Ducks, dragons, discovery: Rewards buoy summer readers

The summer reading program at the Acton Free Public Library is in full swing, with enthusiastic readers, plenty of books — and dragons and ducks. 

“We have had stellar community support this year,” Head of Youth Services librarian Sara Dempster told The Acton Bridge via email.

The children’s library offers the Rubber Ducky Club for preschoolers. Kids earn a duck for every seven days of reading. Older kids and teens can be Reading Dragons and earn trading cards for every two days of reading. 

“They start with a dragon egg card, and every time they earn a new card, they can choose either to pick another egg or to ‘evolve’ their dragon to its next stage,” Dempster wrote.

Jeff Sinder’s daughter Alana, 6, is an avid participant.

“Alana wakes up every morning and wants to read whenever she can,” Sinder said. “She is excited to read and can’t wait to go back to the library to collect more cards.”

Teens can earn raffle tickets for various challenges by spinning a prize wheel at the Main Library. They can also unlock achievements for raffle tickets, such as producing their library card or writing a book review. 

Adults can join in by sharing what they’ve read to enter a weekly drawing. 

“In our busy lives, it’s often hard to find time to unwind, and summer reading programs for adults can provide gentle reminders to take time to relax with a book,” Dempster said. 

Reading ‘game changers’ 

Experts agree that students must exercise their reading muscles. This helps avoid the “summer slide” — the erosion of students’ skills when school’s out.

“It’s especially relevant for kids in more vulnerable areas, but it exists for all students,” said Katie Carr, a language arts specialist at Alcott Elementary School. 

Carr said the schools have aligned literacy programs with “The Science of Reading,” a multidisciplinary approach to understanding how children best learn to read. One theoretical model is “Scarborough’s rope,” where one strand represents word recognition and the other represents language comprehension. As students intertwine these skills, they become better readers.  

Dempster said decodable books, which help early readers with phonetic skills — that first strand — have become popular.  

“They have continued to be some of our most checked-out titles library-wide,” she said. 

Decodables are “game changers” for early readers, Carr said. To be sure all Acton students have access, the school department used a grant from the Acton Education Fund to provide a summer library at METCO’s Boston headquarters. 

A literary smorgasbord 

Dempster noted that learning to read might not always be fun, but incentives can help foster good practices. 

“We’ve heard from tons of local parents [that] earning dragon cards has motivated their children to read every day,” she said. 

One key, Dempster said, is letting kids read what they like. 

“Allowing kids to read the book equivalent of ‘junk food’ when they’re reading for pleasure will help them develop reading proficiency for the times when they want (or need) to engage with more challenging reading material,” she said.  

Carr sometimes goes to the library on her own and brings home choices for a “book buffet,” letting her kids select from this smaller array.

“It’s always interesting to see what they pick,” she said. 

And all reading counts — reading oneself, being read to, and listening to audiobooks. 

“I’m of the camp that all reading is good reading,” Carr said.