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Summer is coming, and even though it’s a time to have less structure and more downtime, you may want to make sure your kids’ brains are still working to some degree!
You don’t need to have them do workbooks all summer long, but what about encouraging reading? Reading builds vocabulary, attention span, and problem solving without actually seeming like work—especially if the book is a good fit for them.
I’ve compiled a list of 100 books for kids to read this summer, but this list also doubles as a potential list of read alouds if you have younger kids. You can get almost all of them on Amazon for $10 or less, but make sure to check out your library or even your own bookshelf to see if you already own them! (See how to save money by using the library!)
I’ve even made a FREE printable for your kids to use to choose which books from the list they’d like to read. There are usually 10-11 weeks in the summer between when school starts and ends, so have them look through the list and choose 10 books. They can then track their progress on the printable. Kids are more likely to read books that they have a say in choosing!
Don’t forget about all the summer reading programs that offer fun rewards to kids!
Download the free printable here!
Note: Of course, make sure to check to see if that book is appropriate for your kids before they start reading!
100 Books for Kids to Read This Summer
This is a long list, so I’ve also got it as a printable PDF. You can print it and use it as a checklist, and the PDF is also linked to the books on Amazon, so if you save it to your computer, you can access it easily if you need to buy a book. I’ve noted in this post and on the PDF which books are part of a series, so if one of your kids really loves the book, see if you can get the other books in the series, too!
Now, on to the books!
A Long Way From Chicago (series) by Richard Peck
A Series of Unfortunate Events (series) by Lemony Snicket
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
The Adventures of Nanny Piggins (series) by R. A. Spratt
The Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (series) by Lewis Carroll
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Anne of Green Gables (series) by Lucy Maud Montgomery
The Arrival by Shaun Tan
The Birchbark House (series) by Louise Erdrich
Blue Mountain by Martine Leavitt
The Blue Sword (series) by Robin McKinley
Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Bunnicula (series) by James Howe
Caddie Woodlawn (series) by Carol Ryrie Brink
The Cardboard Kingdom (series) by Chad Sell
The Castle in the Attic (series) by Elizabeth Winthrop
Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
The Chronicles of Narnia (series) by C. S. Lewis
The Chronicles of Prydain (series) by Lloyd Alexander
The City of Ember (series) by Jeanne DuPrau
The Cricket in Times Square (series) by George Selden
D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar d’Aulaire
Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
The Dark is Rising (series) by Susan Cooper
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
The Earthsea Cycle (series) by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Eleanor Roosevelt by Russell Freedman
Ella Enchanted (series) by Gail Carson Levine
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
The Graveyard Book (series) by Neil Gaiman
Half Magic (series) by Edward Eager
Half Upon a Time (series) by James Riley
Harriet the Spy (series) by Louise Fitzhugh
The Hobbit by J. R. R.Tolkien
Holes by Louis Sachar
The House of the Scorpion (series) by Nancy Farmer
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
The House With a Clock in its Walls (series) by John Bellairs
Howl’s Moving Castle (series) by Dianna Wynne Jones
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanha Lai
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Island of the Blue Dolphins (series) by Scott O’Dell
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Edwards
Legend (series) by Marie Lu
Lifeboat 12 by Susan Hood
The Lincolns by Candace Fleming
Little House on the Prairie (series) by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Little Women (series) by Louisa May Alcott
The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
Misty of Chincoteague (series) by Marguerite Henry
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (series) by Robert C. O’Brien
My Side of the Mountain (series) by Jean Craighead George
New Kid (series) by Jerry Craft
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
One Crazy Summer (series) by Rita Williams-Garcia
The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
Peter Pan (series) by J. M. Barrie
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Pippi Longstocking (series) by Astrid Lindgren
Ragweed (series) by Avi
Ramona (series) by Beverly Cleary
Redwall (series) by Brian Jacques
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (series) by Mildred D. Taylor
Sarah, Plain and Tall (series) by Patricia MacLachlan
The Saturdays (series) by Elizabeth Enright
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Spiderwick Chronicles (series) by Tony DiTerlizzi
Storybound (series) by Marissa Burt
The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann D. Wyss
The Sword in the Stone (series) by T. H. White
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (series) by Judy Blume
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
Watership Down by Richard Adams
The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
The Wee Free Men (series) by Terry Pratchett
West of the Moon by Margi Preus
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Where The Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (series) by John Aiken
Do you have plans for your kids to read this summer? Let us know in the comments what you’re hoping for them to read!
