Our Summery Summer Reading List

As summer approaches and people begin dreaming about their summer reading lists, I thought I'd offer one of our own.  These are some of our favorite summertime books, in no particular order.  Happy reading!

Summertime Fun:

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey:  A classic tale by a classic author that is not to be missed.  I can't wait for freshly picked blueberries and blueberry pie!

A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee by Chris van Dusen:  Mr. Magee and his little dog Dee are at it again.   What is your favorite way to camp?  Under the stars, cozy in a tent, or in a hotel?

Little Cloud by Eric Carle:  What is more summery than lying in the grass watching the clouds go by?

One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey:  I love this timeless story about coastal life in a day gone by.  I can almost smell the sea just reading it... and clam chowder for lunch!

Henry and Mudge in the Green Time by Cynthia Rylant:  Henry and Mudge are two of our favorite literary characters. The last chapter, "The Green Time," is one of my favorites of the entire Henry and Mudge series.

The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle:  Few things signal the arrival of summer more than watching fireflies flicker around the yard!


The Pigeon Needs a Bath! by Mo Willems:  The Pigeon is back and we couldn't love this book more.  What child can't relate? As we like to say here in our house, if you don't need a bath every night in the summer, you haven't been playing hard enough.

Andrew Henry's Meadow:  What child doesn't dream of building a secret fort or house in a world of his own?  Love, love, love this book.

Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney:  One of my favorite books of all time.  Gorgeous story, beautiful illustrations, and an even lovelier message.

Bats at the Library by Brian Lies: Kick off summer reading season with a trip to your local library, and while you're there, look for this fabulous book!

We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen:  An entertaining story full of adventure, excitement, and fun sound effects.  May it inspire you to go on many adventures of your own this summer!

Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel:  One of my favorite stories from my childhood.  All of Frog and Toad's adventures are wonderful to read at any time of year, and make a great introduction to chapter books for younger readers.

Stars by Mary Lyn Ray:  This is a beautiful book that always makes me want to head outside in my pajamas to do a little stargazing.  Bring your little ones with you and then snuggle up in bed with this book.

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown: "A magical story about a boy's dream and how the efforts on one call person can help change the world."  

My Garden by Kevin Henkes:  We just love this delightful story about a little girl's magical garden, complete with jelly bean bushes, seashells, glowing strawberries, chocolate rabbits, and flowers that grow back as soon as you pick them.  What would you grow in your garden?



At the beach:

Over in the Ocean by Maryanne Berkes:  A fabulously fun sing-along with brilliant illustrations.  My kids can't get enough of this book!

A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle:  Hunting for crabs is one of our favorite seaside activities, and we love to read this great story after a day of exploring "crab kingdom."

Stella, Star of the Sea by Marie Louise Gay:  Join Stella and her brother Sam as they spend a day at the seashore.  I just love Stella's carefree nature and her charming answers to Sam's endless questions.

Flotsam by David Weisner:  A brilliantly creative wordless picture book that is bound to be loved by children of all ages.

The Pout Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen:  Always a favorite here in our house, the Pout Pout Fish reminds us that sometimes a kiss is all we need to turn our frowns upside down.




Be sure to check out The Pout-Pout Fish and the Big-Big Dark too!

Henry and Mudge and the Forever Sea by Cynthia Rylant:  Join Henry and Mudge as they spend the day seaside and then treat yourself to a cherry sno cone (or two!)






Bring on vacation!

Pictures from Our Vacation by Lynne Rae Perkins:  A fabulous story that reminds us that the time we spend doing things together is the most memorable thing of all.

Penguin On Vacation by Salina Yoon:  A sweet story about friendship that is one of our summertime favorites.



Goodnight Our World series:  These books are a great way to introduce your child to a new place before you go there, or to remind you of that special place once you've gone back home.






Travel the World:

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman: A fabulous book that takes us around the world to acquire all the fixings for an apple pie.  Gather your cinnamon from the bark of Sri Lanka's kurundu trees, elegant eggs from France, sugar cane from Jamaica, and more!

We All Went On Safari by Laurie Krebs:  If you're looking for an amazing book about Africa or Maasai culture, look no further.  This book is bursting with information and is incredibly fun to read.  Be sure to check out all of the educational extras at the end!

Toot and Puddle by Hollie Hobbie:  Follow Toot on his journey around the world to Egypt, Paris, the Alps, Antarctica, and other exotic places, then read the postcards he sends to his best friend Puddle about his amazing adventures.

My Granny Went to Market by Stella Blackstone:  It's never too early to introduce children to other countries and cultures.  Fly around the world with Granny on her magic carpet, stopping to buy all kinds of fun things from different countries along the way.

Imagine by Alison Lester:  If your child loves animals, he will adore this book.  It is full of gorgeous illustrations of animals from all around the globe.  But don't worry -- there is a key of each picture and its species at the back of the book.


What is your favorite summer reading book?  Please share in the comments below!

