2025 Summer Reading Programs!

Summer break from school means summer reading programs from the local library systems, plus a few other places.

At the time of the publication of this post, the City of San Diego has not officially posted their information, however, I spoke to a librarian at a city library, and they said it would be almost identical to the program offered in years past.  For more information on prior years’ program and prizes, click here.

Here are a few of our favorite summer reading programs. Unless specifically stated, the programs start on June 1st.

Book It has a summer program where kids can read and earn free personal pan pizzas from Pizza Hut! Book It is the FAVORITE reading program in my house. parents can enroll their kids for the summer! All logging of reading and prizes is now done on an app. Learn more here.

The County of San Diego Library summer reading program started June 1st. They have all sorts of prizes for kids and adults.

If you want your family to experience a multicultural world through reading, I  recommend PJ Library.  PJ Library sends free, award-winning books that celebrate Jewish values and culture to families with children from birth through 12 years old.

My kids love learning about faraway places and experiences different from their own. The PJ library books have opened their eyes to new holidays, customs, and ways of life.

Read Conmigo provides free books for kids by mail in Spanish and English to children ages preschool to fifth grade. They are only available to kids in CA, TX, and Florida. We used to receive the books, and they are ok, but my kids aren’t interested in learning Spanish. The books were super useful for me learning to read in Spanish (Beyond what Duolingo teaches).

Barnes and Noble has a summer reading program starting July 1st. More info here.

Dolly Parton has established the Imagination Library, it is available in select regions, and those who live in participating areas can receive one book for their kids every month via mail.

Many of you have told me about Nothing Bundt Cake’s reading program. Books & Bundts is their youth reading program for pre-K through elementary students that celebrates the joy of reading. It’s easy and free with delicious results. Contact your local bakery to see if they are participating and to learn more.

If your kids like Chuck E. Cheese, this offer is great!  When they read every day for two weeks, they can fill out and turn in this calendar for 10 free play points!

 

2025- Summer Movies for Kids on the Cheap!

One of the kid’s favorite summer activities is to hit up the local theater for a showing of one of their favorite movies.

Big buckets of popcorn, snuck in candy (shhhh), and a drink and they are ready for 2 hours of fun in the Air Conditioning.

AMC Theatres is bringing back Summer Movie Camp starting 6/23/25. Tickets are just $3.oo/each at the box office!

 Summer Movie Clubhouse at Cinemark starts June 2, 2025. Bring the kids and enjoy exciting family-friendly big-screen entertainment for just $1.75 (plus taxes) per ticket for each movie.

Lots of smaller theatre chains have also joined this bandwagon! Marcus Theatres, MegaPlex, Epic Theatres are just a few. These theatres do not have locations in California

Theatre chains that have not published their schedules yet, but in the past have had family/kids movies in the summer:

Reading Cinemas usually has the Reel Kids program, with ticket prices reduced to $2/ticket!

Regal Summer Movie Express usually offers tickets for $2 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, featuring summer movies the whole family will enjoy.

UltraStar Cinemas doesn’t have anything posted yet, but they do offer discounts on tickets and popcorn on Thursdays year-round.

Talk Back: What summer movies are you looking forward to seeing?