Published: by Gretchen on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Looking for easy ways to encourage your kids to read more this summer? These free summer reading programs for kids are such a fun motivation booster. Many of them come with free pizza, prizes, books, printable activities, and more!
Here is our comprehensive list of all the completely FREE programs for 2026!
Believe it or not, it’s almost that time of year again — when school is out and summer reading programs abound. Yay!
Note: We recommend calling your local stores to verify that they’re participating in these programs this year.
Do your kids love to read, too? If so, this is our big list of all the FREE summer reading programs that are available nationally!
Summer Reading Programs for Older Kids
Half Price Books — Half Price Books is hosting Summer Reading Camp for kids 14 or younger. Kids are encouraged to read 15 minutes per day to reach a total of at least 300 minutes. After that, they can turn in their completed reading log to their local store to earn Bookworm Bucks to spend. Each week they will also offer fun new printable activity sheets of all kinds!
Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Program — Kids ages 18 and under can select a list from the grade level bands listed. Print the list and track each book you read by checking it off and recording the date it was read, along with a rating. Submit your list to receive a recognition certificate and T-shirt!
Pizza Hut Camp Book It — In addition to their annual school year program, Pizza Hut also has their summer reading program called Summer of Stories! Simply track your child’s reading during June, July, and August. Once they reach their monthly reading goal, they can redeem for a free one-topping personal pizza at Pizza Hut!
Sweet Sora Reads — Geared toward K-12, this program will run from May 12th through August 25th and offer a collection of free, simultaneous-use ebooks and select audiobooks.
Local Libraries — Above all, don’t forget about your local library! Most of them offer fun summer reading programs with prizes and more.Bonus: Don’t forget about the Pizza Hut Book-It Program that runs each school year!
Why Do a Summer Reading Program?
Summer reading programs are a great opportunity for kids to keep reading (and learning) even when they’re not in school.
Plus, they’re free and something your children can do anywhere and at any time!
With the added incentives and prizes offered, it’s a win-win for kids and their families!
Why are Summer Reading Programs Important?
It’s good for their brain development and can help them to retain more of what they learned during the school year.
Reading is also a great way to pass the time — time they might otherwise spend zoning out to screens!
How to Encourage Kids with a Summer Reading Program
The best way to encourage your children to do anything is by modeling the behavior you want for them — so start reading!
Ask them what types of books interest them and then ask your librarian to suggest similar books at the child’s reading level. Or, select books you can read aloud to them.
Make reading time fun with special snacks, by reading outside, or by letting them “stay up late” to read one more chapter.
FAQs for Kid Summer Reading Programs
What is the best reading program?
It depends on your child’s reading level and what would be the “best” motivator for him or her. Look through the list of online reading programs above and check out your local library offerings and then just pick one!
How do you organize a summer reading program?
Save time and let your local library organize it for you — or search online for a free summer reading program. Most libraries and dozens of online websites offer reading programs for free. Once you’ve selected the program you want to do, then have a set time each day where you and/or your children will read for at least 15-20 minutes. Make sure to record your reading time and follow up with the appropriate challenges, and of course, don’t forget to redeem any prizes or rewards!
Looking for a fun way to encourage and motivate your kids to read more? Or need a creative way for your kids to keep track of all the books they read through summer reading programs this year?
Be sure to download our FREE Kid’s Summer Reading Printable Pack! It comes with a reading challenge, reading time tracker, and fill-in-the-blank summer reading list.
Do you know of any other Summer Reading Programs we should add to this list for 2026? Let us know in the comments!
Published: by Gretchen on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Columbia Fleece Jackets make great layering pieces for colder evenings in the spring and summer.
Columbia is huge sale on jackets, fleece, and more! Plus, members save an extra 20% off select styles when you log into your account (it’s free to join). Even better, shipping is free for rewards members.
Sign up below to get your free summer reading pack that includes 30 books to read this summer, tips for how to read more, reading trackers/checklists, and more!
Published: by Sarah on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Planning on hiking this summer? Don’t miss this hot deal on Columbia hiking shoes!
