MPS Passport to Summer Reading

Milwaukee Public Schools offers Passport to Summer Reading to keep students engaged over the summer break and to stem “summer slide” when children’s progress can slip. 

In the summer, Passport to Summer Reading holds events around the Milwaukee area to highlight the summer’s selected children’s books. At the events, one free book per family (for the first twenty-five families) will be given away.  

How Does It Work? 

Students can pick up a passport from their school or at the event. Each student’s passport will be stamped in different colors to indicate the locations they traveled to. Once they present their passport, the family (for the first twenty-five families) will receive a free picture book with a QR code on the inside cover. When scanned, the QR code will feature a read-aloud of the book by Dannette Justus.

In 2024, students who collect all eight books are entered into a drawing for a chance to win items such as a bean bag chair and cubby bins to create a book nook at home. 

Dannette Justus, MPS school support teacher at Siefert School, has won praise for her “JustUs and Books” videos, which are viewable on YouTube. They show her reading books aloud in locations as varied as the fifty-yard line of Lambeau Field and the top floor of Northwestern Mutual, sometimes while wearing costumes to match the story.   

What Is Summer Slide? 

Research has shown that children on summer break, without the practice or reinforcement that school provides, can lose skills and knowledge they gained in the previous school year. Studies show test scores flattening or dropping over the summer. A reading program is one way to help students maintain and even improve their skills so that they are ready to make progress on day one when school resumes. 

Other Ways to Encourage Learning in Summer 

• Read to your child or with your child, or encourage your child to read independently every day (for at least twenty minutes). 

• Find out your child’s interests and select books on that topic in fiction and nonfiction. 

• Read about and attend local events. Background knowledge plays an enormous role in reading comprehension. The more your child knows about a topic, the easier it will be to read and understand information related to the topic. 

• Go to the library. Allow your child to select books that they are interested in. Children and teens are encouraged to participate in Milwaukee Public Library’s summer reading programs. 

• Use our district online library, Sora. 

• Find a summer school program such as Milwaukee Public Schools Summer Academy. 

• Allow your child to listen to audiobooks. For teens, try audiofilemagazine.com. 

• Make reading a family affair. Ask older siblings to read to younger siblings. 

• Allow your child to listen to online read-alouds such as JustUs and Books and Storyline Online. 

MPS Passport to Summer Reading  2024 Books  

Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free
by Alice Faye Duncan , illustrations by Keturah A. Bobo

A Dress with Pockets
by Lily Murray , illustrations by Jenny Løvlie

War at the Ice Cream Store : Mustachio Pistachio vs. Bully Vanilli
by Cheryl DaVeiga and Dave Gibson 

When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left
by Marc Colagiovanni , illustrations by Peter H. Reynolds

Extra Yarn 
by Mac Barnett , illustrations by Jon Klassen

Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut
by Derrick Barnes, illustrations by Gordon C. James  

Darryl’s Dream
by Darryl “DMC” McDaniels  with Shawnee and Johnny Warfield
and Adam Padilla, illustrations by Tristan Tait 

Let’s Pop, Pop, Popcorn!  
by Cynthia Schumerth , illustrations by Mary Reaves Uhles

Pop! Otto, the Kernel Who Didn’t Pop 
by Karen Kilpatrick , illustrations by Germán Blanco

Stay tuned! Locations and times of book events will be announced later.