Some homeschool moms asked me to make a set of summer reading lists for different age groups to help them choose books for a summer reading club. These are the books from my library that I chose to recommend. Maybe you can find a few titles that will be a welcome addition to your summer reading.
Thimbleberry Stories by Cynthia Rylant. Nigel Chipmunk lives on Thimbleberry Lane, and he visits his friends Dipper the hummingbird, Little Owl, Copper the butterfly, and Mudpuppy the salamander. The friends enjoy the days of summer with tea parties and gardening and picnics as they learn to know and help one another.
Mystery in the Pirate Oak by Helen Fuller Orton. Similar in style and reading level to The Boxcar Children series, the mysteries by Helen Fuller Orton are more intriguing and more varied in characters and plot than The Boxcar Children mysteries. Mystery in the Pirate Oak tells the story of Chad and Ellie Turner and their search for a missing silver box hidden long ago in the old oak tree in the nearby meadow. Grandmother Hale is hopeful that if the box could be found it might have something in it that would provide enough cash to fix her leaking roof and have the old house painted. Can Chad and Ellie find the sixty year old silver box before someone else does and before summer vacation is over?
Julian’s Glorious Summer by Ann Cameron. When Julian’s best friend Gloria rides up on her bicycle, Julian is not happy. He doesn’t know how to ride a bike, and he’s afraid to try. To get out of the situation, Julian claims that his father will be forcing him to work day and night for the entire summer. Unfortunately for Julian, his father hears about Julian’s story and decides to make it true. Julian will have work from dawn to dusk. How can such a mess of a summer become “glorious”? Read it and find out. There are several more books in this series about Julian and his family if this one hits the spot.
McBroom’s Wonderful One-Acre Farm by Sid Fleischman. Josh McBroom, teller of tall tales, has been deceived, cheated and bamboozled; his eighty acres of farmland turns out to be eighty acres stacked on top of one another—one acre square. But maybe there’s a good side. That one acre of topsoil is some of the best farmland anywhere, with soil so rich that seeds immediately spring up into plants and even nickels grow into quarters. Can McBroom and his wife Melissa and their family of eleven red-headed, freckle-faced youngsters make a fortune from his one-acre farm? This book includes three McBroom stories: McBroom Tells the Truth, McBroom and the Big Wind, and McBroom’s Ear. You can get these funny tall tales in individual volumes or all together in this one book. Either way, these tall tales are sure to tickle your funny bone.
In Aunt Lucy’s Kitchen by Cynthia Rylant. The Cobble Street Cousins, Lily, Rosie, and Tess, are staying with their Aunt Lucy for the summer. Their summer plans include a cookie company, which leads to their meeting all the neighbors and finding ways to brighten up the neighborhood. This series tells sweet stories about creative, community-minded girls doing fun and imaginative things together. It’s on the easier end of the scale as far as reading level is concerned, for those second and third graders who are still working on basic reading skills.
Penny Goes to Camp by Carolyn Haywood. Carolyn Haywood is an almost forgotten author who still has much to say to children in our day, even though her books were published in the 1940’s and 1950’s. In this one, nine year old adopted brothers Penny and Peter go to summer camp for the entire summer while their parents are away on an extended business trip. THe boys meet an Indian chief, go on camping trips in the woods, and participate in a pretend-circus and a boat crew race. Penny’s and Peter’s adventures are sure to spark lots of ideas for summer fun, even for those who don’t have the advantage of a summer camp like theirs.
Betsy’s Busy Summer by Carolyn Haywood. Another Carolyn Haywood gem in which Betsy and her neighborhood friends fill the hot summer days with fun and adventure. From watermelon party to lemonade stand to the next-door neighbor’s new swimming pool, these children find fun and friendship through the long, hot days of summer.
Some children just prefer nonfiction books about real people or animals or science topics or math or art. If so, don’t make them read ALL fiction just because that’s what is usually on the summer reading lists. Try some of the following titles to get nonfiction fans reading the stories that will make them smile.
Israel Putman: Fearless Boy by Augusta Stevenson.
Benjamin Franklin: Young Printer by Augusta Stevenson.
Tom Jefferson: Boy in Colonial Days by Helen Monsell.
Anthony Wayne: Daring Boy by Augusta Stevenson.
Dan Morgan: Wilderness Boy by Bernice Bryant.
Molly Pitcher: Young Patriot by Augusta Stevenson.
Betsy Ross: Designer of Our Flag by Ann Weil.
These patriotic biographies are all titles from the series Childhood of Famous Americans, and they’re perfect for summer reading, especially the particular titles listed here since the Fourth of July holiday turns minds toward American independence and the Revolutionary War just in the middle of the summer. As he series title indicates, these somewhat fictionalized biographies emphasize the childhood of these famous Americans (and many more), but there is some reference to their adult accomplishments. And the reading level is just right for confident second and third grade readers. I can imagine a summer project for avid readers to read as many of the books in this series as they can find, but they won’t run out since there are over two hundred titles in the series.
All Upon a Stone by Jean Craighead George.
All Upon a Sidewalk by Jean Craighead George.
These two short books pack a lot of story and a lot of information into a small package. All Upon a Stone chronicles the adventures of a tiny mole cricket as he crawls to the top of a big stone in the woods beside a stream. All Upon a Sidewalk is about a yellow, Lasius flavus, who has a mission to perform for the queen ant. Both books give naturalists a new viewpoint as they look at the world from the perspective of a tiny insect.