{Summer Reading} Our Special Summer Book Nook + Book Activities and Reading Lists from The Kid's Co-Op

I put a blanket on the ground and add another for the bunnies. I also brought out a pillow and, of course, some books. Behind the bunnies, I folded up the crib runner my mother made which is no longer in use. It served as some great extra padding and decor for the tent. The boys love the transformation! Look carefully, the shadow along the back of the tent is of Wild Thing peering into the tent with his binoculars for the first time.

For the summer, I have decided to transform our tent into a special summer book nook. My husband won a tent recently when he completely his Community Emergency Response Team training. Of course, we put it in our yard -- why not?! The boys love it, so I thought it would be a new and fun place to read. (There are other books in the tent that you can't see in this picture. Plus, at night we'll read using flashlights and a lantern).

When I started to transform the tent into a book nook, I decided to create a whole reading adventure/experience to go with my son's first look at the tent as a special reading space this summer. I packed his backpack with some trail mix, binoculars (made from toilet paper rolls), a flashlight and a notepad and pen (plus some stickers so that he could decorate his binoculars). I also decided that we would head out this morning in search of rabbits. We have come cottontails that often come into our yard, and we like to leave carrots and lettuce scraps under a special tree for them. Of course, we did not see any rabbits this morning. But, anticipating this, when I added some pillows, blankets and books to the tent to create the right reading environment, I also put two stuffed bunnies in the tent and The Velveteen Rabbit so that at the end of our walk, we would indeed find some rabbits. Oh - and I put some carrots in there too, which went very well with our trail mix for a morning snack. 

We often see bunnies underneath this tree at night. 

Since there were none under the tree this morning,
we went looking for them...

Little brother is really checking these bunnies out!

I read The Velveteen Rabbit. Then big brother decided to read to all of us.
He enjoys helping Caterpillar learn his alphabet.

After reading time, Wild Thing and Caterpillar
thought the bunnies needed to go to the park!

I would say our new Summer Book Nook is a hit, as was our recent summer reading adventure. 

Is there a special reading space in your home? How do you make reading fun? Have you had a reading adventure lately? Please share. I love anything that makes reading even more special and fun for little ones. Here's some other reading adventures and fun books from The Kid's Co-Op last week. 

Last week's Kid's Co-Op featured many creative book activities and great reading lists that I thought would be perfect to share. First, some awesome book activities:

• Book Detective activity from My Little Bookcase. I think a letter hunt in our tent would be perfect.

• I am also in love with this brilliant learning/spelling activity from Housing A Forest for the book There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.

• These Firefly Activities and Books from The Hands-On Homeschooler made me wish we had fireflies here in Southern California.

• Since we also loved the book little blue and little yellow by Leo Lionni, I was a big fan of the activities for the book that Simple Mommie shared.

Plus, here's some book lists that will inspire you to head to the library (or, as the case may be, pop over to your library's website to start putting some books on hold!): 

• Buggy and Buddy shared a great list of books selected by Elementary School teachers.

• Kara's Classroom shared what they are reading right now. 

• School Time Snippets has a great reading list for boys. 

• KC Edventures shared some wonderful books that are perfect for summer, including some camping books that I have already requested from my library. 

• And Next Comes L has a Tot Book List that I really loved. 

• Sunlit Pages shared Pictures Books for Father's Day, but I think books about daddies are great anytime. 

• Growing Book by Book shared books that help little ones learn to tie their shoes.

• Pragmatic Mom has a Summer Reading List for Middle Schoolers.

Sharing at: All Year Round Carnival: Summer, Sharing Saturday, After-School Link-Up, Tender Moments with Toddlers and Preschoolers Blog Hop, The Sunday Showcase, Stress-Free Sunday, Montessori Monday, Tuesday Tots, Eco-Kids Tuesday, Artsy Play Wednesday, Mom's Library, It's Playtime and Outdoor Play Party!