When 7-year-old Asher McBee thinks about summer reading, his face lights up.
Reaching into his black bag, he pulls out "The Throne of Fire" by Rick Riordan.
"This is one of my favorite books," he said, looking at the library's hardback.
McBee loves to read, but many children do not -- especially when school is out. Testing shows children who don't read in the summer can fall two years behind in reading by the sixth grade, said Barbara Hunnington, a youth and special services consultant for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Children don't catch up if they don't read, they fall behind, she said.
During the summer, bookstores and libraries try to make reading appealing to children by offering special programs and incentives.
Gail Broughton takes her 9-year-old son, Trevon, to as many library programs as she can.
"The hard thing about getting him to read is trying to keep him out of the video games and away from the TV," she said. Trevon, a rising fifth-grader at Atlanta's R.N. Fickett Elementary School, enjoys reading longer books broken into chapters and likes that he can choose the books he wants to read at the library. His favorite book is "Stink: Solar System Superhero," an adventure book by Megan McDonald.
More than 66,000 children took part in the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System's summer reading programs last year, said Kelly Robinson, public relations and marketing director for the system. More than 300 people attended a recent summer reading kickoff, she said.
"I love when a child takes a book to a librarian and says ‘I want another one just like this' and they sit on the floor and start reading," said Mary Starck, a youth service coordinator for Fulton County's public libraries. "We are setting the roots for a lifetime of reading."
Children are not just reading what is required by the school, Starck said. They are reading what they enjoy.
Libraries and bookstores provide school summer reading lists for children. Having the lists in the libraries creates a little competition between students, said Kelli Wright, director for elementary teaching and learning in DeKalb County. When the summer is over, children are awarded special certificates from their school librarians.
"Reading is a wonderful way to increase vocabulary and improve kids' knowledge of the world," Wright said.
Barnes & Noble's "Imagination Destination" program requires children to read eight books to receive a free book. There is no age limit, but the free books are geared toward children ages 7-12, said Mary Amicucci, vice president for children's books at Barnes & Noble.
"Kids who read over the summer do better when they get back to school," she said.
Borders' "Double Dog Dare" program requires children to read 10 books to redeem a free book.
The incentives are important to keep kids interested, said Craig Waldrip, a bookseller at Borders in Midtown.
"Generally," he said, "if a child is not particularly excited about reading, and they aren't required to read, they will not read."
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