Summer Chapter Books for Read Alouds
I wanted to get this post published nice and early, for maximum summertime reads! And so, this is a live draft of sorts. I’ll be adding to this post as we read through our summer reading list in the coming weeks. We are one chapter into a promising one, but I never want to recommend something without fully vetting it first. Stay tuned 🙂 (Or message me and I’ll share its title with you privately with the caveat that I don’t know about the rest of the book! Haha!)
This post contains affiliate links. As an amazon associate, I earn a small commission on eligible purchases.
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. What is more summery than peaches?! My boys both enjoyed this wacky tale of the giant peach which whisks James away from his troubled life. They eagerly told Dad about the latest adventures at dinner each day. I was surprised to find that we learned a bit about insects along the way as well!
Home Again (Heartwood Hotel series) by Kallie George. The final installment in the series (though they do not need to be read in order as the author explains context for references to other books’ events), this one takes place in the summertime (each of the four books takes place in one of the four seasons, earning the series a place in my fall read aloud list as well). While reading one day, my 7yo exclaimed, “I just think authors shouldn’t be ALLOWED to write cliff hanger chapters!” And so we had a hard time putting this down. The endearing protagonist, Mona the Mouse, once again shows bravery and kindness in this installment that follows the danger a fire brings to the Heartwood Hotel’s tree.
Summer of the Woods by Steven K. Smith (Virginia Mysteries #1). My boys LOVED this book! Two best-friend-brothers move to Virginia and explore the woods behind their home. They discover an old coin in the creek, which leads them to uncover the details of an unsolved mystery of their town- the theft of a rare coin collection from the local museum decades prior. Lots of action and suspense kept my kids begging for more. Although I didn’t love that the boys hid their secret from their parents, the characters learn from that error. There’s also talk by the elderly neighbor of his brother dying at age 7 from falling in a hole, which felt a bit unsettling to my kids. But they loved this and it captured their imaginations. They’ve been digging for rare coins in the back yard and checking the dates of their allowance money ever since.
The Enchanted Wood (and the Magic Faraway Tree series)by Enid Blyton. This was such a pleasant surprise! After not having heard of this series, I picked it up with the words, “my kids liked it better than Magic Treehouse” ringing in my ears. I think my kids might make the same assessment (I’m a little afraid to ask because MTH holds a special place in my heart!) We read about 30 pages a day of, and my four year old even begged for more! It’s so fun to see him getting into a chapter book with focused attention and very few pictures. It’s a zany and fast-paced fantasy and IMO a perfect light summertime read! (210 pages long), It reminds me a touch of Alice in Wonderland with characters like The Saucepan Man and Mr. Watzisname, and travels to The Roundabout Place, Rocking Land, and the Land of Take-What-You-Want.
The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White. We listened to this on audio as a family and it is audiobook perfection. The story is beautiful, hilarious, and exciting. In audiobook read by the author and enhanced by actual trumpet accompaniment, it’s a treasure to listen to! While it’s not wholly set in the summertime, much of it is and it’s wholly worth the read. *I must share that there were two instances where the text did not age well; if you have a child with selective mutism or speech challenges I recommend previewing some of the early chapters in which Louie the swan’s father describes his “defect.” One of my kiddos had received speech therapy for stuttering, and I personally found those passages to be easy enough to move quickly past, but all families may not feel the same. (The second area was the treatment of math problems that were tackled by girls/boys. A teachable moment and very brief.)
Half Magic by Edward Eager. A classic, published in 1954. This is a great summer book as it follows four siblings who, at the start of the tale, are lamenting how boring their summer break is expected to be… until they find a mysterious coin that grants HALF of whatever you wish. The kids find themselves in a variety of wacky scenarios as they learn how to wish for twice as much as they want, filling their summer with adventure after adventure.
Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden by Karina Yan Glaser. The Vanderbeekers are the family you want to move in with, or at least visit quite frequently. The characters are so vivid, the family so real and endearing. We’ve read through the entire series and loved every one. This is the summertime installment and follows the kids as they attempt to secretly transform an abandoned city lot into a healing garden. Note- These books have less “elevated language” than some, with characters describing how a circumstance “sucks” or “blows,” some “stupid” name calling and the like. I found the stories to warrant reading as those instances weren’t constant, but more sensitive readers might want to give pause.
Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright. Going to be honest here, we read this a few summers ago and all I remember is that we liked it and it was old-fashioned and sweet.
That’s it… for now! Can’t wait to add more titles to our list.
2024 UPDATE: Two more summery reads we have loved!
Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls. (Author of Where the Red Fern Grows) An odd premise, but such a beautifully told story that had me in tears. My boys loved this and begged for read alouds. The story follows Jay Berry one summer when he discovers a tree full of monkeys in the Ozark Mountains; the monkeys had been lost from a traveling circus during an accident and a reward is out for their return. Jay Berry has his heart set on that money and goes to great lengths to capture the monkeys. I’ve never read a story that so masterly weaves an act of self-sacrifice into the plot without it feeling like pity, that celebrates the joy of giving for another’s wellbeing even when it means personal loss. (Note: there’s a very odd chapter in which the monkeys lure Jay into drinking sour mash from a still and he gets drunk! A teachable moment for the character and my listeners.)
Much Ado About Baseball by Rajani LaRocca. Baseball, mathematics, and Shakespeare! At first this reads like a realistic fiction story about kids who play baseball and enjoy math, but as the story progresses it adds more fantasy elements as it delved into Shakespeare territory (as the title notes, along with A Midsummer’s Night Dream). We enjoyed learning about Fibonacci numbers & spirals in nature and the math puzzles sprinkled throughout, along with rooting for the characters in their baseball season and general middle grade themes of friendship and finding your place. *I’m vying to put the companion novel, Midsummer’s Mayhem, on our list for this summer too!
Happy summery reading! I’d love to hear what you’re reading this summer. Connect with me on social media (instagram / facebook) or in the comments below.
