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SUMMER BOOK LIST
Here are some of our favorite books that focus on the season of summer!
This list covers the main topics of summer: camping, vacation, warm weather, swimming, etc. I do have a separate list for beach/ocean books.
I hope you can find some new favorites!
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Click the button below to download the PDF version of this list.
MY TOP FIVE
by Kate Siber
Packed with maps and fascinating facts about the flora and fauna unique to each of the 21 parks portrayed, this lushly illustrated coast-to-coast journey documents in large format the nation’s most magnificent and sacred places—and shows why they should be preserved for future generations to enjoy.
by Benjamin Flouw
Fox loves nature. There's nothing he enjoys more than reading about and picking flowers. One evening, he comes across a rare specimen in his old botany book -- the golden glow, a plant from the Wellhidden family, found only in the mountains . . . a plant that has yet to be described.
by Fiona Lumbers
Clem is an explorer, a collector, a protector of the seas! Treasure hunting on her beloved beach, she stumbles across Crab, his claw stuck in a plastic bag. Crab will be much safer and happier in the city with Clem, but doesn't he belong on the beach?
by Alison Farrell
Three intrepid young female explorers set out to conquer the outdoors in their local forest, enjoying the process in their own different ways. Wren brings a sketchbook and a flag, El brings a poetry notebook, and Hattie brings feathers (and holds Bean the dog’s leash). They get lost and use maps to find their way.
by Nikki Samuels
It starts as a small song, faint at first, as the wind picks up speed. Leaves, whirling and twirling. Next a rock starts to roll as it finds the rhythm of the woods. Birds join, a bee's wings flit. Soon the whole forest is filled with magnificent sights and sounds. But who is there to hear it?
by Layn Marlow
Noah waits on shore while Nana fixes their sailboat. The boat will take them out to sea where the seals live, and Noah can hardly contain himself. In the meantime, he sculpts his own seal out of sand. Noah collects shells for the seal’s speckled back, spiky dune grass for whiskers, two shiny pebbles for eyes, and a smiling line of seaweed for a mouth.
by Matthew Swanson
When a girl and her family travel four thousand miles from home, it’s not your typical summer vacation. Everything is different on the Alaskan tundra―where the grizzly bears roam and the sockeye salmon swim―including the rules. A girl can do things she wouldn’t, and couldn’t, do at home.
by Jim LaMarche
When Matt is out for a late winter hike he sees a trickle of water in the old deserted and junk filled dirt pit at the edge of his neighborhood. With quiet appreciation, Matt can imagine the pond that must once have been there, shining in the early spring light, freezing in the winter for skating and the perfect place for swimming in the summer.
by Chris van Dusen
Mr. Magee and his dog, Dee, are enjoying a peaceful camping trip when along comes a lumbering, marshmallow-loving bear and the excitement begins. The next thing the two campers know, they are plunging down a mountain, racing down a river, and teetering on the edge of a waterfall!
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The winter is finally over, and now it is summertime. Laura and Mary are busy all day helping Ma in the garden and playing outside.
by Robert McCloskey
Sal and her mother a picking blueberries to can for the winter. But when Sal wanders to the other side of Blueberry Hill, she discovers a mama bear preparing for her own long winter. Meanwhile Sal's mother is being followed by a small bear with a big appetite for berries! Will each mother go home with the right little one?
by Kirsetn Hall
Bzzz…
What’s that?
Do you hear it?
You’re near it.
It’s closer,
it’s coming,
it’s buzzing,
it’s humming…
A BEE!
by Robert McCloskey
Today is a specidal day for Sal because she gets to go to Buck's Harbour with her dad. But when she wakes up to brush her teeth with her baby sister, she discovers something shocking.... Her tooth is loose!
by Doris Burn
Andrew Henry has two younger brothers, who are always together, and two older sisters, who are always together. But Andrew Henry is in the middle--and he's always with himself. He doesn't mind this very much, because he's an inventor. But when Andrew Henry's family doesn't appreciate him or his inventions, he decides it's time to run away.
by Sophie Blackall
Watch the days and seasons pass as the wind blows, the fog rolls in, and icebergs drift by. Outside, there is water all around. Inside, the daily life of a lighthouse keeper and his family unfolds as the keeper boils water for tea, lights the lamp's wick, and writes every detail in his logboook.
