Fifth Annual Summer Reading List

Herewith the Fifth Annual Parents’ Coalition Reading List.  This year we invited members of the active civic associations and groups across Montgomery County to tell us what books they loved as children.  Thank you to all the hard-working civic ‘activists’ in our county for these brilliant suggestions.  And thanks for all the work you do to make sure our county government functions as it should.

First, from Luella Mast of the Greater Colesville Citizens Association, who wrote that her favorite books were, Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and any books about other girls' lives.  This fascinating series is based on the life of Ms. Wilder.    

Montgomery County Civic Federation Past President Peggy Dennis had lots of books she loved as a child!  She recommends The Five Children and It, a story about five children, Robert, Anthea, Cyril, Jane, and their younger brother, nicknamed ‘Lamb,’ who find a rare sand fairy, the Psammead, who has the ability to grant wishes. All does not go as hoped, however.  Read the book to find out what happens.  According to Wikipedia, this book has never gone out of print.  This book was the first of a trilogy by well-known author Evelyn Nesbit, who also wrote the other books in the series, The Phoenix and the Carpet, and The Story of the Amulet.  Peggy also recommends Half Magic, whose author, Edward McMaken Eager, was influenced by The Five Children and It.  She also loved to read Swallows and Amazons, by Arthur Ransome; E.B. White’s classic, Charlotte’s Web; everyone’s favorite child, Eloise, by Kay Thompson; and Watership Down, written by Richard Adams. 

Virginia Sheard, a member of the Civic Fed’s Planning and Land Use Committee, recommends 101 Poems, and The Little Toy Dog and the Calico Cat.

Eric Hensal, activist and founder of Public Power Montgomery, loved to read A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline D’Engle, and all of Roald Dahl’s books.  My children also loved Roald Dahl’s books, especially The BFG and James and the Giant Peach.

Lee Shipman, from the Bannockburn Civic Association, loved to read the Big Little Books, like Treasure Island.  She remembers going to the library in Livingston to check out books, as at that time there were no public libraries in Montgomery County. 

Others recommend the wonderful To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee; the Narnia series, all seven books, by C.S. Lewis; Go Ask Alice, by author Beatrice Sparks; and The Giver, by Lois Lowry.

That is a lot of books to read for the summer! Enjoy them, and comment here with your favorite books.

Have a wonderful summer reading and relaxing!

Parents' Coalition Fourth Annual Summer Reading List

This summer, Parents’ Coalition, like everyone else, is watching the 2012 London Summer Olympics.  And so, we thought we would focus our Summer Reading List on England, sports, and the Olympics.  In that spirit, we were honored to receive a letter from the British Ambassador to the United States, Sir Peter Westmacott, who told us that one of his favorite childhood books was Winnie-the-Pooh, because, as he writes,

“As a child I was a big fan of Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne, I found Pooh’s uncertainty about life endearing and familiar, Tigger energising, and Eeyore’s resigned self-pity a characteristic I continue to encounter in every walk of life. I was also very fond of another British classic, The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. The Mongoose, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, was my favourite character.

During my teenage years I was drawn to anything by the novelist Hammond Innes. My father was a naval officer, and many of Innes’ novels were thrillers taking place at sea.”

We asked our friends and neighbors to tell us what their favorite books were, either about sports, the Olympics, or England and this was what we found out.

This summer our Reading List includes…

This is London.  This book introduces the magical City of London and was written by Miroslav Sasek, and first published in 1959.  An updated version is in print and still available.

The Kid Coach by Fred Bowen was a favorite of Rosanne Hurwitz, PC member and blog contributor.  Mr. Bowen also contributes to the Kid’s Page at the Washington Post.  The Kid Coach is about a team whose adult coach quits, and the kids organize to find their own coach among the team’s members.

Another PC member and blogger, Agnes Jones Trower, said that her daughter's favorite book about sports was The Magnificent Seven: the Authorized Story of American Gold, by Nancy H. Kleinbaum, because she took a few years of gymnastics at Hill's Gymnastics in the early ’90s, and knew Kelly Hill and Dominique Dawes.  The Magnificent Seven of course refers to the seven gymnasts who represented the United States in the 1996 Olympic Games.  They were the first to ever win a gold medal in the Womens Team Competition.  Kelly Hill and Dominique Dawes were on that remarkable team.

Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier…Lyda Astrove, also a PC member a blogger, recommended Rebecca.  Although not about sports (as I recall), it is an atmospheric tale that takes place in England.

