe that this is true.
In this book Joe, Sam and Fred find themselves trapped inside their
summer reading list, involved in a battle between the good and
evil characters from well-known children's books.

Some other super "S" stories are:

"The Saturdays" by Elizabeth Enright
"Stink" books by Megan McDonald
"Skippyjon Jones" books by Judy Schachner
"Sheila Rae, the Brave" by Kevin Henkes
"Slyvester and the Magic Pebble" by William Steig
"Splat the Cat" books by Rob Scotten
and "The Scrambled States of America"
 

"Scapegoat" by Dean Hale is the silly
Story of a Goat Named Oat and a Chewed-Up Coat
with a lot of rhyming words!

And there are books by Lemony Snicket and Shel Silverstein
as well as books about seasons . . . seeds . . . snakes and
snow . . . sports . . . space . . . and the sea.
 

One of my favorite movies, "You've Got Mail" inspired me
to finally read a shoe book. There are several, but the one
I read this summer was "Skating Shoes" by Noel Streatfeild.

So long my super summer readers!
Love, Grandma

Reading R's

"Read Anything Good Lately?"
That's not only a question, but the name of a picture book in
my collection. . . "Rosie's Walk" by Pat Hutchins . . . "Russell
the Sheep" books . . . "Robin Hood" . . . and "The Rescuers"
are other good "R"eads .

Or you could read about rabbits . . . the rain . . . or rainbows.
There is a whole series of "Rainbow Magic" chapter books
about fairies like "Ruby, the Red Fairy" and "Rebecca, the
Rock 'n Roll Fairy". But maybe boys would rather read about
 robots . . . rockets . . . or "Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes."

"Read Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young" is another
good book in my picture book collection or you could
read any number of children's book that rhyme!

I, myself, read "Romeo and Juliet"--not the real
Shakespeare version, but a BabyLit board book
by Jennifer Adams.

Remember-- the amazing reading race ends this month!
Love, Grandma