The Current - How to get your kids hooked on reading over the summer

Episode Date: June 12, 2025

It’s not always easy to get your kids reading in the summer. Whether it’s Minecraft or going to the swimming pool, kids have plenty of excuses to not pick up a book. Three experts are here with their favourite kids books for the season — and they tell us how you, too, can get the child in your life to keep reading.

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Hello, I'm Matt Galloway and this is The Current Podcast. Summer is almost here. School is nearly out. Kids are certainly excited. And you know what else they're excited about? Books. We caught up with some kids who told us about what they are reading right now.

Well, I'm reading an anime book right now. It's kind of about these like, they're kind of like superheroes, but kind of not. And so there's this girl who kind of like went into like another world and they're trying to look for her, but they can't find her. And they go through these different worlds and there's different like Disney characters in it. who kind of like went into another world and they're trying to look for her, but they can't find her. And they go through these different worlds

and there's different Disney characters in it. It's really cool. My favorite book is Noodle Fits and it's about a elephant that loves noodles, but gets locked in the zoo. It's silly. I'm reading Wings of Fire. So each five books is about like a different prophecy

and there are different types of dragons and they all have different types of powers. I'm on the 15th so I almost finished the whole series a second time. A second time. Some very avid readers there. Those were 10-year-old May, 5-year-old River, 10-year-old Sonam. They may have some ideas about what they're going to read this summer. We also have some grown-up experts here with their recommendations for books that your kids should get into their hands. Emily Blackmore is a children's and youth collections librarian in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. She's in our St. John's studio. Spencer Miller is Digital Media Coordinator for the Canadian Children's Book Centre, also the Editorial Coordinator of Top

Grade where he recommends Canadian books for kids. He's in Calgary. And Elizabeth Ferguson is the Manager of Mabel's Fables Kids Bookstore in Toronto. She's with me in our Toronto studio. Good morning, everyone. Hey, thank you so much. Good morning, Elizabeth. We'll start with you. You heard those kids. Isn't that lovely? It was so wonderful. You're smiling as we're listening to that. What makes a great summer book? We talk a lot about summer reads. What makes a great summer book for younger readers?

I think a book that you want to read more so than something that you're being forced to read for school, a story that pulls you in right away. And I also think that series can be really great for summer reading, just completely to immerse yourself in a series of books or a world that's far away. Spencer, we'll get to some recommendations in a moment, but for you, what do you look for in a book for kids at this time of the year? Oh, I love reading on theme books that are set during the summertime.

It's a chance for the characters in the books to be outside of school as well. They're on vacations, they're camping, they're on road trips. A chance for stories that you don't necessarily see when it's during a school setting. Emily, what about for you? You have a couple of kids yourself?

I do, I have a six-year-old and a 10-year-old. And so what do you look for for your kids? Maybe they have their own ideas of what they want to read, but what are you and they looking for in a summer read? Something that always has an element of escapism, of course, much like everyone else has mentioned. Something with that summer setting is always going to be a bit of a winner. I do love a series, something that's going to keep up that motivation, but I do think that it is important that it's also something they're interested in. Kids are always going to read more when it's motivated from their own interests than if

it's something that we're trying to foist upon them. 1 One of the things that can happen in a bookstore is that they learn what they're interested in and they learn what might be connected with what they're interested in. Elizabeth, you work at Mabel's Fables. This is a legendary bookstore. And I say this as a parent who once took a hundred years ago, his kids there, you used to go as a kid as well. I did. Yeah, I grew up going to Mabel's Fables and it's such a privilege to manage the store now. Do you have memories of reading in the summer? Are there, I don't know, things that stand out

to you in terms of what that period in your life was like when you had a good book in your hands. I was always reading as a kid, so definitely all the way through the summer I would be reading. I have a particular memory of finishing the seventh Harry Potter book sitting around a campfire in Algonquin Park, and we were reading it out loud as a family, and actually there was another family two or three campsites down who they were also reading the seventh Harry Potter book.

