We just love summer in this house. Its an opportunity for us to take a break from school, be outside, and enjoy being together as a family. Every year I make a summer bucket list and as part of that, I put together all my favorite children’s books about summer to get my girls excited. 

I love these books. They talk about my favorite parts of summer. Ice cream, the beach, and eating watermelon.

As an incentive to read more this summer I created the cutest summer book challenge. Check out all the details below.

I hope you love this list as much as we do!

21 children's books about summer - summer books for kids

Children’s Books About Summer

  1. Crab Cake – One of our favorite books from our Ocean bookshelf, this is a story of the cake that crab makes under the sea. It’s one of my girl’s favorites and full of fun facts about ocean creatures. It also speaks to polluting the ocean.
  2. The Sandcastle That Lola Built – Lola meets friends at the beach to help her build a sandcastle with hopes it will attract mermaids. This is an easy read and perfect for beginning readers
  3. How to Code a Sandcastle – I love books that encourage girls to learn more about STEM. This book and its darling illustrations do just that. Love this one.
  4. Swimmy – Swimmy is a little fish who shows his friends how—with ingenuity and teamwork—they can overcome any danger.
  5. Day At The Beach
  6. These Seas Count
  7. Wave – This wordless book tells of a little girl’s day at the beach. We love to make up our own story as we read.
  8. Spencer and Vincent – Spencer and Vincent are jellyfish brothers who live together in the sea. I love that this book uses some unique vocabulary and its poetic writing.
  9. I see Summer 
  10. The Wonders of Summer – The story of a little girl and her dad that share the wonders of summer.
  11. And Then Comes Summer – if you want to really get excited about summer than this is your book. It talks of all the joys of summer.
  12. Mabel 
  13. Sun, Sun 
  14. Ice Cream Summer 
  15. Jabari Jumps – a little boy is scared to jump up the diving board and he finally gets the courage to jump. We love this encouraging story of overcoming your fears
  16. Mermaid Dreams – Shy Maya goes on an adventure at the beach led by her imagination, and it teaches her that finding friends can be easier than she thought.
  17. Beach 
  18. Watermelon Seed – my youngest is so in love with this book. She reads it to me at least once a day. Its a story of a crocodile who swallows a watermelon seed and is worried about what might happen.
  19. Pearl – A mermaid gets a disappointing gift that turns into something really special. Such a special story about how things might not be what they seem.
  20. Smart about Sharks 
  21. Mermaid school – This isn’t just the perfect book for summer but this book talks all about the first day of school and would be perfect for back to school.
  22. Lula and The Sea Monster – Lula finds a sea creature as a baby and they become friends. This is a darling story of friendship with the cutest illustrations.
  23. Mermaid and Me 
  24. The Little Mermaid – The story we all know but with beautiful illustrations and diverse characters

AND MORE!!! I am always updating my summer book list with my favorite titles on my amazon page. VISIT HERE!!

summer books for kids plus a free summer reading challenge printable

Summer Reading Challenge

My girls love to read but sometimes they need a little motivation.

I created this summer reading challenge to encourage them to read all of these wonderful summer books.

Just print out the sheet and cut it into 4. Then as you finish a book, color one of the squares. Once the whole square is finished they get a summertime treat!

Maybe a healthy and homemade bomb pop! ;)

summer reading challenge free printable

GET YOUR FREE SUMMER CHALLENGE WORKSHEET BELOW

Summer Reading Challenge Printable

* indicates required

I hope you love this list and the summer reading challenge. If you use them I would love to see so be sure to tag me on Instagram. 

I am also sharing a flip through of all of these books in stories. Come and follow along.