So have fun, watch the Olympics, and root for your teams and athletes.  And be sure to get outside and play yourself! Have a wonderful summer and remember to send us your favorite books – we promise to post them on the blog.

Third Annual Summer Reading List - Additions from our Senator

We received a kind letter from our Senator, Ben Cardin, responding to our request for favorite books he read as a child. Here is his response, below.

Letter From MD Senator Ben Cardin on Summer Reading June 24, 2011





Tell us what you have been reading this summer. Post here as a comment.

Parents' Coalition Third Annual Summer Reading List

This year thanks to the laudable efforts of the Montgomery County (MD) Council, and of course, Friends of the Library and its supporters, our libraries will once again have the funding to participate in Maryland’s Public Library Summer Reading Program. Those actions notwithstanding, Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD presents its third annual summer reading list for parents and children. This year we asked our elected representatives, what books did you love to read when you were a child?

Here are the responses.

Councilmember Nancy Floreen told us her favorite book was Lad, a Dog, written by Albert Payson Terhune. Terhune ran a kennel and bred and worked with collies. This book is a collection of stories about one of his own dogs, Lad.

Councilmember Hans Riemer told us he read “a phenomenal series” called The Great Brain. According to him, it tells the story of a young boy's Sawyeresque adventures in frontier Utah. He says that these books made chicken pox a little less miserable! The ‘Great Brain’ series was written by John D. Fitzgerald who grew up in Price, Utah during Frontier days. These stories are about his childhood in the west.

Councilmember Phil Andrews wrote to say his favorite books from childhood are: The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame), Green Eggs and Ham (Dr. Seuss), Winnie the Pooh (A.A. Milne), and Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White). He says these are some of his favorites because they teach understanding of others, empathy and they root for the underdog!

Councilmember Roger Berliner told us that he loved Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis) when he was young and enjoyed reading them to his kids as well. He loves the element of adventure in them and the notion that kids can be a powerful agent of change in the world and make it a better place.

Councilmember George Leventhal said, “I liked stories about imaginary worlds with multiple volumes to which I could return again and again: the Oz series by L. Frank Baum, the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, the Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander and the Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien. I enjoyed the continuity between books, the epic nature of the stories covering the history and geography of imaginary places, and the moral challenge to young children to develop character and courage in the face of adversity. It was wonderful to be able to share these stories with my own children when they were at the appropriate ages.”

Our Congressional representative Chris Van Hollen wrote to tell us that, “As a child, I liked Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, about a boy who wins a contest to tour a fantastic chocolate factory owned by the eccentric Willy Wonka, and The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, an adventure story about a bored young boy who is transported to the Kingdom of Wisdom where he meets a number of colorful characters.

“When I was a teenager, my favorite book was To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, about a young girl in Alabama during the Great Depression, and her father, who takes a principled stand against racism and prejudice. I also enjoyed 39 Steps by John Buchan, a spy thriller about a man who has to solve a murder and stop a conspiracy in order to prevent a world war.”

We also asked our Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, for his favorite books. We received a quick response, and were directed to the annual summer ‘Let’s Read, Let’s Move’ Program. While Mr. Duncan can't provide a list of books because of the possible influence such a list of preferences may have, we looked up the books read at the Let’s Read summer program offered by DoE. Here are a few: Let’s Play Catch, by Chris Draft; The Napping House, by Audrey Wood; Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak; and My Lucky Day by Keiko Kasza. And I am sure the Secretary would want me to tell you that, according to DoE, reading five books over the summer prevents learning loss.

Finally, my own child highly recommends The Hoboken Chicken Emergency, by noted author Daniel Pinkwater.

Thanks to everyone who responded to our request. Have a wonderful summer.

Tell us the books you loved to read as a child, and which books your children and grandchildren love to read over the lazy days of summer. Post a comment here.

And have a wonderful lazy summer.

Parents Coalition Second Annual Summer Reading List

This year our Montgomery County Public Libraries will be the only ones in the entire State of Maryland not to participate in the Maryland State Department of Education Summer Reading Program. Why? Budget cuts of 24 percent to our libraries. Also unavailable due to budget cuts is access to Academic OneFile, Encyclopedia Americana, Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, Historical Newspapers Extra Edition, the New Book of Knowledge, the New Book of Popular Science, and on and on. Eighty positions will be lost, on top of the 60 positions already cut in Fiscal Year 2010. Meanwhile the Board of Education has a surplus to run the public school system. Or something.


In lieu of the public libraries being able to provide staffing and books to our children, the PCMC offers as a public service our Second Annual Summer Reading List.

