In the swing of summer reading

Reading this summer is full of fun and incentives . within the books and out.

Both Stanwood and Camano Island libraries have full slates of events and rewards for summer reading participants.

With the children's "Be Creative" program at both libraries, children set their own goals in their reading logs, either in amount of time spent reading or number of books.

When children sign up, they receive two tickets to an Everett AquaSox baseball game, said Joy Feldman, Stanwood children's librarian. They will also be entered to win a chance to throw the first pitch at the July 26 AquaSox game.

Children at the Camano Island Library will also receive a book bag when they sign up, said Mary Jennings, Camano Island Library children's liaison.

The program is flexible, she said. Children can read by themselves or with a parent.

Magician Jeff Evans helped jumpstart Camano Island Library's summer reading in style, with his magical conjuring show at Elger Bay and Utsalady elementary schools earlier this month, Jennings said.

The library has scheduled programs each Wednesday of July at 11 a.m., and some Friday programs at 1 p.m. All of them compliment the "Be Creative" theme. The topics include origami and a Rumpelstiltskin puppet show, she said.

As children reach their goals in August, they can choose a free book from a wide selection at Camano Island Library, Jennings said.

The grand finale of Camano's planned events will be Dino O'Dell's Veloci-rappers show at 1 p.m. Fri., Aug. 7. At that event, the library will have a drawing for the owners of eight otter puppets.

Stanwood Library's children's summer reading program will kick off with a circus, of a sort, at 11 a.m. Saturday. Linda Severt will perform "Juggletunes," a mix of stunts, music and puppets.

Stanwood Library will typically host a "Be Creative" event for school-age children each Thursday at 11 a.m., Feldman said. The library will have multiple artistic endeavors, including building with Legos and experimenting with optical illusions. Each event will include a special raffle prize.

The Stanwood Library will raffle off an otter puppet at the 11 a.m. Aug. 6 "Imagine, Create, Participate," event.

Each time children visit the Stanwood Library, they can bring their reading log and let the librarians know what they have read, Feldman said. They will have the chance to win raffle prizes, including McDonald's ice cream and Papa Murphy's mini-pizzas.

Stanwood Library's summer reading will end with a big bash for all ages starting at 11 a.m. Sat., Aug. 8 in Heritage Park. Attendees should expect water balloons, popsicles and tie-dying opportunities, Feldman said.

Sno-Isle is having a "Name the Otter," contest for the mascot of its new children's Web site, Feldman said. At the end of the program, an otter painting will be raffled off in the Sno-Isle system.

Teen reading is also already well underway, said Rob Branigin, Stanwood teen librarian.

The teen theme is "Express yourself," which means multiple art-related events, he said. An art show featuring local teen artwork will be held this Thursday at 5 p.m., along with the official hanging of the new neon sign for the teen area, designed by Kindra Johnson, of Camano Island.

Nicole Pelham, an independent artist of New Destiny Productions (NDP) comics, will teach teens how to create their own manga characters and write dialogue for them. The event, "Creatures and Characters from Comics," will occur 11 a.m., Sat., July 25.

Teen readers will submit brief reviews of the books they read online, Branigin said. For the first review they submit, they will receive one movie ticket to Stanwood Cinemas at the Pavilion. For each subsequent review, they will be entered in the week- ly drawing for a $20 gift card to Snow Goose Bookstore in Stanwood.

Sno-Isle Libraries will also do a weekly drawing for a USB flash drive, he said. At the end of August, the library system will draw for the winner of a laptop.

New at Stanwood Library is an adult summer reading program, Branigin said. It will be similar to the teen program, where adults submit reviews of books. However, the reviews will be on paper, not online, and will be posted in the library.

Interested adults can pick up the review forms at the reference desk, he said.

With each submission, participants will be entered into a weekly drawing for a $20 Snow Goose Bookstore gift card.

The addition of an adult program makes summer reading more age inclusive, Branigin said.

"We definitely want to encourage whole family reading," Feldman said.

It's an aspect of summer reading that Feldman brought with her from Los Angeles, where she was a librarian prior to joining the staff of the Stanwood Lin brary.

Summer reading is a public library tradition. It's a way to encourage youth to read during the summer, Feldman said.

"I think summer reading is one of the most important things we do all year," she said.

Some tend to see reading as school-related, Branigin said. Summer reading programs promote reading as recreation.

Studies show that children who read in the summer are better prepared to return to school in the fall, and once back in school, develop skills faster, Jennings said.

"It's actually critical that kids read in the summer," she said.

Summer reading is a way to make reading fun, and connect children to the library and its resources, she said.

For more info., go to www. sno-isle.org.

Staff Reporter Kristi Pihl: 629-8066 (ext. 125) or kpihl@ scnews.com.