And I think there were a few chapters behind us, but it was really neat. It was kind of like a community experience, even though we were in different parts of the book. It was, you know, the book to be reading that summer. And that's definitely one of my top summer reading memories. What is it like to have gone to the bookstore and

now be managing the bookstore? I mean, you have the responsibility of putting the books into the hands of kids. It's a big responsibility, but it's such a joy and it's such an important thing, I think, to, you know, books are so integral to so many people and I think it's really important to instill that love of reading as early as possible. So doing it for kids, it's such a joy to do. You are the human version of the algorithm in some ways. I mean, you have this responsibility, right? It's true, yeah.

You take that seriously, that responsibility? Very seriously for sure, yeah. Emily, what about, I mean, when you think about books that are suited for kids, and you both said something interesting, like all three of you, that you think about books that are suited for kids, and you both said something interesting, like all three of you, that you want the kids to be reading something that they're actually interested in. Can I ask you about how you figure out what that is? How you figure out what it is that a young person is actually interested in?

You know, there's a lot of factors that go into that, and it's so specific to the child, but a lot of it, I'm someone who buys books for an entire library system, is listening to the kids. I do a lot of talking to children that are in the library to see what they're reading and to the kids in my life and there's certain trends you can pull from that. As example in the preamble that you played, manga and anime, graphic novels are really popular with kids. So sometimes it's taking that popular thing and then deciding which book is fitting that

bill that the kids are interested in. For example, my 10-year-old is very into witches. A lot of 10-year-olds are very into witches right now. It seems like a very popular topic amongst her friends. So I've gone looking for novels based on that just to match that interest because as we've all said, when they're interested, they're going to read more. But it is also for me as someone who buys for a lot of different library branches, thinking

about different interests and making sure that they're all represented where possible and that kids can get their hands on different types of books. Matthew Feeney A graphic novel is interesting because it can also be a tool of transition. Do you know what I mean? Jennifer McAllister Absolutely. Graphic novels are something we often recommend for early readers or reluctant readers or people who might be struggling finding something that they're

interested in simply because having both the pictures and the words is both harder to read because it employs something we call multimodal literature. You have to be able to read both. But it's something that's really interesting to kids. They love that visual element and that storytelling is so much more present on the page when you read both. But it's something that's really interesting to kids. They love that visual element and that storytelling is so much more present on the page when you have both. So kids are really eating them up. We can't keep certain graphic novel series on the shelf at the library. Spencer, where do you steer people, if people are going into a bookstore, the selection can be overwhelming and people may not know where to start. What section

should they start in first if parents are headed in there with their kids? Oh, I would head straight to the front desk and seek out a bookseller. They are the experts and, you know, ask what they've been selling. Ask what's going out of the store and what kids are reading. And give your kid a chance just to explore and just, I mean, go through every section. Take your time and just pick books off the shelf at random if you need to and see what sticks out to you. Emily, what about for you?

I mean, is there, we've been talking about adult books and the book pile for older readers and some of the big titles that people would be grabbing. What about for young people? Is there a blockbuster book that you know of that every kid is going to be reading a bit like what Elizabeth was saying with the seventh book in the Harry Potter series? You know, it's funny because I can think of two examples and one of them is of course the Dog Man books, which are incredibly popular and still are. And I recently did up a report for a library to see what was the most popular children's books in circulation.

And they were at the top of the pile. Anything really funny like that. But another trend that I've noticed that kids are reading a lot is just so I'm in my 40s, all of the books that I read when I was a kid are now being turned into graphic novels that we can't keep on the shelf. So the Baby-Sitters Club graphic novels, for example, are always checked out. And I love that that nostalgia that hits for me as a parent is something that my kids are also enjoying. So we get to share in a series of books that I really liked when I was 10, now with my daughter who's also 10, through a different kind of more modern

lens. I mean, I said that folks who are working in bookstores are like the algorithm, but librarians, of course, too, have incredible knowledge of what is on the shelves and in the stacks and can get the right book into your hand. Absolutely. Elizabeth, is there a blockbuster book that you have seen? What is the seventh volume in the Harry Potter series of 2025? I don't know if we have quite that same level of blockbuster this year, but I will say that Impossible Creatures by Catherine Rundell has been really, really popular this year. I didn't know anything about this. Book two is coming out in the fall,

