LEWISTON – The Lewiston Public Library, in partnership with the state, invites children to Discover New Trails at your Library this summer. Registration for the Summer Reading Game begins Friday, June 18.

Also as part of the kickoff, the library will host Trail to the Perfect Butterfly Watch, a slide show and T-shirt-making program at 1 p.m. Thursday, June 24; free tickets are available a week in advance.

Any child from birth to age 12 can play the Summer Reading Game. All they have to do is read two hours each week (or be read to in the case of the younger ones) and go into the library to collect their prizes. This year prizes will include Sea Dogs tickets, Pizza Hut pizzas, Dairy Joy ice cream, toys, new paperback books and gift certificates at Mr. Paperback and Bull Moose Records.

The Summer Reading Game is designed to encourage steady reading throughout the summer. Educators have found that children who do not read during the summer sometimes lose as much as one year’s progress in reading skills. Just a small amount of reading each day can ensure that they enter the next grade with a leg up.

The library will match children (first through eighth grade) with pen pals in Lewiston, Idaho. The Children’s Room will provide stamps, envelopes and paper. To participate a child needs to fill out a pen pal profile, signed by a parent.

Marcus Gale will perform “So Glad,” a music and storytelling program for children ages 3 to 8, at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, July 10. A former actor, clown, rock n’ roll musician and house painter, his mission is to keep traditional songs and stories alive for kids.

Story times for babies up to age 2 are held at 10 a.m. Mondays and Fridays and storytimes for 2- to 5-year-olds are at 10 a.m. Tuesdays. Free passes to the Gray Wildlife Park, Portland Art Museum and the Children’s Discovery Museum in Augusta will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The Children’s Room is looking for volunteers ages 12 to 18 to help with summer activities. No experience is necessary. For more information call the Children’s Room of the Lewiston Public Library at 784-0135, ext 4.