Allison Hanes: Passing the torch of summer reading

School may be out, but there's no better time for children to crack open a book than during the summer when they can discover the joy that comes from reading.

"This is my precious time to read whatever I want. I love this feeling," says author Monique Polak. Allen McInnis / Montreal Gazette

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There’s a dusty box under my parents’ stairs that I’m looking forward to opening this summer.

Within it lies a portal to distant worlds, thrilling adventures and unforgettable life lessons. The dog-eared books of my youth are the source of my most cherished summer memories. I still get a lump in my throat beholding Where the Red Fern Grows. And the red sands of Prince Edward Island seem intimately familiar thanks to L.M. Montgomery’s vivid descriptions.

I’ll be passing on many of these yellowing publications to my own daughter. Although I’m sad that our nightly story time together has come to an end, she has now reached the age where she is reading chapter books on her own. And, to my delight, she is enjoying many of the classics that meant so much to me as a kid. Roald Dahl. Beverly Cleary. She recently discovered Judy Blume and The Secret Garden awaits.

School might be out for the summer, but the books won’t be sitting on the shelf. Summer is the best time for kids to read. Sure, it helps sharpen their skills while class isn’t in session, but more importantly, it’s an opportunity to discover the joy of reading.

Monique Polak, a Montreal teacher, journalist and author of kids’ books agrees.

“This is my precious time to read whatever I want. I love this feeling,” she said. “There’s a lot of talk about getting kids hooked on reading. But it’s not just a life skill — to me it’s a gift!”

She also encourages her English literature students at Marianopolis College to let loose, explore and read whatever they want over the summer. Books offer a chance to escape, to visit new, faraway, even dangerous lands, and to put yourself in someone else’s shoes.

“Reading helps us to grow in compassion,” she said. “You’re really entering into another person’s reality.”

The good thing about summer reading is that its pleasures are accessible to kids of all backgrounds and means. Local libraries are a gold mine for inquisitive young minds and in the summer they roll out the red carpet.

Most Montreal libraries host a summer reading club sponsored by TD. This year’s theme is nature.

It’s kind of fun for us because we’re a library in a park.”

“It’s kind of fun for us because we’re a library in a park,” said Wendy Wayling, children’s librarian at Westmount Public Library.

Among the activities planned is a book where the pages have been placed on podiums outdoors, so children must roam the park to read the story. The selection is both locally written and bilingual: How to Catch a Bear Who Loves to Read by Andrew Katz and Juliana Léveillé-Trudel.

Wayling also runs a book club for children 9 to 12 years old. Popular books these days include graphic novels, like the Dog Man series and Geronimo Stilton.

“The kids really like anything by David Walliams. They think he’s really hilarious,” she said, naming Gangsta Granny as a hit. “Boys and girls alike really seem to like his work. They asked me to order more.”

Over at the Eleanor London Library in Côte-St-Luc, a trio of children’s librarians have organized a roster of summer activities, seven days a week. In addition to a summer reading club, they also host “crafternoons” where kids can make everything from bird houses to wind chimes. They host board game sessions and family movie nights.

But the highlight is the birthday party the library throws for Harry Potter on July 31, complete with potion making and quidditch games.

“One of the great things about Harry Potter is that it showed, on a pretty big scale, how important a fictional character and world can be,” said Katie Bezaire, one of the youth librarians at Eleanor London. “Also, it’s really fun to bring this fictional world, which has been so real inside one’s head when reading a book, to life in our world for kids to be able to experience first-hand.”

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter came after my time. I’ve come to it as an adult, starting with reading the first few instalments in the seven-book series out loud to my daughter. But once she took over, neither I, nor my husband, could put it down — speaking to the universal power of children’s literature.

It’s a genre that happens to be booming right now, said Bronwen Cathey, manager of community and family services at Eleanor London Library.

Children’s and young adult literature are also readable at any age.”

“Children’s and young adult literature are also readable at any age, and the writing quality is very high and has only gotten better,” Cathey said. “It’s great to see books being published that not only represent the many different kinds of people in the world, but also provide books for different kinds of readers; from large type for kids, to great comics and graphic novels, to all of the genres one could possibly think of. There is something for every reader out there.”

Polak, too, believes in the importance of books written for youth. She resents it when people ask when she’s going to “get serious and write for adults.”

Young adult books are addressing and illuminating serious contemporary issues in profound ways, from racism to the devastating legacy of residential schools. She recommends Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves, which is set in a dystopian future where Indigenous Peoples are being hunted because they are the only humans left with the ability to dream.

Her own Princess Angelica series, where the inventive protagonist tries on new and daring occupations like lion tamer, is based on her own experience going to summer camp and inventing stories about herself. But ultimately it’s about the search for identity — as is her all-time favourite book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which she wrote her thesis on, once upon a time.

“You have to read it. There’s never been a good movie,” Polak said. ” ‘Who in the world are you?’ It’s for every age group and it asks such profound questions.”

As my daughter launches herself on an epic literary journey, I find myself stowing away on the voyage. Besides Harry Potter, she has introduced me to R.J. Palacio’s Wonder and Neil Gaiman’s oeuvre.

I also find myself drawn back to old favourites, such as Black Beauty, Charlotte’s Web and Little Women, which I’ve rediscovered with fresh eyes.

After all, youth fiction isn’t just for kids.

ahanes@postmedia.com

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