Summer Reading... or not

I spent Tuesday at the beach with my kids. It was perfect. The air temperature was comfortable, the water was cool enough to be refreshing, but not so cold that you started to turn blue after a little while. The waves were big enough to play in, but not so big that they exhausted you or wore you out. There was a delightful breeze off the ocean. There were no biting flies and no jellyfish. 

A perfect day.

I should have put on a bit more suntan lotion though.

Naturally I brought a book, because that's the way I roll. I didn't read too much of it though. But it started me thinking about summer reading.

Both of my kids have summer reading assignments to be completed before the first week of school. Neither of them are thrilled about that. My daughter is a reader with a TBR pile as long as her arm, but she'd rather read a book of her own choosing than the assigned books (doesn't everyone feel that way). My son used to read a lot more but has gotten more interested in editing videos than reading right now. 

Everyone's always going on about how kids need to be sure to read during the summer. And, well, as a writer I can hardly disagree. But there are a lot of things kids need to do during the summer. They need to dig a hole, jump in a wave, ride a bike, take a hike, play a game, watch a movie, listen to music, talk with friends, be alone with their thoughts. 

Reading is essential. A reader is more prepared to handle difficult school work. Reading is something that cannot be ignored.

But you know what, so are all of those other things. 

Have a great summer. Do lots of fun things. Hopefully one of those fun things will be reading a book!