25+ Best Summer Books for Kids (From Toddlers to Middle Schoolers!)
Today’s article is all about the best summer books for kids!
Whether you choose to “officially” homeschool during the summer or not, you’ll want plenty of fun, screen-free activities for your kids this summer.
What’s more fun than diving into a good book? ☀🌊
Keep reading to discover more than 25 books you’ll want to add to your kid’s summer reading list from me, a reading teacher and children’s librarian turned SAHM and homeschooler!
Homeschool Summer Reading
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All About Summer Books for Kids
This hand-picked list of summer books for kids will help you stock your shelves with sunshine-ready stories for every age.
This summer reading list is broken down by the best books for toddlers, preschoolers, early elementary, older elementary, and middle schoolers.
That way, you’re sure to find something for one (or more!) of the homeschool kids in your life looking for their next great summer read!
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Summer Books for Kids: Toddler Edition (Ages 1–3)
At this tender, chaotic, fun toddler age, we’re just happy when they want to hang out with us and look at a book together, right?
But, with the right book, you can unlock the magic of reading this summer, even for your littlest learner!
My picks for the totschoolers focus on board books with summer themes like animals, the beach, and nature, while keeping your kiddo engaged with bright illustrations and interactive elements.
- Hello World! Ocean Life by Jill McDonald: One of many awesome nonfiction books by this author that are actually engaging for curious toddlers!
- Little Blue Truck Feeling Happy: A Touch-and-Feel Book by Alice Schertle: An interactive board book that celebrates differences, individuality, and friendship.
- I Am an Ice Cream Truck by Ace Landers: A super cool board book that’s actually shaped like an ice cream truck and plays the “ice cream truck song”!
- Spot Goes to the Swimming Pool by Eric Hill: It’s a classic for a reason! It includes calming illustrations and wholesome themes, just like each book in the Spot series.
- Summer in the Forest- A Lift-a-Flap Surprise by Rusty Finch: Such a fun book to explore summer with animals and a book that’s both a lift-the-flap book and has pop-up pages!
Related: 17+ Excellent Earth Day Books for Preschoolers by Jill McDonald
Related: The 20 Best Board Books for Babies to Develop Early Language Skills
Related: 11+ Awesome Toddler Learning Journal Ideas You Need to Try
Summer Books for Kids: Preschool Edition (Ages 3–5)
These summer reading picks for preschoolers are sure to keep your little one in a sunshiney mood with their simple storylines. wholesome themes, and beautiful, happy illustrations.
I love these books for your preschool children because they’re great for reading aloud and learning through stories.
- Pete the Cat: Pete at the Beach by James Dean: One groovy cat + summer fun at the beach = always a win for your preschool readers!
- Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall: Jabari is definitely ready to jump off the diving board… right? You’ll love the sweet, patient dad in this story and the brave and determined Jabari.
- Ice Cream Summer by Peter Sís: A celebration of summer, being a kid, ice cream, and close relationships with grandparents.Plus, it’s got *beautiful* illustrations.
- Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli: Who doesn’t love silly, relatable story? This one’s about a crocodile who’s scared of swallowing a watermelon seed, even though watermelons are his favorite thing to eat! Your kids will love reading this funny book again and again this summer.
- Shaping Up Summer (Math in Nature #4) by Lizann Flatt: This amazing book combines math and summer through the eyes of summer animals, bugs, and arachnids!
Related: 25+ Fun Summer Learning Resources for Homeschoolers
Related: 3 Secrets to a Successful Homeschool Pre-K Schedule + FREEBIE!
Summer Books for Kids: Early Elementary Edition (Ages 6–8)
As your early elementary kid starts to wind down and relax this summer, encourage them to ease into this mix of beginner chapter books and picture books!
In this section, you’ll find books with themes like friendship, adventure, and everything that makes the outdoors fun for kids in the summer!
