Summer Books for Little Learners
Summer time is HERE!! Summer is such a happy time for me, with lots of time together and making of happy memories. I love being able to go out and do all the summery things with my little guy too….makes it even more special!
So, I pulled together my current favorite summer themed books for toddlers and preschoolers, along with a few ideas for how to use each book to teach simple skills at home. Scroll to see which ones your little ones would love!
Also…SPOILER ALERT: I’ll give a quick synopsis of what each book is about. Just so I don’t spoil any part of the stories for you, you’ve been fairly warned. Haha! :)
1. Is It Warm Enough for Ice Cream?
This one is a great book for learning about all the seasons and the normal things you might see or do during each of the seasons. It goes through describing each season quickly and then asks “Is it warm enough for ice cream?” It’s not until summer time that it’s warm enough for ice cream, along with all the other fun things about summer.
It’s a perfect book for kids to practice reading along with you and making connections to their own lives. It’s also really great for drawing pictures, writing sentences, or building things your kids can think of from each season.
This book is part of the “Hello, World!” series and I just LOVE it. Each page shows a bug or insect and gives a few facts about it. The pictures are super colorful and vibrant. The book is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers who are learning about crawly things this summer.
I love this book for kids to practice identifying pictures, naming objects, and making connections to their own world. It’s also awesome for drawing pictures of bugs or pairing with some fun bug activities LIKE THESE.
Beach Day is a rhyming book exploring all the things that people do at the beach during the summertime! I love the bright pictures, the rhyming practice, and all the ideas for fun things to do at the beach.
It’s great for little ones to learn to identify rhyming words, name unfamiliar or new objects, and even practice telling their own stories with. By looking at the pictures and telling their own story for what they think is happening encourages storytelling, creativity, and even beginning writing skills!
Ocean Friends is a great book all about ocean animals with a little peek-a-boo guessing game on each page! We love getting to guess which animal is hiding behind the flap by looking around at the scenery and the hint of the animal peeking out. It’s a perfect book for practicing inferring and making smart guesses.
“Summer” is a simple book about things that prove that it’s summer time, like sunny days, sunscreen, cold drinks, and lots of fun outside!
Mouse’s First Summer is a story about Mouse and Minka as they learn about all the fun things about summer. They learn about fireworks, watermelon, and even lemonade! They adventure together and the pictures display all the fun, brightly and simply.
My little guy totally loves this story and it’s a really good book for kids to retell and sequence. Also, it’s great for making connections to things they’ve done in their own lives or things they want to try, like summer foods and summer activities.
This story starts by saying good morning to all things beach, like the waves and sun, and then wraps up by saying goodnight to all the beach things too. Throughout the book, the author describes how things look and feel, as well as interesting things that can be found in the nooks and crannies of the beach. As the book moves through the day, it shifts to saying “good afternoon” and then finally says “good night” as the day ends.
I love this book for practicing sequencing, being able to recognize morning, afternoon, and evening…and it’s also great for identifying lots of things at the beach.
8. The Sandcastle that Lola Built
“The Sandcastle that Lola Built” is a super cute story about a girl named Lola who builds a sandcastle and then describes all the people who start to help her add to it. The kids who are building this sandcastle use their imaginations all the way through about what the sandcastle is for and things they want to add to the castle too.
I love this book for the imaginative aspects, the teamwork shown throughout the story, and the SUPER adorable illustrations. It also is a great book for teaching persistence and teamwork.
This book is a super adorable one that follows a “WHEN-THEN” pattern, like “WHEN the days stretch out like a slow yawn…THEN, throw on flip flops and breathe the sweet air!” The story offers a bunch of happy things that come with summer and then gives an idea for what to do when kiddos experience that summer thing!
I LOVE the illustrations in this book and the huge variety of summer-ish things that happen and something to do when that summer thing comes along.
11. When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree
“When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree” is a story about a girl who gets an unexpected birthday gift from her grandma, something NOT on her list…a lemon tree. The book gives some ideas for things NOT to do when you get a gift you don’t think you like, as well as what you SHOULD do, like "say thank you anyway”. Then, the book gives some good ideas for things to do to care for your lemon tree and what to do when the lemons start to grow! It gives steps and shows lists (and even a recipe) for making lemonade to sell so you can save money to buy the presents that were on your list. But, at the end of the book, it reminds the reader that the most important thing you can buy is something that you can share with others to make the world a happier place.
I love this story for all of the educational elements, like the parts of procedural text and lists, all the little ways to learn about being kind, and the life lessons like being creative and using what you have the help and bless the people around you.
Hope you found a few new books for you and your little ones to enjoy together this summer! Drop a comment to let me know which one is your favorite or if there are any MUST HAVE summer books I should add to our list. :)
Cheering you on and wishing you a very happy, togethery kind of summertime! :)
