80+ Books to Read to Your Kids This Summer
My kids love books, and so do I!
We read year round, but summer time is an especially fun time to focus on reading, especially if your local library offers a summer reading program.
We always enjoy our library’s summer reading program, but this year I’m giving my kids (and myself!) a little challenge too:
READ 100 BOOKS by the end of summer.
My ten year old read over 130 books last summer, so I know she’s up for the challenge!
My younger kids aren’t reading well yet, so I’m going to help them out and read with or to them.
There are over 90 days of summer, so if we read at least one or two books every day we can easily meet the 100 book challenge by the end of August.
I compiled a list of over eighty of our family’s favorite books. {These are definitely on our summer reading list, and I’ll be looking out for new favorites!}
I’d love to hear what you would add to to this list!
Quick Read Alouds
{just for fun}
- The Bee Tree, by Patricia Polacco
- The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear, by Don and Audrey Wood
- Guess How Much I Love You, by Sam McBratney (We also love the the read-along CD. Beautifully narrated with whimsical music.)
- Toby’s New Brother, by Cyndy Szekeres (The sweetest book for a little one who’s adjusting to the birth of a new sibling!)
- How to Make Apple Pie and See the World, by Marjorie Priceman
- How to Make Cherry Pie and See the USA, by Marjorie Priceman
- I Love You, Daddy and
- I Love You, Mommy, by Jillian Harker
- Moonbear’s Shadow, by Frank Asch
- Katy No-Pocket, by Emmy Payne
- The Very Hungry Bear, by Joan Nodset Lexau
- Little Bear, by Else Holmelund Minarik
- We’re Going on a Book Hunt, by Pat Miller
- Happy Birthday, Moon, by Frank Asch
- Stone Soup, by Marcia Brown
- Love You Forever, by Sheila McGraw (a personal favorite)
- Cowboy Small, by Lois Lenski (my little boys love this simple board book)
- Fritz and the Beautiful Horses, by Jan Brett (both my girls and boys enjoy this beautiful book)
- I Spy on the Farm, by Richard Powell (this is a great book for my preschooler and early reader)
- “Henry” books by Robert Quackenbush (these were my childhood favorites!)
{character & faith}
- The Princess and the Kiss, (a sweet story of purity by Jennie Bishop. A suitable story for all ages, beautifully illustrated. I wrote a review here, if you want to read it.)
- The Squire and the Scroll, also by Jenni Bishop. (A tale of purity and the importance of God’s Word, written especially for boys. Very engaging!)
- Sara Sue Learns to Yell and Tell, by Debi Pearl.
- Samuel Leans to Yell and Tell, by Debi Pearl (I highly recommend the Yell and Tell books)
- A Little Girl After God’s Own Heart, and
- A Little Boy After God’s Own Heart, by Elizabeth George. (I love these books! Both titles explore the nine Fruit of the Spirit in child-friendly terms, and with beautiful illustrations. My “little” kids are ages almost eight, six, and three, and they thoroughly enjoy these books.)
- Just in Case You Ever Wonder, by Max Lucado
- “Trusty” books by Mark Hamby: (our little boy loves these books!)
- You are Special, by Max Lucado (one of our family favorites)
- You are Mine, by Max Lucado
- My Big Book of 5-Minute Devotions, by Pamela Kennedy
- The Beggar’s Blessing, also by Mark Hamby
{history & educational}
- Henry’s Freedom Box, by Ellen Levine (one of my favorite stories about the Underground Railroad)
- Goin‘ Someplace Special, by Patricia C McKissack (a great book for Juneteenth)
- Looking at Lincoln, by Maira Kalman (contains a lot of interesting facts about Lincoln)
- A Picture Book of George Washington, by David A. Alden (beautiful pictures and interesting facts
- A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln, by David A. Alden (definitely a favorite)
- The Voyage of Ludgate Hill, by Nancy Willard (a humorous rhyming story about Robert Louise Stevenson)
- What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs?, by John Morris and Ken Ham
- The Storm Book, by Charlotte Zolotow
- Ladybugs, Red, Fiery and Bright, by Mia Posada (fun, rhyming book for younger children)
- Red, White, and Blue, by John Herman (the story of the American flag)
- The 4th of July Story, by Alice Dalgiesh (great for Independence Day!)
