2026 Summer Reading Wrap-Up

It's been a dino-mite summer, and we want to thank everyone who participated in this year's Summer Reading Challenge. Together, we took a step back in time, unearthed countless stories, and even encountered a few dinosaurs along the way. By reading, you beat the summer slide and kept those school year skills from going extinct. Beyond helping students, the Summer Reading Challenge is a wonderful way for all of us, no matter our age, to reach personal reading and learning milestones. So read on to learn more about your collective accomplishments and discover this year’s Grand and Branch Prize winners.

If you participated in Summer Reading and haven’t already taken our survey, please give us your feedback. There’s even a chance to win a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card!

FINAL CHALLENGE NUMBERS & GRAND PRIZE WINNERS

We’d like to give a big thank you to the Friends of Henrico County Public Library for making the Summer Reading Challenge possible.

This summer…

• 7,884 of you participated in this year’s Summer Reading Challenge.
• You logged a total of 1,033,296 minutes and 64,190 books read.
• You shared over 4,300 reviews on Beanstack.

Grand Prize Winners:

• Giant Soft & Safe Dinosaurs, set of 10, up to 12” tall (Pre-Reader): Katie B., Twin Hickory
• Creality K2 SE 3D Printer (Kid): Daniel J., Varina
• Nintendo Switch 2 with Mario Kart World (Teen): Calvin W., Tuckahoe
• Bird Buddy Pro, solar smart bird feeder with camera (Adult): Wishes to remain anonymous, Libbie Mill

Branch Prize Winners:

• Bounce-Around Dino (Pre-Readers)
  • Fairfield: Heather H.
  • Gayton: Henley H.
  • Glen Allen: Adil R.
  • Libbie Mill: Samira B.
  • North Park: Artemis P.
  • Sandston: Charlotte H.
  • Tuckahoe: Vivienne G.
  • Twin Hickory: Blair C.
  • Varina: Inez M.

• Arrma RC Monster Truck (Kids)
  • Fairfield: Elizabeth L.
  • Gayton: Colin M.
  • Glen Allen: McKinzee A.
  • Libbie Mill: William S.
  • North Park: Declan L.
  • Sandston: Lola A.
  • Tuckahoe: Jack R.
  • Twin Hickory: Liam S.
  • Varina: Eli C.

• Lego Creator 3-in-1 Dinosaur Set (Teens)
  • Fairfield: Zoë H.
  • Gayton: Reagan L.
  • Glen Allen: Adylyn C.
  • Libbie Mill: Gus M.
  • North Park: Sophia B.
  • Sandston: Emily S.
  • Tuckahoe: Ben M.
  • Twin Hickory: Diya G.
  • Varina: Lannie K.

• Gift Basket – Assembled by the Friends of Your Henrico Library (Adults)
  • Fairfield: Shawn D.
  • Gayton: Theresa L.
  • Glen Allen: Allison W.
  • Libbie Mill: Serenity B.
  • North Park: Jessica P.
  • Sandston: Meredith S.
  • Tuckahoe: Elizabeth J.
  • Twin Hickory: Brittany A.
  • Varina: Fantasy L.

Finishing Prizes

The best thing about the Summer Reading Challenge is that every finisher is a winner! Be sure to stop by your library by the end of August to pick up your finishing prize:

• Pre-Readers: Library Tote & Reading Champ Pennant
• Kids: Drawstring Backpack & Reading Champ Pennant
• Teens: Water Bottle
• Adults: Collectible Coffee Mug

BOOK REVIEWS

As librarians, we love to hear about what you’re reading. And thanks to thousands of your reviews, we have an ever-growing list of what to read next. Here are just a few of your thoughts about the books you read this summer:

• A Scout is Brave by Will Ludwigsen – A short, fun read with plenty of whimsy and adventure flowing through its veins to go along with its Lovecraftian bones. – David B.

• The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling - I thought this book was extremely funny. I liked how this book changed the character’s mindset. I really liked how everything he ate and drank turned to chocolate. – Jackson W., age 10

• Clifford’s First Day of School by Norman Bridwell - Clifford had his first day at school and he had an awesome time. He got to meet new people at Emily’s school. Miss Pearson said that Clifford is a good artist. My favorite part was when Clifford helped them build another sand castle. The book was amazing! – Journey B., age 7

• Encyclopedia Brown Cracks the Case by Donald J. Sobol - Encyclopedia Brown is a great detective! I learned a lot of new stuff especially about onions being able to make invisible ink. It's a great book for learning how to solve mysteries in different situations. My favorite case was about baking: Joey Perkins made some cookies, and one of the judges wanted their cousin to win so they switched the sugar for salt and cinnamon for red peppers. It's a great story to start with! – Kensley S., age 8

• How to Garden When You Rent by Matthew Pottage - Very informative on how to work with landlords about having a garden on rented property. It goes into the different set ups for various types of plants such as outside vs inside and what to do if your landlord won't allow you to plant in ground. Definitely going to work up the nerve to talk to my landlord about setting up a garden. – Aye D.

• The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch - Written as a message for his wife, children, and others about how important it is to always live life to the fullest. A successful teacher, he addressed many of the interesting challenges he experienced during his short lifetime and how hard work on his part was required. An encouraging book. – Betsy E.

• Lovely War by Julie Berry - This is one of my favorite books by far! There's romance with adventure and the perfect add-in of realistic fiction. – Claire T., age 15

• Mystery on Church Hill by Steven K. Smith - Part of the Virginia Mysteries series, this book is full of adventure, mystery, and danger. It involves real places in Virginia such as Maymont, Monticello, and Mount Vernon. Sam Derek and Caitlin are the perfect trio for solving crime. – Sylvie K., age 10

• Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove - This is one of the most unique sci-fi books I’ve read yet! As a big fan of horror comedy, the worldbuilding and twists and turns of the plot were truly a delight. I love a rotating narrator, and having the main voice of the story be the perspective of a ship management AI was so cool. I can’t get into too much without major spoilers, but I highly recommend this and look forward to more from Barbara Truelove! – Nick C.

• Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler - Octavia Butler is a wizard, a genius, and everything in between. To so accurately guess what our world looks like 30 years ago is incredibly scary and sad to see that we could not head her warning. I loved every page of this book and will be recommending it to everyone willing to take a critical look at the world around us. – Grace K.

• Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin - I liked how Pete the Cat’s shoes changed colors. I like how he kept singing and kept a positive attitude even when his shoes changed colors. – Stacey C., age 7

• Tyrell by Coe Booth - This book is a great example of the struggle us, as young Black men, go through day-to-day and just like Tye, we have to be resilient and hold on and not give up. – Sakiye M., age 14

• We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer - What a creepy book and a bit of a mind bender. The book begins with a family knocking on a couple's door during a snowstorm and asking to come in to see their old family home. Reluctantly, the homeowner lets them in and a series of bizarre occurrences follow. – Theresa T.

• The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware - This was the first Ruth Ware book I have read and I was not disappointed. It took me a bit to get fully invested, but it quickly became a page-turner. Will definitely be reading the sequel! – Destiny H.

ACTIVITY RESPONSES

In addition to reading, you stayed busy with activity milestones like dinosaur/bird watching, rock and fossil hunting, learning how to spell dinosaur names, and more. You also told us about your favorite dinosaurs and cast your vote on Beanstack and in our in-person systemwide Dinosaur Madness Bracket. Read on for the results of both polls and for some of your fun activity responses from the summer.

Dinosaur Madness Bracket Results

Top Ten Favorite Dinosaurs (Beanstack poll)

1. T-Rex
2. Pterodactyl
3. Triceratops
4. Stegosaurus
5. Velociraptor
6. Spinosaurus
7. Brontosaurus
8. Brachiosaurus
9. Ankylosaurus
10. Dilophosaurus

We asked you to explore a historic era. Here are a few that you were interested in:

• The fall of the Roman Empire
• Harlem Renaissance
• Ancient Egypt
• The Wright Brothers & early flight
• The Middle Ages
• The Cold War
• The Stone Age
• Hellenistic period
• World War II
• British Regency era, early 19^th century London
• The Great Depression, 1930s Dust Bowl era
• The American Revolution
• The Renaissance
• Victorian Era

You also checked out some how-to books. Here are some of the things you started to learn this summer:  

• A new language: American Sign Language, Spanish, German, Italian, and Arabic
• Gardening
• Cooking
• Watercolor painting
• Crochet Amigurumi
• Origami
• How to build bird and fairy houses
• Cartography
• How to play the guitar
• How to draw princesses and dragons
• How to play Mahjong
• How to bake fancy cakes
• Coding
• Minecraft building

WHAT NEXT?

Continue to set reading goals for yourself with our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten and 100 Books Before Graduation programs, and use the momentum from summer to spark a school year full of reading. Plus, stay tuned for details about our all-ages Haunted Henrico Reading Challenge which starts in late September! And last but not least, find recommendations throughout the year by subscribing to genre-specific newsletters, browsing Novelist, or trying out HCPL’s My Next Read service for personalized book lists from our librarians.