so if you haven't read it, the first one yet, it's a great time to pick up the first one. But Anything at All by Catherine Rundell, I think she's just such a great author. That would be a great pick for sure. Okay, let's go through some recommendations. We asked you specifically for groups of recommendations based on age groups. Spencer, we asked you to pick a book for ages 6 through 9 and one for 9 through 12. What did

you pick for the younger readers, the 6 through 9? For sure. So this is a series, it's called Sarah Panicky's Story Catcher that I really love. It's written by Cedar McMillan and features really, really fun and enticing illustrations from Asby Whitecalf. The latest book in the series, Mosquist T.P. Tales, takes place right at the end of the summer. Sarah and her friend Eden are preparing for a special summer sleepover when they are visited by a big magical stuffed animal bear.

And it's just a very fun, magical, sweet, heartwarming story. Elizabeth, for you, the younger pick? Um, I picked The Rack Pack by Stephanie Cook and Whitney Gardner. Um. You have it in your hands right now. I do. I'm used to talking with books in my hands. Um, there's currently two books in this Canadian graphic novel series.

Um, it's about the bins family who are a family of raccoons who are always on the hunt for the best leftovers that they can find in the garbage. It's a very Canadian story. Very Toronto story. It sounds like my backyard. Um, and they get up to all kinds of high drinks, um, to try and get the food that they want to get.

Um, perfect for fans of dog man, bad guys, the investigators. Emily, for you, uh, your pick for kids age six through nine. You know, it's funny for this one, I almost picked The Rack Pack. So I'd like to give it a little shout out as a book that almost was also mentioned by me, a

very funny book. But my pick is a book called Puffin and Penguin and it's by Helene Becker as the author and Kevin Sylvester as the illustrator. And it's about a puffin and a penguin who become friends over the course of the book and it's a graphic novel which I think is really accessible for that age range. But it's about a school for birds and it has a lot of excellent bird puns in it. So kids who like wordplay, kids who like puns, which a lot of kids do, definitely going to

love this book. Puffin is starting at a new school and he's matched with Penguin as his new student buddy to try and help him adjust to the school. But Penguin is very busy. He's the most popular kid in school. He's in the school play. He's doing a lot.

So he doesn't feel like he has time to mentor this new puppet. And over the course of the book, they become friends. It is both heartwarming but it's also funny. It has a lot of schoolyard drama. But again, the bird puns are what drew me in. And the illustrations are really rich. There's a lot that you can look at. Super fun book.

And our friend, Kevin Sylvester, friend of CBC, longtime broadcaster here as well, and now illustrator full-time and author of kids books. I love that he's in the mix as well. At Desjardins Insurance, we know that when you're a building contractor, your company's foundation needs to be strong. That's why our agents go the extra mile to understand your business and provide tailored solutions for all its unique needs. You put your heart into your company, so we put our heart into making sure it's protected.

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Next year you might do better. But I did win, Mom! You did? When it's sunny, make sure you can still see. At Specsavers, get two pairs of glasses from $149, and one can be prescription sunglasses. Hey, the sun won't wait. Visit Specsavers.ca for details. Conditions apply. Spencer, age 9 through 12, what do you have? Carousel Summer is a brand new graphic novel from Kathleen Gross. Kathleen might be best known for her graphic novel adaptations of Anne of Green Gables and Little Women. So she's back this time with an original story that is in a similar coming-of-age vein.

It's a summertime story. It is queer coming of age. It has bookstores, bike rides, beaches, barbecues. Has this great summer vibe and it's perfect for younger readers who really enjoy those true to life graphic novels. Aaron Powell My pick for the older group was The Mystery of the Haunted Dance Hall by Harris Cotter. And it's set in a summer camp which I thought was pretty good for summer reading. But it's also a little bit spooky which a lot of kids that come to the library do like to read those horror stories around the campfire.

