Family Reading Night

Each year our local elementary school held a family fun night. This year the parent teacher organization has decided to put the focus on reading, so it has become Family Reading Night. This is a welcome change, especially after reading this article about how less than half of children aged nine to 14 read fiction more than once a month.

The goal is to focus on award winning titles such as Caldecott Medal winner The Lion & the Mouse, Geisel Award winner Benny and Penny in the Big No-No!, Newbery Medal winner,When You Reach Me, and books by the Wilder Award winner, Ashley Bryan .

During this year’s Family Reading Night, the school will also announce the winner of the 2010 Family Reading Night Kids’ Choice Award. Entry boxes were placed in the school library, public library, and here at BayShore Books. The choices are:

Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type(Cronin)
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (Archambault/Martin)
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (Numeroff)
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (Scieszka/Smith)
How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? (Yolen)

Tough choices! Which would you choose? Or is there a favorite not on the list?

It would be great to see this idea spread to the middle school and high school, too. Even the entire city. Many communities, including Brown County, have One Book, One Community which is an initiative that brings communities together to read and discuss the same book. This is a partnership between the schools, libraries, and independent bookstores. What a great concept!