Happy August! We're so excited to continue our summer reading challenge with our August calendar filled with reading prompts to connect! Most library summer reading challenges are ending. Kids are collecting their stickers, pencils, & small prizes. And now you are looking for ways to connect with your kids before they head back to school, enter school for the first time, your homeschool era is about to start, or as the summer dwindles away into fall.
We decided to help combat the reading slump with fun, interactive prompts to discover new books & make reading more enjoyable! Download our calendar below & take our prompts to your local library. Enjoy getting to browse the shelves with your child & encourage asking a librarian for their suggestions. You can browse your home bookshelves. Diving into what you already own is a fun way to reread a few classics, rediscover a book you love, or find a new book still waiting to be read. Or consider purchasing books off of our booklist that we've created just for this program featuring the suggestions we've listed on the calendar & a few more we love. Your purchases off of this list directly help us buy & gift brand new diverse & inclusive books to kids in underserved communities in rural NC.
Here's a few book suggestions for our Aug prompts:
August 1: Visit & support a Black-owned business AND read a book by a Black author
August is Black Business Month & the perfect opportunity to discuss with our youth the importance of supporting Black-owned businesses. And we all know that being an author, is a business!! You have to sell books to make money. So besides taking a trip out to visit & support a Black-owned business, we're encouraging families to purchase a book by a Black author & read it this day!!
August 2: Celebrate James Baldwin’s bday (100!) with a book about bdays
Birthdays are the best days -- but 100 birthdays are even better. Before James Baldwin was a celebrated novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and activist, he was a boy who fell in love with stories. Words opened up new worlds for young Jimmy, who read and wrote at every opportunity. He ultimately realized his dreams of becoming an author and giving voice to his community, and in doing so he showed the world the fullness of Black American life. Celebrate with a book about birthdays (like Ling & Ting Share a Birthday) & be sure to preorder this new Baldwin picture book biography -- Go Tell It: How James Baldwin Became a Writer.
August 3: Read a book about nature outside (we like Âmî Osâwâpikones)
It's national play outside day. The perfect day to read a story about the outside, outside!!! There are so many incredible stories -- fiction & nonfiction -- about nature, but we really love Âmî Osâwâpikones (Dear Dandelion). Both a love letter to the dandelion and a call to love ourselves in a difficult world, Âmî Osâwâpikones reminds us that we are not defined as others see us. Following our young protagonist and the dandelions through the seasons, we are reminded that we are resilient, we are healers, we are funny, and we are loved.
August 6: Read a green- covered book
We love scanning bookshelves for color-specific books. You can scan your home bookshelves and re-discover a book (or a few) that you haven't read in a while. Or head to your local library, scan the shelves & find a few shelves with green reads. If you're like me & don't love the spontaneity of this prompt, here's a book list of our favorite green-covered books!
August 9: Read an Indigenous story (we like My Powerful Hair)
It's national book lover's day & we want to remind you to read Indigenous stories all year round -- not just in November. Reading Indigenous stories allows us to educate ourselves & our youth on actual history, but also, celebrate contemporary Indigenous existence. My Powerful Hair is one of our favorite stories of all time, ever. The bright, colorful illustrations make the lyrical prose visceral to readers of all ages. Go buy it right now! And make sure your library has a copy too. More Indigenous reads here.
August 10: Read a book about incarceration for prisoner’s justice day (we like Milo Imagines the World)
August 10 is recognized internationally as Prisoners’ Justice Day (PJD), a day of solidarity and organizing with the incarcerated and remembrance of those who died behind bars, living in inhumane conditions. The US has a racial disparity in prisons, with Black people incarcerated at a rate that is six times higher than white people. This is a problem. We need to divest from the prison industrial complex by moving resources and people away from criminal justice systems and into community-centered safety and justice. Learn more here.
August 11: Read a book about hiphop (we like Boogie Boogie, Y’all)
Happy birthday Hip-Hop!! In 1973, behind two turntables, Clive, better known as DJ Kool Herc, plays two copies of the same record, a technique known as the merry-go-round where one moves back and forth, from one record to the next, looping the percussion portions of each track to keep the beat alive. And amongst this community of dancers, artists, musicians and poets… Hip-Hop is born. Check out our full list of hip-hop reads!
August 13: Read a book about celebrating all bodies for Fat Liberation Month
All bodies deserves love, care, and respect. For people of larger size, that is not the current reality. Very few laws exist that specifically outlaw discrimination based on body size. In 2019 alone, body size discrimination harmed 34 million Americans. This discrimination denies people necessary—even life-saving—medical treatment, contributes to financial inequality, and creates serious mental health challenges. People suffer even more because this injustice is intertwined with systemic racism, sexism, and other efforts to deny our humanity. Today is a great day to talk about bodies with your kids!
August 14: Read a story about heading back to school (we like Butterflies on the First Day of School)
Did the first day of school sneak back up on you too? We're heading into first grade & homeschooling preschool. And we're not ready. It can be a difficult transition back into school after a fun, adventure-filled summer. We're hoping these books can help. Stay tuned for a blog post featuring this book -- Butterflies on the First Day of School -- & a craft to prepare everyone (including parents) for the first day of school. Full back to school booklist.