This year I thought about what I had read as a child and then had a brilliant idea: ask my mom what SHE read as a child, to rediscover those old classics. My mom reminds me that was during the Depression, so no one actually bought books. They went to the library. Her local library was the wonderful Duffield Library of the Detroit Public Library System, on West Grand Boulevard.

Somehow even though it was the Depression, the City of Detroit managed to keep their libraries open and staffed and provide books to their youngest citizens. She remembers her favorites being Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), by Lewis Carroll (aka Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), as well as used comic books from the neighborhood grocery store.

Moving to the next generation, friends recommend two books by Howard Pease: Captain of the Araby (1953); and The Ship without a Crew (1934) both featuring the main character, Tod Moran. Pease was born near Stockton, California and his books were based in part on his own adventures around the world. John Billington, Friend of Squanto (1956) by Clyde Robert Bulla is also another book that comes highly recommended.

The younger generation recommends The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster (1961). This is the story of bored Milo who drives through a magic tollbooth. As we are at the height of summer I am sure there are lots of bored boys and girls out there that would like this adventure story.

As last year, if you have a book to recommend to our kids, please post it in the comments here. Enjoy the summer, relax, and read with your children!

Damascus school keeps library open in summer

Gazette: ‘If they don't read during the summer they lose it,' principal says

by Peggy McEwan | Staff Writer

Third-grader Lena Elamin, 8, does not intend to lose any of the reading skills she learned during the school year just because it is summer vacation.

She and her brother Mostafa, 4, were among the first students to arrive at Lois P. Rockwell Elementary School in Damascus when the school's summer library opened June 24, a week after school ended.

The library, actually a corner of the lobby with a table filled with books separated into reading levels, is a mainstay for many students...

Summer Reading: My List

In ‘reading’ about the summer reading issues as defined by the public school system in Montgomery County Maryland, I thought about my long, lazy summers and the books I read then.

Here are a few that I remember:

Nancy Drew. Need I say more?

The Bobbsey Twins. These are probably not even available anymore! Small adventures for little children.

Betsy and Tacy series. This series written by Maud Hart Lovelace, follows three girls at the turn of the 19th-20th century. I loved these books.


Lazy Liza Lizard. I read this book at the Detroit Public Library, where I grew up. I remember sitting in a corner on a padded bench reading these books. Again, I don’t even think these books are in the library anymore! Probably not in print, but if you see one, grab it!

The Secret Garden (well, here I guess you can tell I am such a girl!) I really fell for this book, by Francis Hodgson Burnett. I actually went on to read one of her other books, Little Lord Fauntleroy, but didn’t like it as much. As I recall, I didn’t like it much at all.

Nellie Bly. This was one of those scholastic books, as I recall, about real people, this time the famous investigative reporter, Elizabeth Jane Cochran Seaman, who worked for the New York World. Among her famous stories was an investigation of the horrific Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island, where she became an inmate to report from the inside; and her travels ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ in an attempt to beat the title of Jules Vernes’ book. She did, traveling around the world in 72 days. I don’t remember the author or the actual title of this book but assume there are plenty of biographies about her now.

A Child’s History of the World, and A Child’s Geography of the World. For some reason both of these books were enchanting to me. Again, probably out of print but look for it at a used book store, at the Library, or through Inter-library loan. Both by V.M. Hillyer.

Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn. The world of the pre- and post-Civil War Midwest. Ernest Hemngway's famous quote, of course: "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn."

At this time I also was reading a lot about the 19th century. I think some of these books may have been best-sellers or something, but I do remember reading about the infamous Andersonville Prison, located in Georgia, which held Union prisoners, and other books on the Civil War and the post-Civil War west. Well, this could date me so I will stop there.

Moby Dick (read this in college in my spare time). I was fascinated by the thick descriptions of the whalers and whaling that ran alongside the fictional plot. Herman Melville. ‘Call me Ishmael.’ Wow!

Emma Goldman, Living My Life. An autobiography of this fascinating anarchist. Again, read this one in college.

In college I also read books by B. Traven about Mexico. These are fascinating stories and the author is a mysterious man that no one knows much about. That was a fun part of reading these books. Who is B. Traven?

I will stop there. What are your children reading this summer? What would you recommend?

L.W. recommends A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle. Here are links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Wrinkle_in_Time
http://www.amazon.com/Wrinkle-Time-Madeleine-LEngle/dp/0440498058


If anyone would like to contribute please comment and we can certainly post to the blog. Or send an email to : summertime.reading@yahoo.com