Day 133: How to Make an Apple Pie and see the world

If you’ve been following this blog for a while now, you know how much I love books that teach me (and my kids) new things.  Combine that with a book that takes us around the world, includes a map, and uses some fabulous new vocabulary words, and it’s pretty much guaranteed I will love it.  My sister-in-law gave us this book for Christmas (thanks, Kate!), and it was love at first read.  Not only does it have all of the amazing qualities mentioned above, but it's also about one of my children's other favorite things: baking!  How To Make an Apple Pie and see the world is a wonderful book for preschoolers, but I will definitely read it to my seventh grade geography students some day, too.  It starts out with a girl reading a list of apple pie’s ingredients:  apples, flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, butter, egg.  “Making an apple pie is really very easy.  First, get all the ingredients at the market.  Mix them well, bake, and serve.  Unless, of course, the market is closed.”  Then what?  Where do all of these yummy ingredients actually come from, anyway?  This fantastic story takes us on a journey to collect them all from various places around the world:  semolina wheat from Italy, a chicken and egg from France, cinnamon from the bark of Sri Lanka’s kurundu trees, milk from an English cow (“you’ll know she’s an English cow from her good manners and charming accent”), sea water and sugar cane from Jamaica, and apples from Vermont.  Once we’ve collected all the ingredients, we can easily make our pie, right?  Sure!  All we have to do now is “mill the wheat into flour, grind the kurundu bark into cinnamon, evaporate the sea water from the salt, boil the sugar cane, persuade the chicken to lay an egg, milk the cow, churn the milk into butter, slice the apples, mix the ingredients and bake the pie!”  Isn’t it wonderful?!  I love the way this story gets children thinking about where our food actually comes from, and how much we depend on other countries and people of the world every day.  We love tracing our route along the map in the book and remembering where we went to get what. Along the way, author Marjorie Price also teaches us some great new words, such as superb, acquaintance, elegant, and coax.  Be sure to check out the recipe at the end of the book, too.  Perhaps your little ones will even want to make their own pies after reading this great book!  While you may not be able to take them around the world to get the ingredients, talk about where different foods come from the next time you go to the store.  Take a look at the different items around your house that you use every day, too, while you’re at it.  Where were they made?  What countries do you depend on each day?  If your child loves baking, exploring, learning, dreaming, traveling, or even just reading a great new book, this one is bound to be a hit.

Day 127: Bear On a Bike

Books are some of my favorite things to give and receive as gifts.  With both Christmas and my son's birthday coming up, I have been trying to put together a list of gift ideas for him and my daughter.  We are fortunate to have many family members who love giving our children gifts, and this year, as in the past, I am putting many books at the top of that list.  I, of course, always like to get them each a few books, too.  One story that I am excited to give them this Christmas is Bear On a Bike by Stella Blackstone.  There are several books in the Bear series, but this one is our favorite.  In fact, when we were reading it today, my son said, "I want to jump in that book!"  Can't ask for a better endorsement than that!  My children just love following Bear as he travels around on various vehicles -- a bike, raft, steam train, boat, carriage, and rocket ship -- to different magical places.  For a book so simple, it is wonderfully descriptive, and the repetition and rhyming prose make it a wonderful read aloud for even the youngest readers.  "Bear on a bike, as happy as can be.  Where are you going, Bear?  Please wait for me!  I'm going to the market, where fruit and flowers are sold.  Where people buy fresh oranges and pots of marigold."  Then there is my favorite (the page my son wanted to jump into):  "I'm going to an island, where magic star fruits grow.  Where herons fish in secret groves and sparkling rivers flow."  Making the book even more engaging and fun to read are Debbie Harter's illustrations.  Bright, bold colors jump out of the page, instantly capturing kids' attention, and I love the way she incorporates black and white stripes and shapes into her pictures, as well.  Between Harter's striking illustrations and Blackstone's repetitive verse, this is one of those rare books that is equally appealing to babies and preschoolers.  I just love watching my son and daughter read it together!   Many of the Bear books are also available in foreign language versions, with the English words on one side of the page and French or Spanish on the other.  Bear books make great baby gifts and are fabulous additions to any child's library.  I can't wait to add them to ours!

Day 97: Toot & Puddle

Toot and Puddle have to be one of the cutest, most endearing pairs of friends in all of children's literature.  They are the porcine version Frog and Toad; the best of friends with personalities as different as night and day.  Puddle is a homebody who is most content enjoying the simple pleasures of his life in Woodcock Pocket.  Toot loves travel and adventure.  In the first book of this delightful series, Toot sets off to travel the world, sending postcards home to Puddle to share his adventures along the way.   In the year he is away, Toot visits such exotic locations as Egypt, Paris, India, the Alps, Antarctica, and the Solomon Islands, to name a few.  Each turn of the page features a delightful juxtaposition of Toot's postcard to Puddle (with accompanying illustration) and Puddle's own adventures back home.  In March, Toot writes from Egypt -- "The pyramids are the greatest.  Wish you could meet me at the oasis." -- while Puddle is home tapping maple syrup, wishing Toot were there to taste the pancakes.  While Toot is busy diving with schools of fish in the Pacific in April, Puddle is home diving into the baths of mud season.  Finally, by year's end, Toot returns home and the two friends reunite to celebrate each other's adventures: Toot's around the world, and Puddle's right at home.  There are just so many things that I love about this story, and about Toot and Puddle's friendship, in general.  First, of course, there is the travel element:  I love any book that whisks its readers away to different parts of the world.  (We like to look at a map of the world after reading this story to track Toot's route.)  Then, of course, there are Holly Hobbie's magical illustrations, which somehow manage to make me feel happy and warm and cozy just by looking at them.  The details in the images are fabulous, too, from Toot's pastry shop in Italy to Puddle's silly self-portrait with sunflowers.  Most of all, I love everything about Toot and Puddle's friendship.  To me, these charming pigs represent friendship and love at its finest.  Despite having very different interests and personalities, they are still the closest of friends.  They do not try to change to be more like the other, but rather are quite happy being themselves.  They embrace each other's differences and unique qualities, and show that two people (or pigs) do not have to be alike in order to be friends.  The message of this story is one that can be appreciated by children of all ages, and hopefully adults, as well.  This book makes a wonderful gift, too, especially if you know a child whose good friend has moved away.  If you have yet to befriend Toot and Puddle, please do.  Their stories of enduring friendship are simply wonderful in every way.