Shannon's Library

We have a lot of traditions in our family. But one of our very favorites is the Penny-A-Page Summer Reading Challenge!

Years ago, when my kiddos were in early elementary school, I wanted to find a way for them to continue reading during the summer. And so, Penny-A-Page was born.

On the first day of summer, my kids wake up to a basket of books – along with a cute new notebook and pen. The rules are simple. For each page they read during the summer, they get paid one penny. It sounds small, but if they are motivated…it’s surprising how fast it can add up! It’s especially successful when you have a couple of competitive children in your family. As the younger kids in our family started to read more, my older kids were extra motivated to keep reading. They weren’t about to get beat by their younger siblings!

Of course, this sometimes led to some frustrations that had to be worked through. Complaints from a competitive older sibling such as… “It’s not fair! Her beginning reader books have less words in them than mine! She’ll get more pages read than me!” Inevitably, I’d have to explain, once again, that it all evens out. The older you are, the faster and easier it is for you to read and cover more pages! (If you don’t have wildly competitive children, like some of mine, then this shouldn’t be a big problem!)

The notebooks were used differently each summer, depending on the child and the situation. The kiddos use them to record the title of the book and the number of pages it had. That way it is easy to add the pages up at the end of the summer. Sometimes I had my kids write a one-page summary of each book. Sometimes they just had to write one thing they liked or disliked about the book. But there were definitely times when I didn’t require any writing. With one of my kids, the thought of writing anything at all about the book was causing them stress and was actually stopping them from wanting to read. So, we bagged the writing part that summer for them. After all, the main purpose of this challenge is to encourage kids to keep reading over the summer and love it!

Also, don’t feel like you have to purchase an entire summers worth of books to go in their Penny-A-Page basket. Often, I would just include a few new books to get them started and then they would use books we already had or trips to the library to continue their summer reading.

The best part about this tradition is that it can start as early as kindergarten and continue all the way up to High School graduation. (I know my girls were upset when they were off at college and no longer got their summer basket of books!) During the school year, children and teenagers especially, are so incredibly busy. Sports, homework, friends, jobs etc. leave little time for extracurricular reading. That’s why I love this tradition of ours. It helps my kids of all ages remember that reading can be fun and is not just for homework. Summer provides the chance for them to put their phones away, relax, get swept up in a story and fall in love with reading all over again…and make a little cash in the process!

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Now the question is…

What are some fun books to put in your kids Penny-A-Page baskets?? Here are a few ideas to get you started…

GRAPHIC NOVELS

Summer is the perfect time for kids to enjoy graphic novels. They are both easy and fun to read! These are some of my kid’s favorites…

MIDDLE GRADE BOOK SERIES

Summer is the perfect time to get immersed in a fun, action-packed series! These have been some of our favorites over the years…

BOOKS FOR TEENS

Finding the right book to grab a teenager’s’ attention can be tricky. These are some options that my teens have enjoyed in their summer reading…

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Hopefully these lists have given you some good ideas for your kids’ reading this summer. It was SO hard to narrow down to just seven books in each category. So, if you still need some options, feel free to get in contact with me and I’ll try to offer some different suggestions!

Summer reading is the absolute best!! Have fun!!!