And it's set in the 60s, so it's about a little girl who is being sent to summer camp. She doesn't really want to go, but her mom has a job in New York City for the summer, so she's going. But upon going, she realizes that there's something kind of fishy happening at this camp. She can hear music in the woods that no one else is really acknowledging. Kids are disappearing from their bunks at night. None of the adults really seem to notice. So there's a mystery and it's very atmospheric, but it's just a classic ghost story. And Carys is such a great author for that. She has a lot of books that fit that bill, but this is her newest. And

Summer Camp, just such a good fit for summer reading. What about for you, Elizabeth? What's the other book that you have in your stack there? I picked The Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner. I think it's my favorite middle grade book that I've read so far this year. It's a novel in verse about 12 year old Finn, whose father was a firefighter during 9-11 and suffered from PTSD and his father actually passed away two years ago. Obviously, Finn has been coping with grief and he's caught on camera vandalizing a headstone in a local cemetery. Turns out

that the grave actually belonged to a legendary local mountain climber. And so as part of his reparations, Finn has to climb all 46 Adirondack high peaks over the course of one summer. It's actually an amazing hiking adventure. It's got a lot of heart to it. It's a book that has something for everyone in it. And despite like the more serious premise of the story, Finn's actually a very, very funny character with a lot of wit in him. Can I ask you a bit, because I was going to say, as you were starting out that description, I thought, well, that sounds really heavy. That doesn't sound like light summer reading.

How do you figure out what isn't going to be work for kids? Do you know what I mean? What's going to be something that they enjoy? That could sound like, well, here's the lesson and you need to, but there's a lot of fun in it too. Yeah. I think that there's a misconception that, you know, kids perhaps can't handle more serious topics. And I think that it is important to find books that balance, you know, real serious topics

that, you know, kids, you know, perhaps are experiencing or they want to, you know, know more about with something lighter. And the fact that there's so much hiking and outdoor adventures, there's a dog, you know, it's a great, a great balance. And the fact that it's a novel in verse as well is great for reluctant readers because it's less words on a page as well. Emily, did you want to pick up on that? I mean, trying to figure out what that balance is, understanding that sure, they're younger readers, but they're interested in big topics and the world around them just as much as we might be. Absolutely. And it's something we talk to with parents, kids of all ages.

Kids love to read about things they're experiencing. And those things can be as light as having your first crush or making friends, but they can also be heavy. A lot of kids have parents experiencing divorce, they have loss in their life. And there's so many great authors out there who are really wonderful about approaching these topics in a way that's really accessible to kids. And we know that reading about things helps us process them. So, of course, for children that wouldn't be any different. So, I do think that for every kid

there's a perfect book and for some of them for their summer reading that is going to be a heavier book and that's great. It's just good for us to be able to put it in their hands and make sure that they're able to find it. Pete Spira Spencer was reading some stats showing that boys could be harder to get inspired by reading than girls. Do we, I mean, aside from interrogating those stats, do we know whether there are strategies to try to get books into the hands of boys who might be reluctant readers? I would just encourage boys to explore and encourage parents to let their boys explore and don't put any limits on their reading. As a young reader, sometimes when I would pick up a fantasy book, people would tell

me that's a book for girls or a romance story is for girls or graphic novels aren't real books and those type of comments to young boys will just shut them down. So just encourage them to read whatever they want to read, whatever excites them, get excited for them. That one thing can be a gateway to something else as well. Absolutely. Yeah, there's no limits on reading is really my perspective always. What do you do Elizabeth if parents come in with their kids and maybe the parents say that their child isn't a reader, but you can tell that the kids are a little reluctant as well.

And they don't know, they may not, the idea of sitting down with a book is not something that they would naturally do or normally do. What do you do with them? We always talk about the importance of reading out loud with your child. It's very easy, particularly with older, like middle grade, once you get into chapter books, for a child to look at a book, to be given a book and say, oh, I don't want to read that without knowing much about it. But if you sit down and you read the first three chapters

out loud with them and immerse them in the story, it becomes something that you do together. It becomes an opportunity for connection between whoever is reading with them. Maybe it's something that it becomes, you know, you read a chapter, I read a chapter. You read a page, I read a page. And just turn it into something fun. Don't turn it into a chore. Make it a special part of your day.

