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Do your children know the great diversity of climates, cultures, and heritages experienced across the states? We're looking forward to reading our way across the USA together this summer, and we hope you can join us!
The Challenge:
Read books set in at least 20 different states this summer.
Prizes:
Every family that finishes their list (20+ books) gets 200 reward points, which is the equivalent of a $10 Timberdoodle gift certificate. Redeem this to buy a dot-to-dot book, Doodle the USA, USA ScrunchMap, or whatever you've had your eye on lately!
One winner will receive a $100 Timberdoodle Gift Certificate to spend on the prize of their choice.
Multiple Entries:
- Every family member who turns in their reading page with at least 20 states represented will receive an entry for the grand prize.
- Read books representing more than 40 states, get two entries.
- Read a book for each of the 50 states and receive three entries.
No Purchase Required
Here's the free PDF with the lists to fill out and state map to color as you go.
Want book ideas? Buy the 2020 Summer Reading Challenge pack, and you'll get the United States Build a Giant Poster Coloring Book along with an ebook that lists book ideas for each of the 50 states. (See the sample PDF above for an idea of what to expect.) We include 20 to 30 suggestions for each state, with a total of over 1,300 titles, but don't forget that you are welcome to add in any others that you read!
Finish This Summer
Send in your completed lists by Monday, September 7th, 2020 to receive reward points and be entered to win the grand prize.
Books May Be Available to Read for Free!
Many of these titles are available in ebook (Kindle) format so that you can take advantage of your library's electronic lending or your Kindle device if, like us, your state hasn't opened physical libraries back up yet. Plus, many are available on Kindle Unlimited and Kindle FreeTime, and a few are even public domain titles!
A Note About Our Book Ideas
If you've been reading to your child long (or if you've simply perused your local public library), you've probably noticed that families have very different standards in their reading materials.
Just as in our handbook's reading challenge, the books you'll find listed here are ones that members of our team have read, added to their "I want to read this" list, or have had recommended to them. Even among our team, there is a wide range in what titles our families would find acceptable. Some of us find fantasy objectionable and would skip books that obscure a solid Christian worldview, but will gladly read a scarier adventure story than other families would be comfortable reading together. Others of us consider those fantasy titles to be an exciting addition and worthy of much discussion. We've opted to include titles with abandon, knowing that you will be able to determine if they are a good fit for your family.
So this is not a "Timberdoodle would sell these books if we could" list. We can't vouch for each of the titles, and we certainly can't know which ones are a good fit for your particular family. Nevertheless, we're providing this list to give you some ideas in case you're drawing a blank in thinking of books for a specific state. Use the ideas as the jumping-off point for which they are intended, and, as always, we highly recommend previewing the books yourself.
Have You Completed the Reading Challenge?
Email us a picture of your reading list to books@timberdoodle.com and we'll make sure you get your Doodle Dollar award and are entered in the drawing for the $100 gift certificate! We'll even send you a fun completion certificate!
