Summer Reading Fun

Summer Reading Fun

One of the best ways to ignite interest in books amongst children and young adults while encouraging better reading comprehension is with inspirational and interesting works by popular authors. Study Wizards Tutoring suggests these funny, adventurous and mystery reads for summer reading fun.

Funny Books
Firecracker by David Iserson

This is the story of “Cheating Astrid” a vain and self centered girl who manages to get expelled from the exclusive private school where she studies because she simply could not stop cheating in her exams.  The ‘punishment’ meted out to her was that she should attend public school until she had been able to perform some acts of selflessness and kindness. While she had full confidence in her abilities to manipulate people to her whims and caprices, she had not counted on how street-smart her fellow class mates at the public school would prove to be. Her dry humor and caustic comments make this ‘coming of age’ tale a quirky and fun read.

Stalky & Co. by Rudyard Kipling

Kipling’s name needs no introduction since he is arguably one of the most well known writers and poets of the English Language.  Apart from his incomparable “If” and the ‘Jungle Books”, he had also written a hilariously funny book on life in an English boarding school in the Victorian era. Drawing extensively on his own school experiences, he managed to weave a tale in which his lead protagonist “Stalky” gets the upper hand over his school masters time and again in side-splittingly funny situations.

Adventure Books
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The family that reads aloud together has summer fun together and JRR Tolkien’s timeless masterpiece is perfect for this, especially with elementary aged children. If your child really likes The Hobbit, they’ll surely enjoy its three-part sequel, The Lord of the Rings. This epic trilogy is written at a more young adult level so it will also help expand their taste, sophistication and reading comprehension.
The Famous Five Series by Enid Blyton
Enid Blyton has probably managed to get more children to fall in love with books than any other author in the 20th century. Amongst her most famous creations are the “Famous Five”.  It follows the travails of three siblings and their cousin and her pet dog as they flit from one hair-raising adventure to another. There are a total of 21 books published in this series.  And each book is as fascinating as its previous one. Almost all of them have been turned into TV shows and quite a few have even made it to the film world in many countries.

Mystery Books
Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators Series

The famous movie director was also a guest of honor for a series of book about three teenage private detectives who called themselves “The Three Investigators”. Their motto: “We investigate everything”. And indeed that is precisely what they did, investigating everything from “Screaming Clocks” to stuttering parrots to “Vanishing Men”
Operating from a junkyard in sunny California, their leader is the scientific and deductive genius Jupiter Jones, the athlete of the trio is Pete Crenshaw while Bob Andrews handles records and research. Together they solve the most baffling mysteries that elude the police. There are 43 books in this series and all of them are excellent summer reading.