Columbia has these Women’s Redmond Low Shoes for only $43.20 shipped when you log into your member’s account and save an extra 20% off automatically (it’s free to join). Even better, shipping is free for rewards members.
This is such a cute set and would make a great gift.
Valid for a limited time only.
Choose free in-store pickup to avoid shipping costs. Or shipping is free on orders over $35 (or sign up with Walmart+ to get free shipping on all orders, no minimum!).
This deal includes a cleanser, facial exfoliator, spot treatment gel, face serum, and a pack of blemish stickers (40 pieces).
Our team has ordered through MorningSave and was SO impressed by the shipping speed, customer service, and quality of products. Highly, highly recommend — especially since they have so many amazing deals!
Looking for ways to earn extra income?
These 10 Flexible Side Hustles for Womenare flexible, totally doable, outside-the-box ideas! 🙌
Published: by Crystal Paine on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Reading every day is a big priority of mine. But on really full days, fitting in reading time can be a challenge. Which is why I’m so grateful for great audiobooks! They are the perfect solution to making reading a priority — even when I’m not able to physically sit down and read a book.
With a good audiobook, I can clean a bathroom, wait in the carpool line, or fold a load of laundry — and it makes a sometimes monotonous task really enjoyable. Getting something done while getting lost in a story? That’s a major win!
There’s also something really special about hearing the author or narrator bring the story to life in their own voice. It adds a whole new layer to the reading experience of the best audiobooks.
Before we get into the list, I want to share how I get free audiobooks because, without that, audiobook listening can quickly become expensive.
I discovered the Libby app a number of years ago, and I love that I can listen to just about any audiobook I want completely for FREE! I highly, highly recommend it!
That being said, Libby’s audiobooks can sometimes have long holds or short lending periods that require you to return the book before you’ve finished it.
If you’re looking for another way to grab a few FREE audiobooks, you can currently sign up for an Audiobooks.com trial and get 3 FREE audiobooks during your first month! You’ll get access to over 150,000 audiobooks! (Just remember to cancel your subscription before your free trial is up so that you don’t get charged!)
Another option is Audible, which gives you access to a streaming library of books and lets you keep one book per month of membership, even after you’ve canceled your subscription. Check out the current Audible discounts and deals here.
Psst! If you like eBooks, you might want to take advantage of this FREE one-month Kindle Unlimited Trialthat’s available, too! It includes not just eBooks but thousands of audiobooks, as well!
7 Best Audiobooks I Highly Recommend
If you’re ready to hit play on your next favorite audiobook, here are my top 7 audiobooks I can’t stop recommending:
At the advice of my readers, I started reading this one and immediately couldn’t stop talking about it.
It’s the tragic and true story of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society Orphanage scandals and how they played out in the lives of the children who actually went through this horrific experience.
Truth be told, I had never heard of these scandals before listening to this book — and I live in Tennessee! I have asked multiple people who live here and they haven’t heard of it either.
It’s heart-wrenching and horrible and I think a powerful reminder of how money can cause people to make terrible decisions that can hurt people in devastating ways.
The book is well-written and engaging and appears to be very well-researched historical fiction. It is also the beautiful story of sibling love and how trauma and devastation doesn’t have to define your future.
Note: There are a lot of situations in the book when it comes to abuse that could be very triggering to people, depending upon your life experience and trauma. The book doesn’t give nitty-gritty details, but it’s enough that it could be very triggering.
I read this book a number of years ago and loved it. Then, I watched the Netflix movie they did based upon the book.
Well, after watching the movie and enjoying it, I realized I couldn’t remember enough about the book to compare the movie and the book. So, in an uncharacteristic move, I decided to read the book again.
Only this time, I listened to it (thanks to getting the audiobook for free from the Libby app). This is one of the best audiobooks, because it’s SO well done and I loved that the audiobook is narrated by multiple voices!
This was my very favorite audiobook of 2021! This is based on the true story of a Jewish family during World War II who were separated all over the world and how they ended up surviving and eventually being reunited. It is deeply moving, gripping, and heartbreaking. But at the same time, it is the story of love, family, and perseverance against all odds.
