Children's Books About Summer

Weekly Trip to the Library for Nannies and Au Pairs

Lemonade Sun: And Other Summer Poems

By Rebecca Kai Dotich Illustrations by Jan Spivey Gilchrist
This is an assortment of poems shares the merits of summer. The variety of summer activities addressed in this collection will brings joy to those who read this book.

The Summer Solstice

By Ellen Jackson
A great book for pre-schoolers to sixth grade. It contains multicultural beliefs, customs, and celebrations surrounding the longest day of the year - the Summer Solstice. Scientific facts are sprinkled throughout the book as well as activity ideas and recipes.

That Wild Berries Should Grow: The Story of a Summer

By Gloria Whelan
Elsa is a precocious fifth-grade girl who cannot imagine living anywhere but amid the hustle and bustle of busy downtown Detroit. Even in the midst of the Great Depression there are many exciting things to occupy her time. But when the prescription for a sudden illness includes spending the summer at her grandparents’ country cottage beside Lake Huron, Elsa must learn to find excitement in "empty" places. Readers will discover with Elsa a summer full of simple yet wonderful new experiences: tending her own garden, fishing on the big lake, exploring a mysterious gully, making new friends, learning to walk barefoot, and picking wild berries. When Elsa returns to the big city at summer’s end, will her life ever be the same again?

The Relatives Came

By Cynthia Rylant Illustrations by Stephen Gammell
The story begins as you see a car bouncing along miles of country road until it slams into a fence and the luggage goes flying. From there, a big, happy extended family shares one of the joys of summer vacation for many, visiting with relatives. So much eating, playing outside, working together, and hugging is involved that "You'd have to go through at least four different hugs to get from the kitchen to the front room." The colored pencil drawings perfectly capture the happiness of all that becomes contagious by the end of the story.

SUMMER READING IS KILLING ME! (THE TIME WARP TRIO)

By Jon Scieszka Illustrations by Lane Smith
When the summer reading list accidentally gets stuck in the pages of "The Book," (the magical, time-warping book present in each story in the series), the three boys are transported right next to a 266-pound chicken in Hoboken, a character from one of the books on the list. In fact, all the characters from the summer reading list are in this strange place, where the bad characters battle the good characters, and the trio must save the heroes of children's literature. Kids will enjoy the tension, strange action, and funny situations that occur. Dracula, Winnie the Pooh, the Headless Horseman, Madeline, Encyclopedia Brown, and other familiar characters mingle. With quick thinking and the help of clues spun into a web by a well-known spider, the boys manage to get back to their summer vacation. Look for other time-warping adventures in the series, which begins with KNIGHTS OF THE KITCHEN TABLE.