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June is a special time of year here in the United States when students are on break from school and families go on vacations. Many people head to the beach, lakes, or pools to escape the heat and make sweet summer memories. June reminds me of summers in Southern California at the beach, our annual family vacations to Hume Lake, and some years, Southern Oregon to visit family. So the books in our June book basket focus on all things summer!
1. A Shell is Cozy
This book uses lovely illustrations and calligraphy to help children learn about different types of shells that exist in nature. It is one of the 6 Nature Books by Dianna Hutts Aston and it’s available for free as an ebook on the Hoopla app!
2. Annette Feels Free
This book is a lovely tribute to swimmer and aquatic dancer, Annette Kellerman. I became familiar with Annette and her story through the movie based on her life, Million Dollar Mermaid. The book details Annette’s life and how she felt freedom in being in the water after a disability that affected her legs meant she could no longer do many activities that she enjoyed.
3. Back to the Lake
This sweet story is from the perspective of a child longing to go back to the lake where they’ve enjoyed family vacations. Much of it reminded me of my family vacations growing up in which my family would take road trips to the mountains.
4. Bubbles Up
This book is all about the adventures that kids experience while swimming making it the perfect read in June!
5. Comet’s Nine Lives
This story is about a cat named Comet who loses his first 8 lives in silly ways and decides to enjoy his ninth life with another cat friend he meets. I’ve enjoyed Jan Brett’s books since my mom often read them to me when I was a child and this one has lovely illustrations of East Coast scenery that children are sure to enjoy.
6. Corduroy Goes to the Beach
This book is about Corduroy spending a day at the beach with his friends and all the activities they enjoy. It contains multiple flaps on each page making it an interactive read, especially for younger children.
7. Curious George: Curious About Summer
This fun board book highlights the different adventures Curious George enjoys over the summer.
8. Goldfish On Vacation
This sweet story is by Sally Lloyd Jones, author of The Jesus Storybook Bible. In this tale, 3 children who are on summer break take their 3 goldfish on a vacation to a local fountain. The moral of the story is that you don’t have to leave where you are to enjoy a vacation. The story is based on true events that I wasn’t previously aware of so it was fun to read about the book’s inspiration once the story concluded.
9. I Spy: Treasure Hunt
In this book, children search summer scenes for hidden objects. I loved these books as a kid! The combination of rhyming words, hidden objects to find, and fun photographs make this book and all of the I Spy books perfect for reading in the summer.
10. Jazz for Lunch
We first discovered this book at our local library and it instantly became a favorite. We’ve enjoyed it so much that I purchased a copy for our home library. I love the illustrations and references to jazz music and artists. The story is about a young boy who makes lunch with his aunt and listens to jazz music in the process.
11. Magic Beach
In rhyme, this book details time spent at Magic Beach, a typical beach that becomes magical when the children playing there use their imaginations.
12. Magic Beach
This story is by Crockett Johnson, author of Harold and the Purple Crayon. This book finds children playing on Magic Beach where they can spell out objects in the sand and have them magically appear once the tide comes in. They embark on an adventure that ends abruptly when the tide comes in once again.
13. My Summer Vacation
This book is special to me because my mom read it to me and my sisters when we were little. It is the story of a family who goes on summer vacation and it is told from the perspective of the older sister. It is no longer in print but used copies are available online.
14. Our Flag
I love that this book is number 14 on the list because if you read one book each day in June beginning June 1st, this one would land on Flag Day. This book gives readers the history of the American flag.
15. Our Pool
I bought this book to see if it would be a good fit for our June book basket and I love it! The illustrations are stunning and vibrant and the story is one all kids are sure to relate to. It is about a child visiting the pool with their mom in the summer and all the activities that often occur at public pools.
16. Pizza Day
Our family has a tradition of eating pizza at the splash pad in summer so books about pizza are particularly exciting to us. We came across this one at our library years ago and now own a copy. This story is about a boy and his dad who work together to make a homemade pizza.
17. Sam & Dave Dig A Hole
Friends Sam and Dave dig a hole together to find something spectacular. Although they come close to some exciting discoveries, they never actually make one. The story ends with the friends realizing that their time together was pretty spectacular. I love this story and how it highlights the beauty of friendship and the sense of adventure that many children are sure to experience, especially in the summertime.
18. Sea Glass Summer
This sweet story is about a boy named Thomas who enjoys looking for sea glass with his grandmother in the summer. He has been given his grandfather’s magnifying glass to help with this endeavor but unfortunately, he drops it and the glass shatters. One day, many years later, a little girl named Annie finds a piece of glass from it and shows it to her grandfather who happens to be Thomas.
19. Summer Evening
Using the words of a poem written in 1913, this book has lovely illustrations that help children learn what a summer’s evening in the countryside is like.
20. Summertime in the Big Woods
This is a picture book adaptation of the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This volume details what summer days were like for Laura’s family as they lived in the woods. She and her sister Mary visited a neighbor and also enjoyed some honey that their Pa found. I love the illustrations in this series and how these books introduce children to the stories in the chapter book series.
21. Swimmy
In this story, Swimmy is the only black fish amongst a large school of red fish. He longs to explore the ocean but the red fish being small are afraid of larger fish. Swimmy teaches the red fish to swim together so they appear large to the big fish. As the fish work together, they successfully scare away the big fish. I’ve been a fan of Leo Lionni’s books since I was a kid and enjoy the stunning, mixed media illustrations in this one.
22. The Little Island
This book is by Margaret Wise Brown who authored Goodnight Moon. It tells the tale of an island and what life is like there. There is a cat who visits the island and disbelieves that it is still connected to the rest of the land. Since the cat is unable to swim and see the depths of the ocean where the island is rooted, the island informs the cat that it must have faith to trust what it cannot see. In addition to the illustrations and story, I like this book for the faith element. I believe it could be a helpful way to draw on Hebrews 11:1 and help children understand the concept of faith.
23. The Night Before Summer Vacation
This is a fun and silly story that details the events that go into preparing for a family vacation. My girls love the books in this series so we were glad to find this one for our June book basket!
24. Time of Wonder
This book is by Robert McCloskey, author of Blueberries for Sal. It details a family’s life on an island in the summer from the perspective of a child. I love the rich illustrations and the fact that the family sings a hymn together when a hurricane hits the island.
25. When You Can Swim
This story is about a little girl whose parent tells her of the various adventures that await her once she learns how the swim. The illustrations are stunning and I love that it encourages children to consider different types of swimming experiences they can have once they learn how to swim.