- “My First Little House” books, based on the stories by Laura Ingles Wilder (these are wonderful for younger children)
Chapter Read Alouds
These books are great for reading during family devotions, or for older kids to read on their own.
- Pilipinto’s Happiness (the Jungle Childhood of Valerie Elliot), by Valerie Shepherd
- Grandma’s Attic series, written by Arleta Richards. (easy-to-read stories)
- Little House on the Prairie series, by Laura Ingles Wilder (my ten-year old daughter loves these books!)
- The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- The Door in the Wall, by Margeurite Angeli (an adventurous Medieval tale!)
- The Courage of Sarah Noble, by Alice Dalgliesh
- Sarah Whitcher’s Story, by Elizabeth Yates
- Kingdom Tales, by David and Karen Main
The Wisdom and the Millers series
William Boekstein has 3 books that are great too. Theyre about church history but written for kids.
Thank you for these recommendations, Meagan!
LOVE this list Kristy! One of my goals this summer is to read through ALL of our picture books and I’ve been working on compiling my own list of favorite picture books but am always on the lookout for new favorites… especially with birthday season starting in our house. 🙂
Thank you so much, Anna!
Awesome post, Kristy! We can always use new book recommendations!
My daughter is really into the Dear America books. She loves historical fiction, and these are written like diary entries. She usually comes home with at least five of them from the library and is done before the week is over.
Sounds like your girl and mine have something in common… little Book Worms! 😉
Thank you for reading and commenting, Kristen!
We love reading, too! I went a grabbed a few of the favorite read-over-and-over-again books off our shelf that I didn’t see on your list:
• My Bible Friends (a 5-book set) by Etta B. Degering (Review & Herald Publishing)
• Birthday Friend by Marla Martin (Rod & Staff Publishers)
• God Made Me by Mrs. James Swartzentruber (Rod & Staff Publishers)
• God Made the Opossum by Mrs. James Swartzentruber (Rod & Staff Publishers)
• The Egg and the Chick by Mrs. James Swartzentruber (Rod & Staff Publishers)
• Hello, Red Fox by Eric Carle (Scholastic)
And off the top of my head, these are a few of my children’s favorite chapter books (we purchased all of these through Rod & Staff, too):
• 3 Months Under the Snow
• Darrel Borrows a Brother
• Coon Tree Summer
• Ice Slide Winter
Right now, I’m reading aloud to my four- and ten-year-old (among other things) a Microsoft PowerPoint book called “Beyond Bullet Points”. 😉 It’s pretty cool. And we’ve been working our way through The Bible Story set by Arthur S. Maxwell at bedtime for some time now. 🙂
That should help you get your 100…. 😉 (And my daily dose of smiley faces, I suppose, lol.)
Thank you SO much, Sheila! Can’t wait to check out these books, they sound great! 🙂
Great resource list! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Julie! 🙂
The Adam Raccoon series by Glen Keane teaches Christian lessons to kids. I think they’re great! Beverly Cleary and Roald Dahl books are always fun choices too.
I’ve read a few of the Adam Raccoon books, but it’s been years ago. Thanks so much for bringing them to my attention again, Jaimie!
Great list! I cannot wait until my daughter is a little older to start Anne of Green Gables.
My ten year old loves the Anne of Green Gables book series! A lady from our church gave them to her last year and I think she read them all!
This is a great list! I see lots of our favorites, but also some we haven’t read. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome, Joy! These are definitely some of our well-read favorites. 🙂
Great list! We just finished and I enjoyed The Good Master and Bound for Oregon. We also love The World of Pooh and The World of Christopher Robin. Have a wonderful summer!
I’ll have to check out those titles, Krista! Thanks so much for reading, commenting, and sharing your recommendations!