Time to Read

Many kids look forward to summer: time off from school, camp, sports, vacations — and time to read! This week, The Mini Page offers some ideas to keep your imagination active all summer long.

• Younger readers can start the summer by celebrating the accomplishments of 12 Black women who were at the center of the civil rights movement. The short biographies in “Justice Rising” by Katheryn Russell-Brown go beyond the familiar names to include other trailblazers.

• Author Diana López takes readers on a magical adventure in “Felice and the Wailing Woman,” the first book of a series. Felice has been living with her uncle in Corpus Christie, Texas, but when she finds out her mother is haunting the river near Tres Leches, she sets out to release her mom and other monstruos and free the people of the town.

• In “The Area 51 Files” by Julie Buxbaum, Sky Patel-Baum gets a crash course in what life is like inside the famous top-secret military base. When Sky goes there to live with her mysterious uncle, she also discovers a lot of aliens. But as they begin disappearing, the secrets and the fun pile up.

Mini Fact: Kids ages 6 to 8 read an average of 19 books over the summer break, experts say.

• It’s summertime, and being outdoors means coming into contact with creatures! Leap into “Bite, Sting, Kill! The Incredible Science of Toxins, Venom, Fangs & Stingers” by Julie Beer to learn the mechanics of fangs and stingers, along with how to “milk” a snake and what antivenom does.

• C.C. Harrington’s “Wildoak” is the winner of the 2023 Schneider Family Book Award. When Maggie Stephens is sent to stay with her grandfather, she never imagines crossing paths with a snow leopard cub in Wildoak Forest. Living with a stutter, Maggie is quiet and tries to avoid drawing attention to herself, but soon she finds she must speak up for those who can’t.

• What’s it mean to be “The Greatest Kid in the World” ? In the new story by John David Anderson, that’s what Zeke Stahls would like to know. Somehow, he’s been chosen to compete for a $10,000 prize, and he wants to win to help out his mom. But as he prepares for the contest, he gets more confused about what being “great” really is.

Make a list of books you hope to read this summer. Share it with a friend.

• The animal kingdom is huge and varied, and so are its members’ life spans. In “How Old Is a Whale?” by Lily Murray, readers can discover fascinating facts, including life spans, of beings as different as a bat and a quahog. (Spoiler alert: The quahog (KO-hawg), a type of clam, lives about 400 years!)

• Want to write a book of your own? Get a jump start with “The Storyteller’s Handbook:

52 Illustrations To Inspire Your Own Tales and Adventures” by Elise Hurst. More than four dozen fantastic drawings will spark a young writer’s imagination and open the door to a summer of creativity.

• Everyone feels out of place now and then. So it was for author and illustrator Dan Santat, who shares his awkward middle-school experience with readers in the graphic memoir “A First Time for Everything.” Stepping out his comfort zone, Dan takes a class trip to Europe and finds a new version of himself.

On the Web:

• Search “summer reading 2023” to find reading programs in your local libraries.

At the bookstore:

• “Reading Log for Kids” from Belle Journals uncle, she also discovers a lot of aliens. But as they begin disappearing, the secrets and the fun pile up.

Try ’n’ Find

Make a list of books you hope to read this summer. Share it with a friend.

Mini Jokes

Words that remind us of summer reading are hidden in this puzzle. Some words are hidden backward or diagonally, and some letters are used twice. See if you can find:

ADVENTURE, ANIMALS, BOOKS, CELEBRATE, CONTEST, GRAPHIC, IDEAS, ILLUSTRATION, IMAGINATION, MEMOIR, MYSTERY, QUAHOG, READING, SUMMER, TIME, TRIP, VACATION, WRITE.

Cook’s Corner

Cheesy Rice and Olives Casserole

You’ll need:

• 1 cup enriched long-grain white rice, uncooked

• 1/2 cup stuffed green olives, sliced

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

• 2 cups water

What to do:

1. Combine all ingredients and mix well.

2. Place in a greased 2-quart casserole dish.

• 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• pinch of pepper

3. Bake in a preheated 325-degree oven for 45 minutes covered, then 15 minutes uncovered. Serves 4 to 6.

7 Little Words for Kids

Use the letters in the boxes to make a word with the same meaning as the clue. The numbers in parentheses represent the number of letters in the solution. Each letter combination can be used only once, but all letter combinations will be necessary to complete the puzzle.

1. website with many videos (7)

2. fight (6)

3. water channel (5)

4. hits with a loud noise (7)

5. your shirt may have them (7)

6. small flying machine (5)

7. in the middle of (5) buttons, drone, among.

DRO ES YOU TLE

BE BUT CR AM

Billy: What does the librarian say when he’s ready to leave?

Bethany: “Time to book!”

Eco Note

Painting black and white stripes on wind turbines could help prevent the hundreds of thousands of bird deaths caused each year by impacts with their blades. Most turbines are painted white to make them blend in with the landscape. But avian vision experts say that makes them nearly invisible to many bird species. Experts say alternating bands of black and white would create a flickering pattern that could make the turbines stand out to birds, even in low light levels.

For later:

Look in your newspaper for items about summer reading programs in your local libraries or community centers.

Teachers: Follow and interact with The Mini Page on Facebook!

BY DAN THOMPSON