Does anyones library have a winter reading program?

[KristineIN]

Ours just started this month. It's a family read aloud program and you only have to read four hours! :eek:

# 1st hour=Stickers & Pencils
# 2nd hour=Culver's Frozen Custard &
Friends Book Buck (over 12 years)
# 3rd hour=Tote bag for the family
# 4th hour=Paperback book for the family

We can have this done in no time, but I try and not turn it in right away. I think I currently have two bags from previous programs, the first year we did it the bags were really cheap. They've gotten better!

Anyone else have anything similar?

Kristine

[A.J. at J.A.]

Ours is called the RAFT (reading as a family together) program. We have to read 3 chapter books together and then we get a really nice hardback copy of Alice in Wonderland.

Angela

[mcconnellboys]

Oh, good idea! I'm going to tell our librarians about this.

We have reading clubs throughout the school year, some serve pizza for the middle school age kids. Younger kids often do crafts in connection with theirs. Sometimes they read a book, then watch the movie version of it and have popcorn, etc.

Regena

[Anne/Ankara]

Our library holds a "Battle of the Books" where you get a group of 5 kids together, on a team, and then everyone has about a month to read 7 books or so, then on Battle night, the moderator asks trivia questions, and the team who answers the most ones correctly wins! We've done this for several years now. It is great fun, and usually we win, so that makes it even more enjoyable!

[mcconnellboys]

So, everyone on reads the same 7 books? And there are two teams that battle? Or the kids battle individually? This sounds like fun, too!

Regena

[Anne/Ankara]

Actually, it is great fun-- and there are a lot of teams participating! In the earlier elementary grades, there were about 25 teams! But that winnowed down over time, and now the 7th & 8th grade Battle only has five teams this year. Also, they usually choose one non-fiction, and one "classic" and the rest run of the mill books, but often we do find a new author or two from the list that we wouldn't have read otherwise.

This year, the list includes:
Cooney: Code Orange
Mass: A Mango-Shaped Space
Card: Ender's Game
Schlosser: Chew on This (this is the author of Fast Food Nation)
Bauer: Backwater
Crutcher: Sledding Hill
Koja: Straydog
Bloor: Tangerine
Brooks: Martyn Pig
Cornish: Monster Blood Tatoo

Usually the teams divide up the list so all the books are read by someone. Often we read the whole list, just for fun!

Here's the link for our rules-- maybe other libraries do the same!
http://sewickleylibraryteens.pbwiki.com/Battle%20of%20the%20Books