Summer Children’s Reads

I truly cannot believe we are halfway through June. How did this happen?! The kids summer break is quickly approaching, and my kids are quite excited to start reading some imaginative books for the summer school break. There’s something so relaxing about reading a book in the warm sun. It’s important to me that my kids’ library is constantly changing, so they can keep up with their reading and use their imaginations. They had a tough school year, full of work and reading. One thing I make sure of is that they get the books they actually enjoy. I want them to look forward to their reading time! Here are our top choices for the summer!

Imagination

Firstly, I love the books that get my kids to use their imaginations. As they get older, I worry that they lose more of that and go into just practicality. Which is great, but also, it’s important to keep some sense of imagination and creativity alive. Specifically, it’s something that can provide an escape from reality for summer vacation and young readers. A fun graphic novel, or a book where the main character saves the world are great ideas and a beautiful story to set up a world of imagination. Younger readers are impressionable and while the older kids usually get a summer reading list that’s required, we enjoy sunny days of free reading. With new releases out for the summer, the perfect summer day is a quiet one full of imagination and beautiful illustrations.

Fun

Secondly, while the morals and lessons can be important, books are an escape from reality. And we want them to be fun for our children to spend time doing as an activity. Whether it’s topics they find interesting, a book version of a movie or show or mindless reading, it’s great to have something to look forward to or great picture books. It doesn’t need to always challenge them, it’s the summer holidays! We love an activity book or a delightful picture book in the summer months for the younger kids! As far as the older kids, adventure is where it’s at! I remember my favorite summer was one where I got to relax and I had some great classic book reads that year. It really is the perfect way to escape to a new adventure from your couch!

Lessons

Finally, life lessons and morals to stories are something that some find to be important when it comes to choosing new books. Some topics can be difficult to talk about or approach and may be easier to learn about from books. At the same time, books just have a way with words, no pun intended! Everything is explained in detail and often time by expert or psychologists. It’s the perfect opportunity to teach your kids about everyday life, changes in their bodies, and help them feel maybe not alone through some of the best books. I always find a funny story to help be relatable but older readers usually are more difficult to reach through interesting facts in books, so that will be a harder task. Make sure you find books they are excited about, it makes it a lot easier!