Believe it or not, kids dig summer reading

School is out for the next two months, but staff members at the Henry Waldinger Memorial Library want children to keep their minds sharp this summer.

Once again, the library is offering summer reading programs for children and teens. This year’s theme is “Dig Into Reading.”

The program began on June 24 with the announcement of the winners of the annual bookmark contest. Students from across Valley Stream, in kindergarten through sixth grade, were asked to design bookmarks reflecting the theme. One winner was chosen from each level.

The winning artists were presented with a certificate and a stack of their bookmarks from Mayor Ed Fare and children’s librarian Jaclyn Kunz. Their bookmarks, printed on brightly colored paper, will be available at the library throughout the summer.

Each of the seven bookmarks has a list of suggested books to read on the back, which are appropriate for the respective grade level.

The library received 285 entries for the contest this year. Kunz said picking the winners was difficult. “They were really good,” she said. “People really focused on the theme this year.”

Nabiha Subzwari, the fifth-grade winner, said she was excited to have her design chosen. “I thought of a person digging into a hole and his treasure is reading,” she said.

This summer, she plans to read “Titanic,” the children’s book, and her favorite author is Patricia Polacco.

Samantha Denisco, who won the kindergarten competition, said she is planning to read books by Mo Willems this summer. Ethan Fazal, the first-grade winner, said the “Captain Underpants” series is on his reading list. His bookmark design is a man climbing a mountain of books.

Jethro Tanoy designed a bookmark with a person literally digging into a book. That won him the competition for fourth-grade.

Students earned points for their schools by participating in the bookmark contest. The school with the most points at the end of the summer reading contest will win the coveted Waldinger Cup, which has been awarded the past six years. The only two schools to win have been Clear Stream Avenue and Wheeler Avenue.

Nearly 500 children have signed up for the Summer Reading Club. They have to read a certain number of books based on their age to complete the requirements and earn an invite to the end-of-summer presentations, which will include a musical story program and animal program. The older the children are, the more challenging the books they read must be.