Welcome, Chefs!
Join the Children's Library for our Bon Appetit Darien Summer Reading Challenge. We have chosen some fun reading activities, awesome books, and amazing prizes!
Starting on Monday, June 10th, sign up online via Beanstack then stop by the Library for a paper challenge card and your free prize book! You can also submit a recipe to the Darien Library Community Cookbook.
Registered Last Year?
Did you play online last year for Summer Reading? There's no need to create a new account! You may look up your account using the email address you used last year. Once you log in, you can select this year's challenge on the first day of Summer Reading! If you need assistance, please send us an email at childrenslibrary@darienlibrary.org.
Choose Your Adventure
Pre-Readers
Pre-Reader Challenge
This summer, explore the five Early Literacy skills of reading, writing, singing, talking, and playing as part of the Bon Appetit Darien Pre-Reader Summer Challenge.
How to Play
Starting on Monday, June 10th, sign up online via Beanstack then stop by the Library for a paper challenge card and your free prize book! Have an account from last year? When you log in, you can select this year's challenge on the first day of Summer Reading.
Readers will complete activities (called badges on Beanstack). For each activity that you complete, you earn one ticket that you can enter into one of our Prize Basket drawings.
Participants must select which of the prizes they would like to win on Beanstack after they complete each badge. Anyone who completes all sixteen challenges by August 5th will win a Summer Reading t-shirt. T-shirts will arrive about two weeks after the end of the program. Winners of the prize baskets will be notified by Friday, August 9th.
Play Ideas
Birth to five is a huge developmental range, that's why we have included activities that can be adjusted to fit the needs of your child. Make it as easy or challenging as you would like!
For example, "Find a triangle, a circle, and a square":
- For a younger baby, use a 3D object like a block to show them the shape and let them touch it and play with it.
- For a toddler, when reading together ask them to find a triangle on the page.
- For a preschooler, ask them to find triangles in everyday objects and talk to them about the different kinds of triangles.
These challenges are starting points for learning and exploration, feel free to get creative with them!
Need ideas on how to adjust the challenges? Ask a children's librarian for ideas!
Kindergarten to 6th Grade
Bon Appetit Summer Reading Challenge
Starting on Monday, June 10th, sign up online via Beanstack then stop by the Library for a paper challenge card and your free prize book!
Have an account from last year? When you log in, you can select this year's challenge on the first day of Summer Reading!
How to Play
Readers will complete activities (called badges on Beanstack) in any order. Reading activities can be completed by reading physical books, e-Books, or listening to audiobooks. Participants can count any books they read between June 10th and August 5th.
For each activity that you complete, you earn one ticket that you can enter into one of our Prize Basket drawings.
Participants may log their challenges on their paper map and then upload their answers through Beanstack.
Some Books to Try
- Read a yummy book
- Read a graphic novel
- Read an award-winning book
- Read a book with a green cover
- Read A cookbook or a book with a recipe
- Read a book with a human that doesn't look or live like you
How to Win
Participants must select which of the prizes they would like to win on Beanstack after they complete each badge.
Participants must select which of the prizes they would like to win on Beanstack after they complete each badge. Anyone who completes all sixteen challenges by August 5th will win a Summer Reading t-shirt. T-shirts will arrive about two weeks after the end of the program. Winners of the prize baskets will be notified by Friday, August 9th.
Books You'll Love
Summer Reading is made possible by the generous support of the Marion Moore Foundation.