by Leslie Davidson
Baby ducklings ride their mama’s back; an osprey rises with a silver fish clutched in her talons; a loon cries in a star-flecked night. In the Red Canoe celebrates the bond between grandparent and grandchild and invites nature lovers of all ages along for the ride.
by Kate Messner
Readers will discover the plants and animals that make up the rich, interconnected ecosystem of a mountain pond. Over the pond, the water is a mirror, reflecting the sky. But under the water is a hidden world of creatures—minnows darting, beavers diving, and tadpoles growing.
by Kelly Jordan
The little blue cottage waits each year for summer to arrive―and with it, the girl. Through sunny days and stormy weather, the cottage and the girl keep each other company. Until one year, and then another, the cottage is left waiting and empty season after season.
by Camila Correa
Little Fox loves his home in the city, but sometimes it’s too loud and too busy. “I know what you need,” Mommy Fox tells him. “Let’s go back to nature.” She shows him all that nature has to offer—the bright colors of grass and sky, the inviting smells of flowers and soil, and the soothing sounds of bees and brooks.
by Katrina Lehman
Izzy and Frank spend blue-sky-sunny days by the sea. But when Izzy has to leave her lighthouse and island life behind, she also has to say goodby to Frank. The city is noisy and crowded and Izzy misses the sand and sea. Can Izzy find a place for herself in her new home? And will she ever see Frank again?
by Cynthia Rylant
In a rainbow-colored station wagon, the relatives came. When they arrived, they hugged and hugged from the kitchen to the front room. All summer they tended the garden and ate up all the strawberries and melons.
When they finally had to leave, they were sad, but not for long.
by Lucky Diaz
Follow along with our narrator as he passes through his busy neighborhood in search of the Paletero Man. But when he finally catches up with him, our narrator’s pockets are empty. Oh no! What happened to his dinero? It will take the help of the entire community to get the tasty treat now.
by Jim LaMarche
Nicky is convinced that his summer with his grandmother in the Wisconsin woods is going to be the worst summer ever. She cooks food that he doesn’t like, there’s an art studio where her living room should be, and he’s expected to do chores—including fishing, the most boring chore ever.
by Nikki McClure
A little boy keeps asking, “Mama, is it summer yet?” Mama responds saying, ”Not yet,” but there are plenty of signs that indicate spring is changing into summer: The earth is soft and there are seeds to plant, birds singing, ducklings in the pond, and pink blossoms blooming. The young boy even wears his bathing suit and carries a beach pail in preparation, but will it ever be summer?
by Audrey Wood
Little Mouse loves his strawberries, but so does the big hungry bear. How will Little Mouse stop the bear from eating his freshly picked, red ripe strawberry?
by Charlotte Zolotow
It is a day in the country. Quiet, dusty, expectant. Everything is hot and still. Then the hazy sky begins to shift. Something is astir, something is soundless.Shadows move over the world. And then it happens! Shooting through the sky like starlight...
what was that?
by Alice McLerran
Marian called it Roxaboxen. There across the road, it looked like any rocky hill—nothing but sand and rocks, and some old wooden boxes.
But it was a special place. And all children needed to go there was a long stick and a soaring imagination.
by Eliza Wheeler
Eliza Wheeler's gorgeously illustrated book tells the story of what happens when six-year-old Marvel, her seven siblings, and their mom must start all over again after their father has died. Deep in the woods of Wisconsin they find a tar-paper shack. It doesn't seem like much of a home, but they soon start seeing what it could be.
by Gaia Cornwall
Jabari is definitely ready to jump off the diving board. He’s finished his swimming lessons and passed his swim test, and he’s a great jumper, so he’s not scared at all. “Looks easy,” says Jabari, watching the other kids take their turns. But when his dad squeezes his hand, Jabari squeezes back.
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by Robert McCloskey
The spell of rain, gulls, a foggy morning, the excitement of sailing, the quiet of the night, the sudden terror of a hurricane, and the peace of a Maine island as a family packs up to leave are shown in poetic language and vibrant, evocative pictures.
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