
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, July 11, 1994                   TAG: 9408030003
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BARBARA F. MELTZ BOSTON GLOBE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GETTING KIDS TO READ DURING SUMMER IS AN IMPORTANT JOB

Any teacher will tell you that getting our children to read during July and August is one of the most important summer jobs a parent has. Otherwise, a child may fall victim to Summer Slide Back, returning to school reading at a level six to 12 months behind where he or she was in June.

This can be tough for parents of boys, because boys are harder to please than girls when it comes to reading material. A girl of any age will read almost anything that's good, including a book about a boy. A typical fourth grade boy, however, won't read a book about a girl no matter how good it is, and may decide reading is only for girls and dweebs.

So parents are under pressure to find books that are irresistible. We think the ones on this list are. There are a number of nonfiction titles (NF), because boys 8 and older often don't like fiction.

By the way, research shows children are more likely to read if they know you value reading. So make sure your child sees you reading. Read a book together, talk about whatever it is he reads - even comic books and baseball cards are better than nothing - or read to him. No child is too old to be read to.

Although this year's summer book list was handpicked for school-age boys, almost every title will also appeal to girls. Books are grouped according to the grade a child is entering.

Kindergarten: ``Frank and Ernest on The Road,'' and other ``Frank and Ernest'' books by Alexandra Day (Scholastic Books, paperback, 1994); ``Growing Colors'' by Bruce McMillan (Mulberry Books, 1994); ``From Seed to Plant'' (NF), by Gail Gibbons (Holiday House, 1993); ``The Seashore Book'' by Charlotte Zolotow (Harper Trophy, 1994); ``Owen'' by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow, 1993).

First grade: ``The Cut-Ups Crack Up'' and other Cut-Up books by James Marshall (Puffin, paperback, 1994); ``Anansi and The Talking Melon'' and other Anansi books by Eric Kimmel (Holiday House, 1994); ``Nate The Great and The Pillow Case'' and other ``Nate the Great'' titles by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat (Delacorte, 1993); ``Henry and Mudge and The Happy Cat'' by Cynthia Ryland (Aladdin Books, 1994); ``Dancing with Manatees'' (NF) by Faith McNulty (Scholastic, 1994).

Second grade: ``Rats on the Range'' by James Marshall (Dial Press, 1993); ``The Great Piratical Rumbustification'' by Margaret Mahy (Beech Tree, 1993); ``Marvin Redpost: Alone in His Teacher's House'' and anything in the Redpost series, by Louis Sachar (Random House, 1994); ``The Masked Maverick'' by Jacqueline Ogburn (Lothrop, 1994); ``Never Take A Pig to Lunch'' by Nadine Bernard Wescott (Orchard Books, 1994).

Third grade: ``Fraction Action'' by Loreen Leedy (Holiday House, 1994); ``The Magic School Bus on The Ocean Floor'' (NF), by Joanna Cole (Scholastic, 1994); ``How Are Sneakers Made'' (NF) by Henry Horenstein (Simon & Schuster, 1993); ``Arthur's Chicken Pox,'' or anything in the Arthur series, by Marc Brown (Little Brown, 1994); ``Jacob Two-Two Meets The Hooded Fang'' by Mordecai Richler (Random House, 1994).

Fourth grade: ``Martin The Warrior,'' or anything in the Redwall series, by Brian Jacques (Philomel, 1994); ``Mop, Moondance, and The Nagasaki Knights,'' or anything by Walter Dean Myers, (Delacorte, 1992); ``Your Mother Was A Neanderthal,'' and other books in the Time Warp Trio series, by Jon Scieszka(cq) (Viking, 1993); ``Pablo Remembers: The Fiesta of The Day of The Dead'' (NF) by George Ancona (Lothrop, 1993); ``Lobster Gangsters of The Sea'' (NF) by Jeffrey L. Rotman (Dutton, 1994).

Fifth grade: ``Castle,'' (NF) or anything in the Eyewitness Series, by Christopher Gravett (Knopf, 1994); ``The Secret of The Ruby Ring'' by Yvonne MacGrory (Milkweed, 1994); ``Bull Run'' by Paul Fleishman (HarperCollins 1993); ``Harris and Me'' by Gary Paulsen (Harcourt, 1993); ``Six Sick Sheep, 101 Tongue Twisters'' (NF) by Joanna Cole and Stephanie Calmenson (Peachtree Press, 1993).

Sixth grade: ``Black Diamond, The Story of Negro Baseball Leagues,'' (NF) by Patricia C. and Frederick McKissack (Scholastic, 1994); ``Others See Us'' by William Sleator (Dutton, 1993); ``Dragon's Gate'' by Laurence Yep (HarperCollins 1993); ``The Righteous Revenge of Artemis Bonner'' by Walter Dean Myers (HarperCollins, 1992); ``The Iceman'' (NF) by Don Lessem (Crown, 1994).

by CNB