COEUR d’ALENE — The weather warmed up Wednesday and while some children headed to the beach, a few found cool refuge at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library.

Although he just recently started reading "Davy Crockett," 8-year-old Tanner Applehans was at the Seagraves Children's Library in search of new material. Tanner said he enjoys reading and has read a few books this summer, but when asked if he has a favorite book, Tanner said "not really."

"I like hunting books — and I like The Boxcar Children," Tanner said shyly.

The two books he held as he spoke were, in fact, from The Boxcar Children series and included "The Mystery in the Snow" and "The Mystery in the Sand."

Tanner's little sister, 3-year-old Alexis, proudly held up her two books that included "Tippy-Toe Chick, Go!" and "Noodle Loves to Drive." Although Alexis can't read the books herself, their mother, Michele, said Alexis likes to point out the letters she knows. She also enjoys looking for Goldbug in the Richard Scarry books, Michele said.

"She loves to be read to a lot so we do stories every night, and usually throughout the day as well," Michele said.

Tanner also has two brothers, 10-year-old Andrew and 5-year-old Easton, who carried some books to check out and take home. While the other boys were a little too shy to talk about their books, Michele said all the kids enjoy reading quite a bit. The Applehanses recently moved to the Coeur d'Alene area from Moscow, so for the summer the kids have also been hiking, visiting family and taking care of their chickens. Michele said they also do some school work in the summer because they are homeschooled.

While Tanner and his siblings have not signed up for it, the Coeur d'Alene library hosts "On Your Mark, Get Set ... Read," a summer reading program where the kids can get prizes for every three hours of reading they do.

"They read whatever they want," said Susan Thorpe, youth services supervisor. "We try to make it simple for them ... we just require them to keep track of the time they spend reading."

The kids get a "running track" reading log where they cross out a running shoe for every 15 minutes of reading. The 18-hour prize, which is the benchmark for the program, is a free book. The younger kids, up to age 7, get prizes such as "cool" erasers, bookmarks or little wooden airplanes for every three hours of reading. There are also food coupons for places like Subway and Chipotle. The older kids enter a prize drawing for every three hours of reading, and Thorpe said they have had prizes such as Jamba Juice gift cards, T-shirts and more. There’s also a grand prize drawing at the end of the program.

Thorpe said the reading program has reached about 1,000 members and runs through Aug. 31.

"It's basically to keep (kids) reading during the summer vacation," Thorpe said. "It really makes a big difference."