ST. GEORGE – It’s a simple equation: School equals books and summer equals movies, sports and video games. During the summer months, reading simply doesn’t come out on top and consequently, most children actually lose reading skills during the summer.

Clark Hatfield of the Sylvan Learning Center in St. George said from kindergarten through high school, most students backslide academically through the summer months and must spend weeks or months making up lost ground at the beginning of the following school year. And according to a recent Sylvan Learning survey conducted online by Harris Interactive, 94 percent of students of all ages agree that they like reading books they choose themselves.

To encourage students to read this summer, Sylvan Learning assembled a list of books in the categories that the survey participants ranked as most interesting. This list provides parents with a way to give their children a head start on finding the kinds of books they like to read. The books on the list – more than 140 in all – prove that summer reading can be fun and entertaining as well as educational. A few of the selected titles are below:

Grades K-2

• Sports: “Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Babe Ruth Baseball” by David A. Adler
• Adventure:  “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak
• Education: “My Book About Me” by Dr. Seuss and Roy McKie
• Innovators: “Goodnight iPad: A Parody for the Next Generation” by Ann Droyd
• Arts: “Sign Language: My First 100 Words” by Michiyo Nelson
• History: “Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin” by Robert Byrd
• Movies: “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” by Judi Barrett

Grades 3-5

• Sports: “Extreme Sports” by John Crossingham and Bobbie Kalman
• Adventure: “How to be a Detective” by Dan Waddell
• Education: “The Everything Kids’ Science Experiments Book: Boil Ice, Float
• Water, Measure, Gravity-Challenge the World Around You! (Everything Kids
• series)” by Tom Robinson
• Innovators: “Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor” by Emily Arnold McCully
• Arts: “13 Artists Children Should Know” by Angela Wenzel
• History: “The Boy Who Invented TV” by Kathleen Krull
• Movies: “Harry Potter series” by J.K. Rowling

Grades 6-8

• Sports: “Lebron James: The Rise of a Star” by David Lee Morgan Jr.
• Adventure: “My Life as a Stuntboy” by Janet Tashjian and Jake Tashijan
• Education: “A Smart Girl’s Guide to Starting Middle School” by Julie Williams Montalbano
• Innovators: “Where’s My Stuff?: The Ultimate Teen Organizing Guide” by Samantha Moss and Lesley Schwartz
• Arts: “Acting for Young Actors: The Ultimate Teen Guide” by Mary Lou Beli and Dianh Lenny
• History: “The History of Moviemaking: Animation and Live-Action, from Silent to Sound, Black-And-White to Color (Voyages of Discovery series)” by Sheilia Keenan
• Movies: “Tuck Everlasting” by Natalie Babbitt

Grades 9-12

• Sports: “Throw Like a Girl: How to Dream Big and Believe in Yourself” by Jennie Finch
• Adventure: “Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster” by Jon Krakauer
• Education: “The Secrets of College Success” by Lynn F. Jacobs and Jeremy S. Hyman
• Innovators: “The Book of Styling: An Insider’s Guide to Creating Your Own Look” by Somer Flaherty
• Arts: “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker
• History: “The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II” by Gregory A. Freeman
• Movies: “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins

The complete summer reading list can be found here.

For additional information and resources, contact the Sylvan Learning Center in St. George at 435-656-1700 or [email protected].

About Sylvan Learning

According to its press release, Sylvan Learning claims to be the world’s leading provider of tutoring to students of all ages, grades and skill levels, with over 30 years of experience and more than 800 centers located throughout North America. Sylvan’s trained and specially certified personal instructors provide individualized instruction in reading, writing, mathematics, study skills and test prep for college entrance and state exams. For more information, call 1-800-31-SUCCESS or visit SylvanLearning.com.

Submitted by: Sylvan Learning Center

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews