While summer has never been my favorite season, I set out to intentionally embrace it this year. And one of the ways I did this was by gathering a collection of picture books about summer.
From lemonade stands to bicycles, playing in grassy fields to wandering the beach at night – these nine picture books have all the summer-y feels! Just reading these truly helped shift my view and appreciate the gifts of summer. Hope you enjoy these recommendations!
(For a video talk about these, you can visit my YouTube channel or find the video below.)
The Watermelon Seed
(2013) by Greg Pizzoli
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This picture books asks the all-important, age-old question – What happens if you accidentally swallow a watermelon seed?!
Our main character is a watermelon-loving crocodile. Except… One day Crocodile swallows a seed and begins to panic. All sorts of worst-case scenarios are imagined until the potential problem unexpectedly, and quite comically, resolves itself.
This simple book by Greg Pizzoli is pure delight!
And Then Comes Summer
(2017) written by Tom Brenner and illustrated by Jaime Kim
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This book is a new one for me, but it hits all the beats of summer as a kid. There’s finishing up the school year and running a lemonade stand. There are bikes and ice cream, a parade and a campout. This is a super simple picture book, but a sweet one that encapsulates the moments of summer.
Joone
(2013) by Emily Kate Moon
This darling picture book is told by 5-year-old Joone who gives us a glimpse into the simple, playful life she and her grandpa share. They live in a yurt on a gorgeous, rolling-hills property. Joone loves orange and purple and ice cream sandwiches. She builds race courses for her turtle, Dr. Shin, and spends time creating and playing in her incredible tree house.
If you can imagine Eloise (of Kay Thompson fame) trading out her Plaza room for a yurt and her city life for one of Nature and countryside, then you’ve got a pretty good picture of Joone. While Joone is certainly less mischievous, she’s got the playful, young, spirited mood of Eloise.
We stumbled across this book quite by accident, but I quickly knew I wanted it in our book collection. And when we stayed at a backyard AirBnB yurt several years ago, I purchased another copy to mail to the lovely host family so they could consider adding it to their yurt’s book collection.
While the book doesn’t specify a time or season, this book feels appropriately named, as it embraces the relaxed vibe of an endless summer June day. If you’re looking for a sweet, fun book for the kids in your life, check out Emily Kate Moon’s, Joone!
Players in Pigtails
(2003) written by Shana Corey, illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon
I had to include a baseball book in my Picture Books for Summer list, and I am so excited to share about this one! Players in Pigtails follows the story of a fictional female named Katie Casey. Katie loves baseball during a time when it was frowned upon for women to play many sports…until the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was formed and she joins! I love that this book introduces young readers to the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and its connection to America’s history. And while I was vaguely familiar with the AAGPBL from A League of Their Own, there was part of this book that was completely new to me.
Katie Casey, while fictional, is also featured as the main character in a very famous song – maybe you know the one I’m talking about – the song that is synonymous with baseball – “Take Me Out to the Ballgame!” Yup, the “7th inning stretch” sung at every single baseball game across America is only the chorus of the 1908 song, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
The entire lyrics (printed at the front of this picture book) tell the story of a young woman who is “baseball mad.” In the song when Katie Casey’s boyfriend suggests a date to the movies, she tells him she’d rather he take her out to the ballgame.
Katie Casey knows all the players’ names, calls out the umpire when he’s wrong, and finds a way to lift the players’ spirits when the game looks close. SHE’s the one who gets everyone in the stands to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
So, even though the picture book itself doesn’t really follow the story that unfolds in the song, the book is a great introduction into women’s baseball and a really cool discovery (for me, at least) that “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” is actually a song about a girl.
How to Catch a Star
(2004) by Oliver Jeffers
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This picture book is a simple story about a boy with a wish. Instead of wishing on a star, the boy wishes for a star. He makes a plan to catch one, he runs into conflicts, and, eventually, his wish comes true in an unexpected way. Simple, and yet such a wonderful picture book. Oliver Jeffers, of The Day the Crayons Quit fame, has illustrated How to Catch a Star beautifully. The pictures accompanying this sweet story are child-like and whimsical and wonderfully fresh. I definitely recommend checking this one out!
Chirri &Chirra In the Tall Grass
(2007) by Kaya Doi, (2017) translated into English by Yuki Kaneko
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Chirri and Chirra in the Tall Grass is only one book in the Chirri and Chirra series. While these books are fairly recent, they have the feel and look of vintage children’s books. When I read them, I become almost convinced I read these as a child (which I obviously did not). In each book, the girls travel on their bikes and encounter creatures in nature and lovely treats. The books are simple and pleasant and fun and so delightful.
Out of the collection, this one – Chirri and Chirra in the Tall Grass – is the most summer-like, which is why I have it here as part of the summer book collection. There’s tall grass and flowers and lizards and fireflies. Treat yourself to a whimsical summer adventure in the woods with this one!
How to Find Flower Fairies
(2007) Mark Baker with illustrations from Cicely Mary Barker
Thunder Cake
(1990) by Patricia Polacco
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I came across this treasure somewhere along the way in my adult life. It must have made an impression, because when the summer storms started rolling in when our oldest was a baby, I immediately thought of it. Thunder Cake is every bit as darling as I remember it.
The story tells of a young girl afraid of the approaching thunder. Her grandma coaxes her out from under the bed by promising they will make “thunder cake.” As the two gather ingredients for the cake, the girl proves her bravery by facing some of her other fears. The book ends with some delicious cake and hot tea amidst the rumbling storm.
This book is definitely more text-heavy than some picture books, so keep that in mind before sitting down to read it. But it is definitely worth it!
We’ve baked our own “thunder cake” on many occasions. Sometimes I hide the ingredients in corners of the house or porch for us to go find, just like the girl in the book. (There is a recipe included in the book, but I usually use bake one that doesn’t have any shortening.)
On a Magical Do-Nothing Day
(2016) by Beatrice Alemagna
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When a boy and his mother arrive at a home in the woods, all the child wants to do is play a handheld video game. When he finds himself having to sneak outside in the rain, the game meets a sudden end when it falls in icy cold water. The boy is upset, until a group of snails catches his eye. His magical encounter with Nature follows.
This story and nature adventure is so simple, and yet so refreshingly alive and wonderful. There is a spread during the child’s outdoor exploration that always reminds me to take a deep breath and almost brings tears to my eyes to feel that deep connection with the world around us.
This picture book is pure delight and so beautiful.