Summer picture book recommendation are by Angela Ferraris, The Retired School Librarian.
(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The content below contains Amazon affiliate links. When you buy through these links, Mrs. Ferraris may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. The Retired School Librarian is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. These titles are available on my Amazon Storefront under Summer Picture Books– https://www.amazon.com/shop/mrs.ferraris/list/3R7J5JRIZERHB?ref_=aipsflist)
❗This cumulative list grows over time, with the newest books always appearing at the top.❗
Goodbye Spring, Hello Summer
by Kenard Pak
Summary: A girl walks the plains, noticing all of the spring plants, animals, and weather around her changing to summer. She heads to where children are playing in the setting sun. The next day, she greets summer.
Comments: This is a nice mentor text for seasonal changes and could also be shared toward the end of the school year when students will go on summer break.
This is part of the Kenard Pak’s Changing Seasons series.
The illustrations were created with watercolor and gouache, then digitally enhanced.
Rating: 4/5 📗📗📗📗
Details and buying options are on this book’s Amazon page (paid link).
Firefly Season
by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Author), Kate Gardiner (Illustrator)
Summary: Piper enjoys visiting her family each summer in the Cherokee Nation and the Muscogee Nation. She learns Mvskoke while playing in the yard with her cousins and catching fireflies. Her parents pick her up and she returns home and makes friends with a neighbor, but unfortunately, her family moves.
Piper is able to stay in touch with everyone and continues connecting with the people she loves.
Comments: This is a sweet story of friendship and summers spent with family despite the distance between loved ones. The story teaches that people can still stay in touch during transitions. The Indigenous cultures and family traditions could spark conversations in the classroom, making it a great read aloud.
The illustrations were created with gouache and colored pencil.
Rating: 4/5 📗📗📗📗
Details and buying options are on this book’s Amazon page (paid link).
At the Cookout
by Nadia Fisher
Summary: Cici is excited to attend her grandma’s summer cookout, where she plays games, listens to music, and enjoys delicious food with her cousins, uncles, aunties, and Grandma.
Comments: This is a wonderful read-aloud to share with students when discussing multigenerational family traditions and summer celebrations. It could also encourage students to share how they celebrate with their own families.
I think this would be a book to share at the end of the school year or at the beginning of a new one as students discuss what they are going to do or did over summer break.
Rating: 4/5 📗📗📗📗
Details and buying options are on this book’s Amazon page (paid link).
Bright Lights and Summer Nights
by Shauntay Grant (Author), Zach Manbeck (Illustrator)
Summary: Mother Moon has a star baby who does not want to sleep on a warm summer night. To help, she magically tells a story about children attending a country fair under a starlit sky before watching fireworks.
Comments: This is a lovely bedtime story and lullaby to share with toddlers through kindergarteners. The green and yellow illustrations create the feeling of a gentle dream unfolding, while the text playfully uses the last word or phrase of one idea to begin the next.
The illustrations were created with gouache, watercolor, colored pencil, pastel, and Procreate.
Rating: 4/5 📗📗📗📗
Details and buying options are on this book’s Amazon page (paid link).
The Sun Thief
by Alice Hemming (Author), Nicola Slater (Illustrator)
Summary: Squirrel is enjoying a summer evening with his friend Bird, who excuses himself to go to bed. Squirrel is confused about bedtime while it is still light outside and becomes concerned that someone has stolen the sun when it does not rise as early as it used to. With Bird’s help, he learns that summer days are the longest of the year and begin to grow shorter after the summer solstice.
Comments: This would make a fun and humorous mentor text for units on changing seasons and the sun. It could also be used to introduce or reinforce concepts related to the summer solstice and changing daylight hours.
This is one from The Leaf Thief series.
Rating: 4/5 📗📗📗📗
Details and buying options are on this book’s Amazon page (paid link).
Where the Deer Slip Through
by Katey Howes (Author), Beth Krommes (Illustrator)
Summary: Various animals visit a farm through the gaps and cracks in the hedge surrounding it. Deer, rabbits, lizards, and other wildlife appear during the summer day, while others visit in the evening.
Comments: The text is written in rhyme and features cumulative verse as each animal joins the story.
