TD Bank's Annual Summer Reading Program Encourages Children to Keep Reading to Avoid Summer Reading Slide

CHERRY HILL, N.J. and PORTLAND, Maine, May 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Encouraging children to keep their reading skills sharp while becoming financially fit young savers, TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank®, again will hold its annual Summer Reading Program.

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TD Bank's Summer Reading Program rewards children who read 10 books during the summer with a $10 deposit into a new or existing Young Saver account. In 2010, 31,823 children participated in the program and read 318,230 books, earning $318,230 for their Young Saver accounts.

"Studies show that kids who read several books during the summer maintain or surpass the reading skills achieved during the previous school year," said Elizabeth K. Warn, President of the TD Charitable Foundation and Senior Vice President of Community Development for TD Bank. "Through our Summer Reading Program, as well as our financial literacy initiatives, TD Bank encourages children to improve their reading levels while learning about the importance of spending and saving money wisely."

To help spread the word about the Summer Reading Program to children throughout the TD Bank footprint, employees will participate in the bank's annual Employee Reading Program during the month of May. As part of the program, TD Bank volunteers will read The Can Man by Laura E. Williams - a financially-themed book chosen for its message about the importance of compassion and saving money - to elementary school classes and youth organizations and donate the book to the school or organization library.

To help parents motivate their children to read at home during the summer, Suzanne Poole, TD Bank's Executive Vice President of Retail Sales Strategy, says to "read stories with your child and ask questions about the stories afterward. Also, let your child choose which books they want to read, as they will be more likely to continue reading books with subjects in which they are interested. And finally, encourage children to read books that have movies made about them, such as Harry Potter. After your children are finished reading the book, watch the movie together to compare and contrast the two. The key is to keep your children engaged."

Additional tips to make summer reading more enjoyable for children include:

• Encourage your child to say familiar words and phrases out loud.
• Practice sounding out words your child may have difficulty reading.
• Provide the word your child is struggling with so that he or she does not become frustrated and lose the enjoyment of the experience.
• Repeat reading the story, asking your child what he or she enjoys most about the story and its characters.

Additionally, the program recommends books that teach financial education in a fun way.

Recommended books for kids' summer reading lists include If You Made a Million, by David M. Schwartz; The Can Man, by Laura E. Williams; Lemonade for Sale, by Stuart J. Murphy; Willie Wins, by Almira Astudillo Gilles; Jelly Beans for Sale, by Bruce McMillan; Pig Pig Gets a Job, by David M. McPhail; Make Four Million Dollars by Next Thursday, by Stephen Manes; A Dollar for Penny, by Julie Glass; and Money Trouble, by Bill Cosby.

For more information, visit www.tdbank.com/summerreading.

The TD Bank Summer Reading Program runs now through September 30, 2011.

About TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank

TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is one of the 10 largest banks in the United States, providing customers with a full range of financial products and services at more than 1,250 convenient locations from Maine to Florida. On September 30, 2010, The South Financial Group, Inc. was acquired by TD Bank Group, and its subsidiary Carolina First Bank merged with TD Bank. Carolina First Bank will continue to operate under the trade names Carolina First Bank in North and South Carolina and Mercantile Bank in Florida until conversion and rebranding in June 2011. TD Bank is headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J., and Portland, Maine. Carolina First Bank and Mercantile Bank are trade names of TD Bank, N.A. For more information, visit www.tdbank.com. TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is a member of TD Bank Group and a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Canada, a top 10 financial services company in North America and one of the few banks in the world rated Aaa by Moody's. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the ticker symbol "TD." To learn more, visit www.td.com.

SOURCE TD Bank