For the ninth consecutive year, Books in Motion®: DANCE + LITERACY, an award-nominated, evidence- based summer reading program that uses dance to promote literacy by focusing on Common Core Standards for Reading Literature returns to libraries across Kern County this summer. KDA, Kern County Library, and Kern County dance organizations will launch Books in Motion: DANCE + LITERACY with the goal of reducing summer slide by encouraging reading and promoting healthy living through movement and dance.

Families will be invited to visit Kern County library branches between July 7 – August 2, 2025 to watch dance performances based upon a children’s book. To further enhance learning, children will also learn a short dance that coincides with the book’s theme and create an accompanying craft to promote role playing.

The Books in Motion program is intentional about building home libraries and promoting daily reading adventures. Participating children can collect all of the books by visiting one of each of the performances to receive a FREE book at the completion of the show.

Books in Motion is geared for children in the early literacy stages (K-3rd grade) and is designed to tap into their imagination and encourage them to read. For some, reading is a concept that is too foreign to understand due to age and brain development. Books in Motion will bypass this intangible feeling by allowing children to see the magic of a book laid out with real characters coming to life. Children do not have to read the words – they can read the dancers’ movements to understand the story. By tapping into curiosity, children are motivated to explore literacy, which leads them back to the written words that brought the book to life.

Books in Motion has reached close to 15,000 children and has given away nearly 10,000 free books since 2016.