Get ready for summer with these summer books for kids about the sun, beach, camping, pool, gardening, and more! These stories are great for ending the school year or to enjoy during the summer months. Check out our favorite summer-themed picture books, right here!
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The end of school means hot summer months, fun in the sun, BBQs, Camp, Beach Days, picnics, fireworks, and endless fun. Summertime is a great time to discover new fun books.
If you are planning a trip to the beach, read a beach-themed book about it and get your kids excited! Planning a picnic with friends? Pull your kids in for a fun read-aloud, while they enjoy a refreshing summer treat.
There are so many amazing kid’s books about summer to ring in and celebrate lazy, carefree, sunny days, and these are our favorite summer stories.
Happy reading!
This post is all about the best summer-themed books for kids
The Ultimate List of Summer Books for Kids
1. And Then Comes Summer
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When the days are getting longer and school is finished, it can only mean one thing. Summer has arrived! This book celebrates the arrival of summer with lemonade stands, hide and seek, lake and camping trips, and gooey s’mores. It’s a perfect kickoff to the summer season and gets children excited for the summer months ahead and all the fun that comes with it.
2. We are the gardeners
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An amazing book that teaches children that the greatest rewards come from patience, hard work, and learning from mistakes! We Are the Gardeners, Joanna Gaines and the kids chronicle the adventures of starting their own family garden. From their failed endeavors, obstacles to overcome (bunnies that eat everything), and all of the knowledge they gain along the way, the Gaines family shares how they learned to grow a happy, successful garden.
2. Summer Vacation, Here I Come!
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It’s summertime, and what better way to celebrate the warmer season than with some poems from best-selling author D. J. Steinberg! From splashing around at the local pool to heading on a camping trip, these silly and heartwarming poems – plus a page of stickers! – are sure to evoke the joy of summer vacation for every reader. Perfect for ages 4-6.
3. Bubbles…Up!
In this energetic read-aloud, the words swim off the pages as the underwater world comes to life through lush, dynamic illustrations and visual poetry. Journey to an imaginative world where, always and forever, bubbles . . . rise . . . UP!
4. How to Code a Sandcastle
Pearl has been trying to build the perfect sandcastle all summer long, but some things just keep getting in her way. Stray frisbees and puppies are ruining her creation! Eventually, Pearl and her trusty friend Pascal have the perfect plan to finally build their sandcastle. They will use code, of course! Using fundamental coding concepts and manageable steps, Pearl and Pascal figure out how to solve their problem. The result? One awesome sand castle!
5. The Camping Trip
Ernestine is very excited to go camping. She follows the packing list carefully (new sleeping bag! new flashlight! special trail mix made with Dad!) so she knows she is ready when the weekend arrives. She quickly realizes that nothing could have prepared her for how hard it is to set up a tent, never mind falling asleep in it, or that swimming in a lake means that there will be fish! Will she be able to enjoy this camping experience, or will it prove to be a bit too far out of her comfort zone?
6. The Little Ice Cream Truck
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The Little Ice Cream Truck is such a nostalgic book, about Sue the Ice Cream Truck driver who delivers delicious ice cream around town. With little ice cream trucks jingly tune and pitstops at a birthday party, a park, and the zoo, this is a joyful new installment in the Little Vehicle series, which focuses on the many daily tasks of working trucks.
7. The Honeybee
This book talks about the importance of a bee and their various job functions for the earth. With beautiful illustrations, this celebration of the critically important honeybee is a honey-sweet treasure of a picture book.
8. Summer Days and Nights
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On a hot summer day, a little girl finds ways to entertain herself and stay cool. She catches a butterfly, sips on lemonade, jumps in a pool, and goes on a picnic. At night, she sees an owl in a tree and a frog in a pond, and hears leaves rustling. Before long, she’s fast asleep, dreaming about more summer days and summer nights.
9. A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee
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If your family loves camping trips in the summer, this book is a must-have! Mr. Magee and his dog, Dee, are enjoying a peaceful camping trip when along comes a lumbering, marshmallow-loving bear and the excitement begins. The next thing the two campers know, they are plunging down a mountain, racing down a river, and teetering on the edge of a waterfall! Will Mr. Magee and Dee find a way out of the chaos?
10. Pie is for sharing
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A picnic, a beach, a pie cut into pieces and shared with good friends.
Pie is for sharing. It starts off round, and you can slice it into as many pieces as you want. We love this book that describes all the wonderful things you can share during the hot summer days, like treats and books and balls, and time — all as easy to share as pie.
11. Let Liberty Rise!: How America’s Schoolchildren Helped Save the Statue of Liberty
Another fun children’s Book about Independence Day, that is great to read during the summer months. This book, about the birth of the Statue of Liberty and the everyday Americans who helped her rise in the United States, is a great story for children to learn. From its birth in France to the construction of its pedestal in America, this fascinating story will inspire children and teach them about one of the largest statutes of its time that welcomed immigrants to America with the hopes of freedom and opportunity.
I hope this post about the best summer-themed books for children was helpful and you found some books you want to read this summer!
If you are looking for more fun things to do with your children this summer:
{ The Ultimate Summer Bucket List }
{ 12+ Best Summer Toys For Toddlers They Will Actually Play With }