The book is beautifully illustrated with black-and-white images created on scratchboard panels, transferred onto paper, and enhanced with watercolor.
Rating: 4.5/5 📗📗📗📗1/2
Details and buying options are on this book’s Amazon page (paid link).
Savor the Day
by Shari Green (Author), Gabby Grant (Illustrator)
Summary: A girl and her grandfather wake up early and prepare for a day at the beach, where they enjoy the sun, water, and wildlife around them. As night falls, they pack up the car, reflecting on and appreciating their day together.
Comments: This rhyming book would make a soothing read-aloud that emphasizes mindfulness, gratitude, and the special relationship between grandparents and grandchildren.
Rating: 4.5/5 📗📗📗📗1/2
Details and buying options are on this book’s Amazon page (paid link).
Here Come the Cousins
by Maggie Hutchings (Author), Sarah Zweck (Illustrator)
Summary: A girl excitedly waits on her grandpa’s porch for her seven cousins to come visit. It is a summer tradition in which they measure themselves on the wall to see how much they have grown, play in the ocean, and spend time together at the house.
Comments: This is a delightful, action-filled story about nostalgia, making memories, and bonding with family. I think this would make a superb back-to-school read-aloud and could spark discussions about what students did over the summer. Do they have cousins they enjoy spending time with?
The illustrations are colorful and feature many two-page spreads filled with details. I enjoyed taking my time with this book, stopping to look closely at each page.
Rating: 4.5/5 📗📗📗📗1/2
Details and buying options are on this book’s Amazon page (paid link).
This is NOT my Lunch Box!
by Jennifer Dupuis (Author), Carol Schwartz (Illustrator)
Brief summary: In this narrative nonfiction picture book, a boy is on a camping trip. As he opens a different colored lunchbox each time, he discovers that it is full of food for creatures in the woods. These creatures include herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores. What will he find in his lunch box next?
Comments: The lunch box is located on the right-hand side of the double-page spread. Turning the page reveals the answer of the lunch box owner located on the left. Readers then have to guess who will eat the contents of the next lunch box. This pattern continues for about a dozen times. Very clever!
Rating: 5/5 📗📗📗📗📗
Details and buying options are on this book’s Amazon page (paid link).
The Bumblebee Garden
by Dawn Casey (Author), Stella Lim (Illustrator)
Brief summary: Ben and his grandpa spot a bumblebee in the garden. Grandpa educates his grandson about the bumblebee’s life cycle, explaining its activities in each season as the book unfolds.
Comments: There is a back section titled The Life Cycle of a Queen Bumblebee.
The illustrations were handcrafted using watercolor and colored pencils, finishing with digital methods.
Rating: 4/5 📗📗📗📗
Details and buying options are on this book’s Amazon page (paid link).
Grandma’s Roof Garden
by Tang Wei (Author), Kelly Zhang (Translator)
Brief summary: An elderly granny collects discarded vegetables at the market to feed her animals and for compost. She has planted a rooftop garden, where she teaches neighborhood children how to care for plants. She shares her harvest with family and friends by having a meal together and giving extras for them to take home.
Comments: This book was initially printed in China in 2019.
The Author’s Note explains the author’s personal inspiration for this story.
Rating: 4/5 📗📗📗📗
Details and buying options are on this book’s Amazon page (paid link).
Ride Beside Me
by Lucy Knisley (Author)
Brief summary: A young child and mother go bike riding in the city. They are soon joined by other bicyclists in the bike club of different backgrounds and various forms of bikes, all heading up the mountain and then back down.
Comments: The illustrations were created using gouache paint on paper.
Rating: 4/5 📗📗📗📗
Details and buying options are on this book’s Amazon page (paid link).
The Best Worst Camp Out Ever
by Joe Cepeda (Author, Illustrator)
Brief summary: At the end of the school year, a boy and his dad decide to go camping. However, upon arriving at a campsite, they discover it is full. They then find an alternate campsite, which is not as appealing. Despite facing a series of setbacks, they persist in overcoming each problem.
Comments: This humorous elementary graphic novel was created with Adobe Photoshop.