Early Elementary Summer Picture Books
- Over in a River-Flowing Out to Sea by Marianne Berkes: Read some interesting nonfiction with your kiddo this summer and learn about the habits and animals in the rivers of North America. Includes fun tie-ins to counting, geography, and science!
- Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee: This hilarious book lets you see the POV of many different reactions to riding a roller coaster. Your kids will be totally immersed in the fun twists and turns author-illustrator Marla Frazee takes us on in this book!
- Super Summer- All Kinds of Summer Facts and Fun by Bruce Goldstone: You’ll find awesome, real-life photos, fascinating facts, and even some summer craft ideas in this nonfiction summer book for kids.
- Summer is Here by Renée Watson: With beautiful writing and vivid word choice, this lyrical picture book truly brings the magic of summer to life right before your eyes.
- Snowmen All Year by Caralyn Buehner: Perfect for the little Olaf lover in all of us, read this book to find how all the interesting things that could happen in snowmen never melted, even 🎶in summmmerrr! 🎶(read that in your Olaf singing voice 😜)
Related: 25 Best Books on the Five Senses
Early Elementary Summer Beginning Chapter Books
- Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride by Kate DiCamillo: One of the BEST beginning chapter books! Also part of a series, this Mercy Watson book is about a loveable pig that’s never happier than when she’s going for a car ride while the sun is shining.
- Detective Dylan and the Thief of Camp Leaf by MJ Murray: Although this is the third book in the Youth Sleuths series, it’s designed to engage reluctant readers and is a series that can be read in any order! It’s even got comprehension questions and tier 2 vocab sprinkled in throughout the fantastic, fun story. Your kid will LOVE this book!
- Summer According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney: When the class pet, a hamster named Humphrey, goes to summer camp with all the kids in the class, tons of fun adventures are bound to happen!
Related: The 7 Best Chapter Books for Kids
Summer Books for Kids: Older Elementary Edition (Ages 9–11)
Give your upper elementary readers a chance to find their new favorite book this summer with these books for independent reading time.
I’ve chosen page-turners they won’t be able to put down with common elements like summer camp, mysteries, road trips, and laugh-out-loud older elementary favs.
- Shark Summer by Ira Marcks: A youth film contest about sharks and a baseball-playing, friendly but competitive main character written in graphic novel format makes for your kid’s perfect first summer read.
- One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia: Set in 1968, this book will make you laugh and also hit you right in the feels. This fantastic story that’s won numerous awards is about second chances, reuniting with family, sibling relationships, and summer in the city.
- Trouble at the Zoo (A Bindi Irwin Adventure) by Bindi Irwin: Written and inspired by the real-life experiences of Steve Irwin’s daughter, Bindi, this summer chapter book is full of adventure, unusual animals, and page-turning events at the Australia Zoo!
- The Big Money Squeeze: Adventures in Fourth Grade Money Making by Rymer Strauss: A very unique and standout chapter book to inspire your budding entrepreneur with an excellent story that has real-life skills naturally woven in the book like financial literacy, starting a business, solving business startup problems, and budgeting.
- Ultimate Ocean Rumble (Who Would Win?) by Jerry Pallota: A nonfiction text that’s a super interesting read for summer. Includes 16 ocean animals that go head-to-head to help you figure out who will win!
- The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart: Kind of the perfect book for homeschooled kids who are used to socializing and interacting with people of various ages and backgrounds. Coyote Sunrise and her dad have been traveling the U.S. in a old school bus for five years and interact with a cast of characters along the way. When the tragic events of the past start to catch up to them, they’ll realize that facing the past is actually the hardest journey of them all.
Related: 7 Parenting Tips to Teach Digital Literacy for Kids and Keep Them Safe Online
Summer Books for Kids: Middle School Edition (Ages 11–13)
Although I am a huge advocate for kids reading beyond their age level, I wanted to make a quick disclaimer about this section.