It's interesting. There's also statistics showing that some parents are pulling back a little bit on reading with their kids. I mean, as a parent, that's something you have a little frown on your face. It makes me sad. Well, because some of the best memories that I have are laying in bed. I mean, I would fall asleep eventually, but laying in bed and reading books. Do you know what I mean? Absolutely.

Reading books together and reading books to somebody. For sure. And there's a reason that audio books, I think, are so popular too, is that you never outgrow, you know, wanting to be read to. Emily, how do you address reluctant readers? The library is this gift because there are all these books that you haven't read, but you have to get into that head space.

How do you go about doing that? Library is a gift. Thank you. I think with reluctant readers, it is hard because as Elizabeth said, and as you said, the parents, it seems some parents do read to their kids less. And reading alouds to kids is one of the most wonderful things you can do to help set them up for success and to get them interested in reading. So with reluctant readers, when someone comes in and you can tell that they're reluctant, I always try to talk to them first about what they're interested in without even bringing up books

at first because I'm trying to figure out what is going to get you, what is the hook that's going to get you into a book. Matthew Feeney So you're in a library and you're asking what they're interested in without thinking about books? Jennifer Steele Well, that's my first step is like what are you interested in? Because for some kids, they are interested in monsters or fantasy. I have a really good example of years ago, I was

working in a small town library and a parent came in with their son, he was 14 and he was a rock-item reader and they were trying to figure out something that would interest him and what interested him was car repair manuals. That was what he wanted to read. And I realized that it's not that they were trying to steer him away from this thing, it's just they thought he should be reading novels. So much like Spencer said about graphics, graphic novels are real books, but I always tell parents anything that your kid wants to read should be celebrated. Matthew Feeney Wow, those kids are lucky to run into you in the library.

Danielle Pletka Wonderful. I'm glad to hear that. Matthew Feeney That's amazing. So, if there's a kid right now who's in the back seat and might be overhearing this conversation because their parents are playing the radio, what would you say to them, Emily, about the joy that can come from finding a book that you love? I do firmly believe that there is a book for every child. I don't think that there's any child out there for which a book doesn't exist that they're going to be interested in. There are millions of books, right? So what

I would say to them is if the things that you've been presented and a lot of the times for kids that's at school, you're not interested in, come to the library or go to a bookstore but don't give up. Look for something that interests you because as mentioned at the beginning of this, kids that are motivated intrinsically are going to read more than kids that are motivated from the forces outside of them. So what I would say is if you are interested in history, come in and ask us about it. We have all kinds of wonderful books. There's a series of books in the library, the Verses, which just pits two animals against each other and decides who would win in a fight. It's like crocodile versus polar bear. Who would win?

And you know what? Young boys love those. So kids absolutely love them. But then reading that is a gateway into reading more nonfiction about animals. Peter Bregman That's right. What would you say to the young person who might say they're listening and like, you know what? This is the summer. Reading is work and it sounds like school and I'm not going to do that. Peter Bregman We live in a big, beautiful world and I love books so much because they've introduced me to so many things, so many topics, so many people, so many places that I never would have thought about before, never would have spent time before. It's opened up so many ways for me to think and explore and it makes me who I am.

And so it's not just fun, it's not just work, but it's a chance to expand who you are and to explore who you want to be. That's really powerful. Elizabeth, last word to you. When you find the thing, what does it feel like? It's amazing. The world around you just disappears

and you become immersed in whatever world you're reading about, and it's such a great feeling. The kids who interact with you about what all three of you, what they should read, are really, really fortunate to have the opportunity. I just think that they're really, really lucky. It's a real pleasure to talk to you all about this and thank you for your recommendations. Thank you so much. Thank you. Emily Blackmore is a Children's and Youth Collections librarian in St. John's,

Newfoundland and Labrador. Spencer Miller is digital media coordinator for the Canadian Children's Book Center and Elizabeth Ferguson is manager at Mabel's Fables in Toronto. You've been listening to The Current Podcast. My name is Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you soon.

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