Rating: 4/5 📗📗📗📗
Details and buying options are on this book’s Amazon page (paid link).
Beach Bummer
by Ryan Higgins (author and illustrator)
Brief summary: It is a hot summer day in Soggy Hollow, and the mice want to turn the house into a beach resort, but they go to one instead. Bruce begrudgingly carries everything to the beach until it is time to return home.
Comments: The illustrations were created using scans of treated clayboard for texture, graphite, ink, and Photoshop.
This book is smaller–7.28″ x 7.28″.
Rating: 3.5/5 📗📗📗1/2
Details and buying options are on this book’s Amazon page (paid link).
Firefly Galaxy
by Sarah Nelson (Author), Estrellita Caracol (Illustrator)
Brief summary: Sophie, Diego, and Lili excitedly wait until it is dark enough to catch fireflies and put them in a jar. Their parents go with them away from the house, where they can see the stars at night and the fireflies flashing off and on.
Comments: There is a section at the back called “Fascinating Firefly Facts” for more information about this insect.
The illustrations were created in paper collage.
Rating: 4/5 📗📗📗📗
Details and buying options are on this book’s Amazon page (paid link).
Summer is Here
by Renée Watson (Author), Bea Jackson (Illustrator)
Brief summary: A young girl wakes up on a sunny summer day and eats a breakfast of fruit. She then goes to play in the pool with her friends. Throughout the day, she also plays Double Dutch, goes on a picnic, throws water balloons, eats ice cream, and partakes in other activities. As the day comes to an end, she wishes that summer would stay.
Comments: Young readers will enjoy an action-packed summer day full of activities they can relate to.
The illustrations were created using a variety of pastel, oil paint, and watercolor brushes and Photoshopped.
Rating: 4/5 📗📗📗📗
Details and buying options are on this book’s Amazon page (paid link).
Summer’s Magic: An Indigenous Celebration of Nature
by Kaitlin B. Curtice (Author), Eduardo Marticorena (Illustrator)
Brief summary: Bo’s mom braids his hair into one long braid divided by three to represent the body, mind, and spirit. During the summer, he and his family celebrate by growing plants and visiting a river with their dog, Sam. They give thanks to the river before playing in it. However, as they prepare to leave, Bo notices people throwing their picnic trash into the river.
During the solstice, Bo goes to the river and asks the other kids to help him clean it up. In the evening, they have a big meal and their neighbors stop by. Bo shows the children his garden, and they catch and release fireflies.
Comments: Bo is a Potawatomi and shares his beliefs about Mother Nature throughout the story.
This could be shared not only as a summer solstice companion but with Earth Day, pollution ,and environmental unit of studies as well.
Rating: 4/5 📗📗📗📗
Details and buying options are on this book’s Amazon page (paid link).
Summer’s Child
by James Christopher Carroll (Author, Illustrator)
Brief summary: The forest animals gather around Bear to perform a play about the first day of summer. Child will be the narrator of this whimsical production.
Comments: This book’s illustrations are vibrant and filled with bright, appealing colors. This lighthearted and humorous story could serve as a great bedtime book or one to uplift a young reader.
Rating: 4/5 📗📗📗📗
Details and buying options are on this book’s Amazon page (paid link).
*I received a free copy of this book.
Garmann’s Summer
by Stian Hole (Author), Don Bartlett (Translator)
Brief summary: Garmann’s three elderly aunts come to visit just as the summer is about to end and school begins. The boy talks to his aunts and parents about what scares them. What scares Garmann?
Comments: This book is a translation from Norway, initially published in 2006.
I like this book’s candid humor about what scares us, death, and new beginnings.
The illustrations are collages of mixed media.
My students enjoyed these Garmann books and would read them together.
*I was sent a complimentary copy to give an honest review.
Rating: 5/5 📗📗📗📗📗
Details and buying options are on this book’s Amazon page (paid link).
The selected children’s books are chosen by a certified, retired elementary school librarian who passionately reads and recommends picture books to teachers, school librarians, parents, grandparents, and other book enthusiasts.
Most of the books Mrs. Ferraris recommends are checked out from the public library. The only exception is for the complimentary copies that she receives for an honest review, which are duly noted.