best books for reading under the stars: scholastic summer reading challenge

This summer, the kids and I plan on doing a whole lot of reading.

Reading at the pool, out on the porch, reading on a blanket on the grass out back. And a whole lot of reading under the stars.

Maybe not every night, but you better believe that we’re going to rock it out for a few backyard campouts this summer. Complete with flashlights, s’mores, bugspray, and a whole lot of blankets, we’re going to make the most of our ‘staycation summer’.

And though camping isn’t a staple in our lives, we do want to try it. Okay, so we’ve never actually taken the kids camping. . . does that make us the worst parents ever? I mean, aren’t there worse things?–

The theme of Scholastic’s Summer Reading Challenge this year is ‘Reading Under the Stars’, so we’ve decided that this is our summer to do it.

Camping. In our back yard.

But first, we’ll do a whole lot of reading about camping and the stars to build and activate schema–to get those brains moving and to prepare our kids for the big night.

With a little help from Scholastic, I’ve gathered a handful of the best books for reading under the stars.

Here’s the skinny. . .

Best Books for Reading Under the Stars–Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge:

If you’re going to do it, you might as well really do it up.

Before the big camp-out, we’ll read a little bit about camping, the stars and space so that when we’re gazing up at the night sky, we can at least (maybe?) identify some of the pictures up there.

So that when we’re packing for our big camp-out we’ll know what to throw in the bags.

So that during the crazy camp-out, we’ll kind of know what to expect. Kind of.

We’ll check out a few oldies but goodies and a few new-to-us books about reading under the stars:

Kitten’s First Full Moon, by Kevin Henkes

Stellaluna, by Janelle Canon

Blackout, by John Rocco

Arthur Goes to Camp, by Marc Brown

Circus in the Sky, by Nancy Guettier

Pluto Visits Earth, by Steve Metzger

Midnight on the Moon, by Mary Pope Osborne

Time for Kids Book of Why: Stellar Space, by Editors of TIME for Kids Magazine

Werewolves Don’t Go To Summer Camp, by Debbie Dadey

A-Z Mysteries: Detective Camp, by Ron Roy

National Geographic Kids First Big Book of Space, by Catherine D. Hughes

Space: Fantastic Facts and Awesome Photos for Kids, by Nile Phillips

Geronimo Stilton: Spacemice 1, AlienEscape, by Geronimo Stilton

Cleopatra in Space #1: Target Practice, by Mike Maihak

Have your kids help Scholastic break last year’s world record of 176,438,473 minutes read during the summer!

And we’ll also do all we can to rock it with the Scholastic Reading Under the Stars Summer Reading Challenge.

Every year we participate in the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge, and this summer is no different!

The deal?

We do it because reading rocks, and. . . well. . . kids need to read consistently and continually all summer long!

Summer reading should be fun, and this challenge is fun for kids; a free online reading timer, weekly challenges with rewards, prizes, and more.

There’s even a super-fun Summer Solstice Book Swap (via Google+ Hangout) on Thursday, June 19^th at 9 p.m. EST with me (yay!) and my buddy, Allie McDonald of No Time for Flashcards. Join us!!

Get more information and RSVP for the Google + hangout, click here. To get some helpful tips before the Hangout, be sure to read my guide to planning your Summer Reading Book Review Party and Swap.

Kids can log their minutes and read big prizes;

Teachers can register students and track their progress;

Parents can download tons of free resources and articles about how to support literacy in the home and how to bring literacy home to their kids.

Awesome. Fun. Totally doing it.

And that’s it! Just a few little ways we’re slooooowly moving into the summer groove and slooooooly preparing ourselves for our big backyard camp-out!