I did include texts here that have slightly more mature themes, both in depth (e.g. could make you cry) and in content (social justice themes, self-consciousness about appearance, characters with terminal illnesses, etc.).
I think you’ll love this round-up of middle grade summer books that includes graphic novels, coming-of-age stories, and meaningful events that’ll stick with you after you finish these books.
- Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca: A truly exceptional novel written in verse for middle schoolers. Reha is confused about who she is. At school. she’s the only Indian American girl. At home, she’s steeped in traditions with her family. Her world is turned upside down and she becomes determined to face her fears by becoming a doctor after her mother is diagnosed with leukemia. Bonus: it’s got tons of science concepts sprinkled throughout the whole book!
- Starfish by Lisa Fipps: When she’s in the water, Ellie can stretch out like a starfish and take up as much space as she wants. When she’s not, Ellie lives by the “Fat Girl Rules” she’s created to help her get by in this “fat-obsessed” world. A great read for middle schoolers who may be self-conscious about their own appearance or who may be going through a phase of judgement towards others.
- How to Go Anywhere (and Not Get Lost): A Guide to Navigation for Young Adventurers by Hans Aschim: An interactive book full of important, real-world skills and navigation facts for middle schoolers. This book teaches you things like how to make a simple compass, how to find north and south, and so, so much more cool stuff!!
- Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell: This is the fictional story of Karana’s survival alone on the Island of the Blue Dolphins after she gets stranded there as a young girl. Your animal-lovers and adventurers will love this story!
- A Summer of Sundays by Lindsay Eland: Sunday Fowler is the third of SIX kids, so she’s spending this summer looking for ways to stand out. When she discovers something intriguing and unexpected in the basement of the library her parents are renovating, she suddenly has the chance to get all the attention she’s craving, and then some. But, is this what she wants? And is it worth the cost of being trustworthy and loyal to your friends?
- The Human Kaboom: 6 Explosively Different Stories with the Same Exact Name! by Adam Rubin: Adam Rubin also wrote Dragons Love Tacos and The Ice Cream Machine, so you know this one is a banger, too. Rather than tackling one, giant book, your middle schooler may enjoy this book with six different short stories that are short, fun, and action-packed! Each story has the same name, and each of them has quirky, exciting, and interesting characters and events. Trust me: get this book in your kid’s hands this summer!
These are the Best Summer Books for Kids!
I hope you’ve found at least a few new books for your kids to read, even if you take a break from “officially” homeschooling for a few months!
From toddlers to middle schoolers, this article covers the best summer books for kids.
If you have any suggestions of more summer books for kids, I would love to check out your favorites next!
Comment below and let me know what’s your favorite (or your kid’s favorite!) summer reading book.
For everything homeschool, we can PlanIt! ♥
What are the best summer books for kids that are reluctant readers?
Graphic novels, silly series, and high-interest topics are perfect for reluctant readers! Try books like Dog Man by Dav Pilkey, New Kid by Jerry Craft, or one of my favorite summer time reads featured here: Shark Summer by Ira Marcks. Audiobooks and short story collections can also help build confidence without overwhelming them.
How do I build a summer reading list for multiple kids?
Start by dividing books by age or reading level (like the lists above!). Choose a few family read-alouds everyone can enjoy together, mix in independent reads, and let each child help pick their own favorites. Bonus tip: create a shared summer reading chart or reading challenge to make it fun and collaborative.
Should I include educational books in our summer reading?
Absolutely, you might just want to make it sneaky! Fun nonfiction, activity-based books, or storybooks with STEM, history, or nature themes are great. Think Ice Cream Summer by Peter Sís or Hello, World! board books for younger kids. Sprinkle in some learning with all that summer fun.
Where can I get affordable summer books for kids?
Check out local library sales, thrift stores, or discount bookstores. Amazon often has sales on bundles and popular titles. For digital options, sites like Epic or Vooks have lots of great ebooks. You could even try video recorded read alouds from places like Storyline Online, Story Time Book, or YouTube.