Check It Out: Devour a book in the truest sense

It’s officially summertime, and the Newport Beach Public Library’s Summer Reading Program begins Saturday. So visit the Central Library or the Balboa, Corona del Mar or Mariners branch and pick up game sheets or review forms, win prizes and enjoy activities like face painting, story times and crafts.

This year’s theme for kids, teens and adults is “Reading Is So Delicious!” In this great annual program, adults and teens submit reviews of the books they read. Five reviews earns readers a paperback book. There are also prize drawings. Read all you can; more reviews mean more chances to win!

Kids from babies through sixth grade (or their parents) keep track of the books they read on a game sheet and earn prizesFifteen books, or chapters for older readers, earn a paperback book and an entry into the children’s Grand Prize drawing.

New for this summer, the library will be using Pinterest, an online “pinboard” where library customers of all ages can post book reviews. So if you’d like to share something great you just read, or see what other NBPL customers are reading, check out our Pinterest page at pinterest.com/nbplpins.

There will be lots of fun programs for kids over the seven weeks of Summer Reading. The very first week will bring comedy, barnyard animals, bubble science and magic to the four Newport Beach branches. There’s a complete schedule of summer events online at newportkids.org.

Help children start filling up those Summer Reading game sheets! Here are some suggestions of fun summer reads for kids — some food, some summer, and some popular authors. So delicious!

“Little Mouse and the Big Cupcake” by Thomas Taylor: A very small mouse finds a very big chocolate chip and raspberry cream cupcake and must ask for help from his animal friends to get it home — all of whom agree in exchange for a little nibble.

“Dragons Love Tacos” by Adam Rubin: For a funny take on kids and food, this story book about a dragon’s love for tacos will have everyone laughing. The only thing better than eating tacos is having a taco party, so don’t be surprised when your little one develops an appetite for tacos.

“Pete at the Beach” by James Dean: This Pete the Cat adventure is a perfect book for summertime reading. Cool cat Pete spends a fun, but hot, day at the seashore, collecting shells and building sand castles. Cooling off in the big ocean looks appealing to Pete, but the waves make it a little scary. Pete’s brother, Bob, offers to teach Pete how to surf. Can Pete conquer his fear of the water and enjoy the day even more?

“Katie and the Cupcake Cure” by Coco Simon: In Cupcake Diaries Book One, Katie Brown thinks middle school can’t be that different from elementary school. But is she ever wrong! After her best friend ditches her for a new group of friends called the Popular Girls Club, Katie is left alone and starts to wonder if there’s an Unpopular Girls Club she can join. Luckily, Katie finds her way with a great new group of friends. Four friends plus cupcakes turns out to be the icing on the cake.

“Tales from a Not-So-Happy Heartbreaker” by Rachel Renée Russell: In Dork Diaries 6, middle-school drama queen Nikki Maxwell worries about asking a boy to her school’s “sweetheart dance.”

“Pi in the Sky” by Wendy Mass: Joss, the seventh son of the Supreme Overlord of the Universe, must team up with a human girl to re-create Earth when the planet is accidentally erased from existence. An entertaining and unexpected book by a popular author.

Find fine summer reads for all ages at the Newport Beach Public Library. The Summer Reading Program runs from June 22 to Aug. 9.