DAPHNE, Ala.—For many children, summer is a time to catch fireflies in a honey jar, to skip a rock across a placid pond or catch a trout in a nearby stream.

But for those participating in the Daphne Public Library’s summer readers’ program, it was a time for adventure, for solving mysteries and learning about world events.

The summer reading program culminated Friday with an awards ceremony honoring students who read the most in their respective categories.

Winners included:

—First place (tie): Blake Hoffman, 4, and Crista Hoffman, 3.               

—Second place: Ace Baxter, 3.

—Third place (tie): Madison Hammond, 4, and Nicole Nager, 4.

—First: Huey Baxter, 5.

—Second: Gavin Jordan, 5.

—Third: Holly Yazdi, 7.

—First: Corey O’Neal, 9.

—Second: Lana Stringer, 9.

—Third: Vania Clark, 9.

Each group had specific regulations regarding total pages read that matched the reading level of each work.

A young-adult book will have more pages than a children’s book; therefore, the rules needed to mirror the difference in pages, young-adult librarian Louise Youngblood said of her tween division.

The youngest division, however, was judged by the number of books read, children’s librarian Fanny Barnette said.

Youngblood led ‘Teen Tuesdays,’ where young-adult readers gathered each week for a variety of workshops that followed a theme of “Be Creative At Your Library.”

The program included creating balloon art and writing children’s books. Master juggling performers Flow Circus, featuring Paul Miller, conducted the juggling class.

Youngblood stressed that students select works from multiple genres and mediums.

“I wanted them to read across the board, not just books,” Youngblood said. “I wanted them to read current events, from newspapers, magazines and journals. I wanted them to branch out.”

Youngblood said the most popular genre for her young-adult readers was fantasy/fiction.

Lana Stringer, 9, said her favorite book this summer was Michael Buckley’s “The Sisters Grimm,” part of a young-adult novel series that focuses on fictional female adolescent descendants of The Brothers Grimm, widely known for their 19th-century collections of folk and fairy tales.

Stringer said she enjoyed trying to solve each story’s mystery.

“I’m proud to have a winning cousin,” Bradley Inlow, 9, said of Stringer.

Some of the preschool group’s favorites were: Margaret Wise Brown’s “Goodnight Moon”; Sarah Willson’s “My Baby Brother is a Little Monster”; and Peggy Parish’s “Amelia Bedelia.”

The juniors enjoyed: Alyssa Satin Capucilli’s “Biscuit Goes to School”; Ezra Keats’ “The Snowy Day”; and Laura Numeroff’s “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.”

A sampling of the books the tweens group read included: Kay Thompson’s “Eloise Goes to Hollywood”; Deborah Guarino’s “Is Your Mama a Llama?”; and Barbara Jean Hicks’ “The Secret Life of Walter Kitty.”

“The library’s main goal is to get the children to keep reading during the summer, and to perhaps make reading more fun for those who were not inspired to read through mandatory school reading lists,” library director Tonja Young said. “Our goal was to make the library an inviting and enjoyable place, and to provide many different avenues of reading entertainment so that every child could find something of interest.”

Mayor Fred Small presented each winner with a $10 gift certificate to a book store, a bookbag, ribbon and a certificate signed by Young.

The first-place winner won a journal; second- and third-place winners received book lights.

All winners were treated to vanilla-and-chocolate cake topped with ice cream.