Avoid the summer slide by keeping kids reading this summer. Do your kiddos need some outside motivation to crack open that book? Check out these summer reading programs with incentives to read -- enter one, or all!
Updated 4/25/26
Harker Heights Public Library Summer Reading Club
Dates: Starting May 27
How it works: Register here.
Challenges for kids (ages 0-11), teens (ages 12-18), and adults.
Lena Armstrong Public Library Summer Reading Program
Dates: TBD
How it works: TBD
Salado Public Library Summer Reading Program
Dates: Starting May 30
How it works: Register in person starting May 26.
You'll get 4 Summer Reading Cards, each good for 1 week. Each card will be used as your reading log & your prize raffle ticket!
Raffle winners will be pulled at the End of Summer Reading Celebration!
Toddlers, Tweens & Teens: When you turn in your weekly card, you get a prize!
Temple Public Library Summer Reading Program
Dates: TBD
How it works: Register here starting TBD.
Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Journal
Dates: July 1-August 31
The reward: Kids going into grades 1 to 6 can earn a free book from Barnes & Noble (limit one per child).
How it works:
Read any eight books this summer and record them in Barnes & Noble's Summer Reading Journal. Kids have to write a sentence or so to explain which part of the book is their favorite, and why.
Chuck E. Cheese Reading Rewards
The reward: Kids can receive 10 free play points.
How it works:
Kids need to record that they read every day for two weeks to receive 10 free play points. A food purchase is required.
Download and print Chuck E. Cheese's reading log.
H-E-Buddy Reading Club
How it works:
Read 10 books, submit the form, receive a prize!
Submit a picture of the completed log to HEBuddyReading@printedsupplies.com or mail the form to:
H•E•Buddy® 2026 Summer Reading Program
10530 Sentinel
San Antonio, TX 78217
More information on H-E-Buddy Reading Club
New York Times Summer Reading Contest
Dates: June 5-August 14
The reward: Your child's writing/video could appear in the New York Times.
How it works:
- Every Friday from June 5 through August 14, the New York Times will publish a post asking the same two questions: What interested you most in the New York Times this week? Why?
- Anyone 13 to 19 years old can post an answer until Thursday, Aug. 15. Contestants can choose from any Times article, essay, video, interactive, podcast, or photograph published in 2026, on any topic they like.
- The New York Times will announce winners every Tuesday and publish their writing/video.
Curious about past winners? Read 2020 winners' work, ranging from Kenya's used clothes ban and Black Lives Matter protests to Hamilton and The Phantom Handbag.
Click here to see how to submit and for more info.
Nothing Bundt Cakes Bundts & Books
Dates: TBD
How it works: For Pre-K through elementary aged kids
The reward: TBD
Pizza Hut BOOK IT! Summer of Stories
Dates: June 1-August 31
How it works:
- Parents track and reward reading in the BOOK IT! Summer of Stories mobile app!
- Registration opens May 1.
The reward: Kids grades Pre-K to 6 can earn a free one-topping Personal Pan Pizza® from Pizza Hut for meeting their monthly reading goals in June, July, and August.
Enroll in Pizza Hut's Camp BOOK IT.
Sometimes an incentive -- even a small one! -- is all a kid needs in order to find the motivation to read. We hope these summer reading programs give your child an extra push toward reading this summer!
