--- title: Easy Ways Your Kid Can Get Free Books, Cash & Movie Tickets This Summer description: During the summer of 2016, bookstores, banks, and movie theaters promote reading by promising free books, cash, and other gifts for kids. authors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Education - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2016-06-21T10:30:17.000Z' modified: '2024-05-16T11:20:10.000Z' section: Education tags: - deals - Family - freebies - kids - reading word_count: 404 canonical: https://money.com/kids-summer-reading-deals-free-books-cash/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![A girl holding a Barbie doll looks at books displayed for sale at a Barnes & Noble Inc. store at Union Square in the Manhattan borough of New York, on Nov. 4, 2015.](https://img.money.com/2016/06/160620_em_newbooks.jpg) If your kids aren't already out of school, they'll be out soon. Before their brains completely turn to mush, do your duty as a parent and try to encourage them to read this summer, with the help of special giveaway programs from popular bookstore chains, and even banks and movie theaters. With the [**Barnes & Noble**](http://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/summer-reading/_/N-rs9) "Summer Reading Triathlon" program, kids fill out a reading journal by answering a few easy questions, such as "What book made you read faster than ever before?" and "What is the longest book you ever read?" Bring in a completed form to a Barnes & Noble location, and the child can take one free book from a list that's appropriate for his or her age group. The selection of free books includes *The Bell Bandit* and *My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish* for grades 3 and 4, and *Chomp* or *The Bravest Princess* for grades 5 and 6. Another bookstore chain, [**Half Price Books**](http://b.hpb.com/fyb/), asks kids to read at least 15 minutes daily this summer and keep a log of it. Once children in eighth grade or lower have reached the 300-minute mark, they're entitled to a $5 gift card good at the store. If free books aren't enough of a payoff, how about cold hard cash? [**TD Bank's** summer reading program](https://www.tdbank.com/summerreading/) promises $10 for each child in grades K-5 who reads 10 books, completes a required form, and submits it to a neighborhood bank location. Movie theaters are also encouraging kids to read with freebies. Select [**Showcase Cinemas**](https://www.showcasecinemas.com/programs/kids-and-families/bookwormwed2016) in the Northeast give kids free admission to selected Wednesday morning screenings of older family favorites like "The Peanuts Movie" and "Kung Fu Panda" if they present a book report at the ticket counter. Children ages 11 and under who fill out a form detailing three books they've read can get a free kid's snack pack at the concessions stand of [**Emagine**](http://www.emagine-entertainment.com/summer-reading-program/) theaters in southern California. Mind you, paid movie admission is required as well. [**Books-A-Million**](http://www.booksamillion.com/summeradventure) bookstores, meanwhile, ask kids to choose three books from the recommended [Summer Adventure Reading](http://promo.booksamillion.com/save/images/activities/SummerReadingLogandList.pdf) section. Record the books in your reading log, bringing it to a store, and you'll receive a free [James Patterson lunch bag](http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160602006500/en/School%E2%80%99s-Reading-Books-A-Million-Launches-Summer-Reading-Adventure). ***Read Next:* 6 Easy Ways to Get Free Museum Admission for Your Family** OK, so that's not as cool as last summer's giveaway, a [Camp Half-Blood tote bag](http://www.buxr.com/topic/books-a-million-summer-reading-program-read-4-select-books-to-get-a-free-tote-bag_6864), riffing on Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, but free stuff is free stuff. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/kids-summer-reading-deals-free-books-cash/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Education", "item": "https://money.com/education/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Elementary School", "item": "https://money.com/elementary-school/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Easy Ways Your Kid Can Get Free Books, Cash & Movie Tickets This Summer" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/kids-summer-reading-deals-free-books-cash/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/kids-summer-reading-deals-free-books-cash/", "name": "Easy Ways Your Kid Can Get Free Books, Cash & Movie Tickets This Summer", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2016-06-21T10:30:17.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/kids-summer-reading-deals-free-books-cash/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/kids-summer-reading-deals-free-books-cash/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-16T11:20:10.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Easy Ways Your Kid Can Get Free Books, Cash & Movie Tickets This Summer", "articleSection": "Education", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2016/06/160620_em_newbooks.jpg", "width": 2100, "height": 1350, "caption": "160620_EM_NewBooks" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2016-06-21T10:30:17.000Z", "description": "During the summer of 2016, bookstores, banks, and movie theaters promote reading by promising free books, cash, and other gifts for kids.", "abstract": "During the summer of 2016, bookstores, banks, and movie theaters promote reading by promising free books, cash, and other gifts for kids.", "@id": "https://money.com/kids-summer-reading-deals-free-books-cash/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-05-16T11:20:10.000Z", "wordCount": 404, "keywords": [ "deals", "Family", "freebies", "kids", "reading" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Education", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Elementary schools in the United States", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elementary_schools_in_the_United_States" ] } ] } ] } ```