August 17: Donate a book off our MOSS Kids Wishlist to support on Nonprofit Day
It's National Nonprofit Day & guess what? MOSS Kids Book Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in need of YOUR help. We're working diligently to bring diverse & inclusive books to rural communities in book deserts. Right now we are working to create our diverse bookmobile & mobile youth community center. Keep our free libraries stocked. Bring authors/illustrators to our area. And improve literacy rates in both Edgecombe & Nash counties. Please consider donating a book off of our wishlist today & also sharing our nonprofit with your friends & family. PS -- because we are a nonprofit you can write off your donations on your taxes, just saying.
August 18: Find a Little Free Library using the app & take a book/leave a book
There are over 175,000 little free libraries in over 121 countries. Today, we would love for you to download the Little Free Library app -- here -- and try to visit one. Bring a book that you would like to pass on & hopefully you'll find a book to take too. You can check in on the app to remember where you've visited. We currently have little free libraries in Peru, NY; and in NC, Pinetops, Tarboro, Macclesfield, Rocky Mount (see photo). And we are working on more in Wilson, East Tarboro, Sharpesburg, & Princeville.
August 20: Read a blue- covered book (we like The Proudest Blue)
Another fun scan the shelves. This time we're searching for blue books. Our favorite blue-covered book is The Proudest Blue. A powerful, vibrantly illustrated story about the first day of school--and two sisters on one's first day of hijab--by Olympic medalist and social justice activist Ibtihaj Muhammad. With her new backpack and light-up shoes, Faizah knows the first day of school is going to be special. It's the start of a brand new year and, best of all, it's her older sister Asiya's first day of hijab--a hijab of beautiful blue fabric, like the ocean waving to the sky. But not everyone sees hijab as beautiful, and in the face of hurtful, confusing words, Faizah will find new ways to be strong.
August 24h: Get your friends together for a MOSS Kids Book Club meeting -- here's a sneak peak of August's pick
Want to join in on our MOSS Kids Book Club? Sign up here to receive our blog post & an exclusive storytime read aloud of our monthly pick right to your inbox. Grab some friends & start your own monthly play date/book club where you listen to our story of the month, craft together, & get to know your community! Can you guess our August book of the month?
August 25: Read a book about Palestine & fly a kite for the kids #freepalestine
Over 39,000 people have been murdered in Palestine. Let that number sink in. Thirty-nine THOUSAND. This is a genocide. Call it what it is. And we need to be talking about with our kids. Children their age & under have been murdered there. Have been left without a family. It's our job to make sure our children are educated appropriately on this. We are encouraging you to read a book about Palestine today & to fly a kite in honor & remembrance of these beautiful, innocent children. Here's our full book list.
August 26: Read a book about women’s rights & equality
Women's Equality Day is celebrated on August 26th to commemorate the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified in 1920 and gave women the right to vote. It's important to note: many white-led suffrage organizations in New York and elsewhere usually excluded Black women and sometimes told them to march at the back of parades. After the 19th amendment passed, Black women did vote and run for office in New York, as opposed to many states that passed state and local laws disenfranchising them. But Native American women and Asian American women were barred from voting due to other federal citizenship laws: Native women until 1924 and some Asian women until the 1950s. The more you know.
August 29: Read a book about names (we like That’s Not My Name)
As we head back to school, it's a nice reminder for ourselves & our children about the beauty of names and the importance of pronouncing them correctly. There are so many incredible books celebrating names & discussing the importance of correcting people when they mispronounce your name. Stay tuned this month for a blog post featuring this story -- That's Not My Name -- and a craft to go with it.
August 30: Read Sea of Constellations for whale shark day - dm/email us for a video read aloud
It's Whale Shark Day & we think you should read our favorite book featuring Whale Sharks -- Sea of Constellations. This was our June MOSS Kids Book Club pick so we already have a craft, printable activity sheets, & a community outreach for you to do with your family. Find all that here. Don't have access to the book? Dm us (@mosskidsbooks) or email us (hello@mosskidsbooks.com) for a video read aloud of the story!
August 31: Read a book about grief & talk about emotions (we like Good Things)
National Grief Awareness Day is designed to raise awareness for the experience of grief, which can encompass a complex range of emotions. We all grieve every single day. It is of the utmost importance that we continue to have conversations with our youth surrounding these difficult, important concepts. Especially, in the state of our current climate in the US. Last year, we collaborated with author Kim Dungey on booklists -- picture books & middle grade/young adult books -- & a guide on how to talk to kids about grief. Check those posts & our full book list.
Here's our full August Summer Reading book list with even more suggestions:
To make these reading prompts even sweeter, we're offering a prize! If you tag us on socials @mosskidsbooks or email us (hello@mosskidsbooks.com) a photo of your participation, you'll be entered into a drawing to win one children's book of your choice. We'll collect all the entries throughout the month & randomly select a winner at the end of the month. You can enter 1x each day with a total of 31 chances to win!!! Winner will be contacted September 1.
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