Summer reading list for kids

Countdown to summer vacation

School will soon be out, and summer fun will begin. Disrupting kids’ routines can be jarring, especially when moving to a less-structured schedule. Get your kids ready to transition from school schedules to summer adventures by reading about the fun summer offers. Try our summer book recommendations for young readers.

Make a summer reading list

Before you make a summer reading list for your kids, think about the things you’ll be doing as a family this summer. Will the kids be going to summer camp for the first time? Will you be spending time at the beach? Think about whether you’ll be reading the books to them, if they’ll be reading on their own or if they’re happy to browse the pictures and create their own stories.

First time beach babies

Even if your littles have been to the beach before, they might not remember if they were balanced between toddlerhood and preschool. Try reading The Seashore Book by Charlotte Zolotow to prepare them for what they’ll experience at the water’s edge (Amazon, $7). This is the perfect book for littles who love to flip through books on their own — the illustrations are superb.

Make summer vacation an adventure

Facing a summer without plans after a schedule-heavy school year might make kids feel like there’s nothing exciting on the horizon. Mark Teague challenges that idea in How I Spent My Summer Vacation (Amazon, $7). If your child is unsure what to do with himself during summer vacation, let Wallace Bleff’s imaginative trip west provide a few ideas.

Summer vacation with a sibling

For kids who will be spending summer vacation with a sibling, Stella, Star of the Sea by Marie-Louise Gay is a lovely book (Amazon, $8). Big sister Stella patiently shares her knowledge of the beach with baby brother Sam — though both of them are a little unsure about whether Sam will ever go into the water. If your children aren’t sure about venturing from sand to water, or if you have an older child who sometimes tires of his or her role, this is the book for you.

Summer books for emergent readers

Series books are great for emergent readers, because they offer a variety of titles with familiar characters. Kids working on their reading skills will appreciate the familiar formula — and some repetition in more difficult words — while discovering new stories. The Rainbow Magic books by Daisy Meadows are a popular choice. Start off the summer with Joy the Summer Vacation Fairy, a special edition title in the series (Amazon, $7).

Campfire poems for your campfire kids

Camping families will love the campfire-inspired poems in Kristine O’Connel George’s Toasting Marshmallows (Amazon, $13). Whether your kids have ever tried camping or not, they’ll enjoy the poems that emphasize all of the adventures that can be had on a camping trip.

A book for bored kids

Even the most excited-about-summer kids eventually succumb to the lazy days of summer and start to grumble about not having anything to do. Send them on an adventure with Beverly Cleary’s beloved motorcycling mouse, Ralph. In Runaway Ralph, the curious mouse tires of his family and rides over to a nearby summer camp (Barnes and Noble, $13).

Meet the Author | Angela Amman

Angela Amman is a short story and essay writer. Collecting her family's stories is a gift-in-progress for her daughter and son, and she blogs at Playing with Words, capturing the craziness and beauty that weave together to create something extraordinary. As the co-director of Listen To Your Mother Metro Detroit, Angela is thrilled to bring others' stories to the stage and to celebrate the magic of words, storytelling, and the courage to share that magic with an audience. When she should be sleeping, she works on her latest short story collection. Her writing has been featured on Mamalode, Peacock Journal, and Scary Mommy. Her personal essays and short stories have appeared in her collection, Nothing Goes Away, and various anthologies.