One thing I noticed was how creative and determined to beat the odds each of the family members was, coming up with outside-the-box ideas, and not giving up. When all around it felt like everything was crumbling and hopeless, they chose to keep pressing on and keep holding on to the will to live.
Of all the parts of the book, I think the sections that most impacted me were thinking of what it would be like to have young children during the Holocaust and how deeply difficult it would be to try to care for and protect a baby or child in the midst of so much fear, uncertainty, and straight up disregard for human life. I can’t even begin to imagine and this book helped me to have a glimpse into just how horrific that would have been.
Note: There is a little bit of language and, as you can imagine, some intense and graphic topics are touched on. However, I felt like the book did a good job of not going into unnecessarily graphic details and stayed true to the story and experiences.
So, this is a book I never expected would make my favorites list. But, it completely surprised me how much I loved it and grew attached to the quirky characters in it — including an octopus!
In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I actually bought a copy so I could finish reading it instead of listening to it! I rarely do that, so you know I loved the book.
It’s a book with multiple unique characters telling their story from their point of view and how they all weave together in the end is beautiful and endearing. If you enjoy a good fiction story told from different vantage points that spans a wide variety of ages and interests, definitely check this book out!
Note: This is not a Christian book and has some crass language in it, but it is well-written and engaging story… and it made me want to learn a lot more about the octopus from it as it was fascinating and I learned so much just from the parts of the book included about it!
This book wasn’t at all what I expected and I almost didn’t keep listening after the first few chapters because it threw me off… but I’m so glad that I did because it ended up being such a beautiful story.
I loved getting to walk in the shoes of a mom who has a child on the autism spectrum and to feel more empathy for what she is experiencing and walking through. The book also made me think of how everyone is carrying heavy burdens and how many people are probably walking around with secrets and burdens and struggles that we don’t know anything about.
This is a book I never would have picked up on my own, but it came so highly recommended by multiple people that I decided to try it because it was free to listen to on Libby. I’m so glad I did because it is one of those books that has stuck with me for a long time.
This book explores not only the Pack Horse Librarian Project that was started by Roosevelt’s New Deal — a project dedicated to bringing literature to people who lived far away from access to libraries — but it also dives deep into the Blue People.
I had never heard of either the Pack Horse Librarian Project or the Blue People and the book inspired me to dig deeper into both of them. It was fascinating and heartbreaking to learn about.
If you enjoy well-researched historical fiction about important pieces of history that aren’t widely known/talked about (at least I’d never heard of either!), this would be a good read. It does have some language and a few more adult-themed sections, but overall was well worth the time I invested listening to it.
I felt like the story was slow in parts and skipped around a little, but it was still moving and drew you in. I learned so much from it and have talked about it multiple times with multiple people since listening to it — which always signifies to me that a book resonated with me.
This was a fascinating peek into the world of what it’s like to live in Alaska. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law and nephew live in Alaska, so it gave me a whole new appreciation for their life.
The audiobook felt so sad and dark in parts… and it opened my eyes to how hard it would be to live where it is so dark and cold so much of the year. I had never really thought how much sunshine and warmth can impact our overall mood and could steal one’s joy and motivation.
The Great Alone did a fantastic job of helping me to have a deeper understanding of the challenges people in Alaska have faced and how harsh and brutal the winters are and how isolating that could be. If you have ever wondered what life in Alaska is like for some or you are just looking for a unique novel that is well-written and engaging, I would highly recommend The Great Alone.
What do you recommend as some of the best audiobooks to listen to? I’d love to hear!
FREE Summer Reading Challenge Printable Pack!
Sign up below to get your free summer reading pack that includes 30 books to read this summer, tips for how to read more, reading trackers/checklists, and more!
Published: by Brigette on | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
I have both of my college kids home for a few weeks, which means I spent extra to account for the extra people (and their friends) which will be in and out of my house this week. I always try to have plenty of snacks and homemade treats waiting for them!
Deli Meat/Cheese Sandwiches, Apples/Applesauce Pouches, Mini Peppers, Chips/Veggie Straws/Harvest Snaps, Dave’s Bars, Cheese Sticks (Options for sack lunches for school) x 4
