Children's books for summer 🍉
Can we read? 2025 special edition on summer
I have always hated summer — if the temperature never rose above 75 degrees, I’d be totally fine with that, and my feelings have not changed on that front — but a few years ago, I decided that hating at least three months out of every year was a type of wasting time I was not interested in. I don’t like wishing my life away — any of it, even on the most miserably humid Wisconsin days — so I set myself a goal of learning to love summer.
I spent time outside every day, no matter how oppressive the heat or how much I felt like I was suffocating or how overstimulated it all made me feel.
I bared as much skin as I could when taking walks or hiking or swimming and I purposely sat on my deck in the sun. I took my kids to the pool (with earplugs) as often as possible and did not swear under my breath or sit like a toad under a towel I’d placed over my head.
I did not let myself complain about any of it to anyone, even once.
By the end, I can’t say I fell in love with summer by any means. I’m probably never going to be a summer lover. But I can say I no longer hate summer, nor do I just merely tolerate it. I taught myself to enjoy it. I am now a summer enjoy-er.
On purpose.
Which is all to say, every season — literal and especially figurative — brings things to love and things to loathe, and most of it is outside our control, even if we delude ourselves into thinking otherwise.
But we can control our approach to any and all of it.
We can control our actions and our thoughts.
(We can even control our own self-prescribed exposure therapy, and I recommend it.)
We can make a different choice about anything at any time.
And most importantly, we can change.
Here’s to the fresh start that summer can bring to even the most curmudgeonly among us, if we choose it. (And if that’s you, too — cheers. You’re doing an amazing job.)
Our Pool by Lucy Ruth Cummins (2023)
Finally, it’s Pool Day! This joyful celebration of community and summer fun captures the anticipation and delight of a municipal pool on a blazing hot day, inviting readers to dive into (see what I did there?) the sensory experience of sunscreen, the toe-dip or the jump-right-in, the rare silence of being submerged in a city, and more.
Cummins’ gouache, colored pencil, and watercolor images are bright, cheerful, and fully convey the gladness and glee of shared spaces and simple summer pleasures — perfect for reading to preschoolers all the way up to late elementary kiddos ready to immerse themselves in the season.
When You Find the Right Rock by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Felicita Sala (2024)
It’s hard to fully convey the quiet, poetic magic of this seemingly simple book, but as someone who has a house full of random rocks I’ve picked up and carried with me for years for all sorts of reasons — many of them collected during summer — let me say it hit me right in the heart.
Not so much a story as a paean to rocks — their simplicity and majesty, their steady companionship and mystery — there’s a soft and meditative quality to this one, enhanced by Sala’s mixed media and collage images, with messages about looking more closely at things we often overlook, and doing the same with ourselves.
“Big rocks are best for the insides of mountains. If sometimes it happens that the world seems not to notice how big you really are, don’t forget those mountain rocks.
Some of their big goes unseen, too. But it’s still there. Like yours.”
Whether we’re as old as rocks or only a few years into this world, this is a message we can all use.
Everything Grows by Raffi, illustrated by Nina Mata (originally published in 1987; republished in 2021)
This gentle, uplifting board book celebrates growth, change, and the beauty of the world around us through lyrical text based on a song by beloved children’s singer-songwriter Raffi. (If you know the song and can sing it, do!)
While the words aren’t necessarily narrative, Mata’s warm digital images show a family tending their plot at a community garden, showcasing their love and togetherness alongside their curiosity and appreciation for these small wonders of nature. This is a soothing read for the smallest among us (though I wouldn’t discount its meditative quality for you, either).
Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash by Sarah Weeks, illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott (1997)
Mrs. McNosh is a zany lady who is always up to something guaranteed to bring a smile to the face of any little ones, and on this particular Monday morning, she brings out her barrel of wash and hangs up all the usual items one would expect — dresses and shirts, underwear and skirts — but then things take a weird turn, and choas ensues.
This super goofy rhyming tale is great fun to read — and to look at, as Bernard Weeks’ silly, expressive illustrations show the progressively stranger items Mrs. McNosh intends to hang — and will garner many giggles. It’s a perfect way to kick off a fun season.
The Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan (2013)
This is what I learned last summer:
Never leave a red sock on the clothesline.
So begins this surreal, strange, and visually stunning exploration of childhood, imagination, and summer. Through a series of mysterious vignettes — the text says one thing and Tan’s dreamlike pastel illustrations show one possible interpretation of what that thing could be — we see two boys and often a whole host of bizarre creatures as they explore, adventure, struggle, and persevere through one very weird season.
There is a lot in the images here — they’re thought-provoking and open to interpretation, and with mid to late elementary children, can spark some serious questions and conversations about what, exactly, is going on. If there’s a higher compliment for a book, I don’t know it. This is one that lingers in the mind.
The Best Worst Summer of Esme Sun by Wendy Wan-Long Shang (2025)
In this fresh and relatable middle-grade novel, 12-year-old Esme struggles to step out of the shadow of her three accomplished older sisters while navigating a summer filled with new friends, a deep love of swim team, and a mother whose singular focus on winning makes Esme consider what success really means.
As someone who has never been chill a single day in her life, I saw myself in Esme — trying to navigate her passion and intensity (and dealing with people who think she’s too much ✋), working to figure out how to be friends when things get complicated. Wan-Long Shang’s realistic tone and (often painful) insight into friendships and family dynamics make Esme’s journey easy to connect with, capturing her confusion — and joy — with warmth and honesty. This is a heartfelt and compelling story that would make a great read-aloud for elementary kiddos, or to hand to your independent middle-grade reader.
I Heard It from Alice Zucchini: Poems About the Garden by Juanita Havill, illustrated by Christine Davenier (2006)
(Good thing I’m done having kids, or I’d probably be pouring a lot of energy into convincing my husband that we should name another girl child Alice Zucchini.)
This delightful poetry book about gossip in the garden covers all the pleasures of what is and what might be: seeds dreaming of what they’ll be when they grow up, radishes as underground lightbulbs, a pea pod chant (“One pod, two pods, three pods, four. / Who’s that knocking at the door?”), an ode to a blue moon.
Davenier’s loosely sketched illustrations, rendered in ink, feel as free and wild as a growing thing full of movement, life, and joy, which is a pretty good way to describe this whole book. Like a garden, it’s a gift to everyone — for little and big readers alike.
I hope you’ve found some fresh new reads for the season here. I also have a Bookshop.org list, Books for summer, in case you’d like to visually browse and/or support this newsletter in another way — I get a tiny commission if you use this link to make a purchase. (Thank you!)
May this summer root you in joy.
May the sun warm not just your skin but your spirit.
May you access ease without feeling like you have to earn it.
And when summer opens its wide, golden hands to you, may you receive the gifts therein 🤲
Sarah
Oh so excited to check out this whole list!
Bracing myself for Texas/Oklahoma summer.
I'm also not a summer person! Having an autoimmune disease that impedes temperature regulation hasn't helped 😅 Thanks for these great recommendations!