Children's books for summer

Special edition: Summer 🍉

Happy summer, everyone!

While I am sometimes tempted to throw our usual reading routines out the window this time of year — I’m just rejoicing it’s warm enough for open windows, to be honest — every year, I remember anew what a wonderful opportunity these warm months are to shake things up, try fresh books and ways of doing things, or simply relax into longer, more languid days together by doing what we always do, with a smidgen more ease.

Whatever you decide to try (if anything at all) — move your bedtime reading to breakfast so you can stay late at the pool! Set up a tent in the yard and forgo rest to watch the stars before crawling in with flashlights to read in your sleeping bags! Drive to a library new to you and check out the kids’ section there! — please know that even the most minor efforts matter. Whether you read five minutes a day or fifty, it all counts, it all adds up. You’re giving your children a priceless gift — whether you’re the one leaning up against the bathtub reciting poetry while dodging splashes of water, whether you’re propping your eyelids open with your glasses while reading a chapter book after dark even though you’re totally exhausted, whether you’re ordering books online and sending them to your beloveds far away, it’s a gift, and one you’ll never regret, so keep going, keep giving it. You’re doing a fantastic job.

Now let’s dive into some terrific books for summer! 🤿

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Natsumi’s Song of Summer by Robert Paul Weston, illustrated by Misa Saburi (2020)

Thank you to Darcy for introducing my family to Natsumi last year!

“In lotus season with petals on every pond Natsumi was born. That was how she got her name. It means ‘the sea in summer.’”

So begins this gentle tale about a little girl, Natsumi, who loves everything about summertime — swimming, running on soft grass, the sun, the heat, the cool bursts of plum rain, but nothing more than summer’s gleaming, bright insects, which she searches for with her parents and even lets crawl along her arm.

Natsumi’s birthday is coming up, and along with it, a special visitor from across the sea — her cousin, Jill, who Natsumi has never met. Natsumi is nervous, but when Jill arrives, it’s immediately clear that here is a kindred spirit — Jill says, “Show me everything!” and so, Natsumi begins. She shares the hot sand that powders their toes at the beach; the Obon festival, where they dance together; watching fireworks by the river; and finally, the “bizz-buzzing” of cicadas, which Natsumi discovers, to her delight, are just as fascinating and magical to Jill as they are to her.

This sweet story is one of finding common ground and familial love (even if you’ve never met before), full of Saburi’s bright and adorable Photoshop illustrations and sensory details that make it interesting for a wide range of readers, from preschoolers to mid-elementary.

I encourage you to seek out Natsumi — she’s a lovable little soul worth getting to know.

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Splash, Anna Hibiscus! by Atinuke, illustrated by Lauren Tobia (2013)

If you’ve been around here for awhile, you know we are unabashed Atinuke fans and especially love her most famous (and, in my opinion, most delightful) character, Anna Hibiscus (though Tola comes a close second). We have all the Anna Hibiscus picture books, because we don’t want to miss a single moment of her heartwarming family life and wacky adventures.

Here the reader accompanies Anna and her large extended family to the beach on a hot day, when the laughing waves are splashing. Anna is ready to have fun, but everyone around her is busy doing something else: her cousins are playing on a phone, kicking around a soccer ball, and burying each other in the sand; her Mama and aunties are braiding their hair; her Papa and uncles are talking to fisherman, her grandparents are reading newspapers and napping beneath the open pages. Anna decides to play in the waves on her own, and she has such a good time splashing, jumping, and laughing, that her entire family notices, prompting the whole crew to realize what fun they’re missing and finally join her.

If it sounds a bit like nothing much happens, you’re right: and yet this snapshot of one afternoon at the beach is entertaining for its intimate glimpse into life in Lagos, Nigeria, accentuated by Tobia’s loose, playful pencil and watercolor illustrations (her talent is in depicting the tremendous affection between the members of the Hibiscus family, whose love for one another practically radiates off the page, as well as her attention to the details of West African culture and textiles).

This level of care makes reading any Anna Hibiscus book a complete pleasure, and this one is especially excellent for summer.