I have a secret; I am addicted to buying books.
Few things in life bring me more pleasure than a stack of new books on the counter of
my favorite bookstore, purchased and ready to come home. The problem is, I've run out of places in my house for these stories to live. My children attempted to conquer the daunting task of organizing our endless book piles. What started out as house cleaning project, quickly turned into the three of us huddling together under the covers re-reading -- and re-living -- nearly every one of our favorite books.
We clearly required organizational leadership. Assuming the role of household librarian, my daughter decided that we needed some kind of a system for our never-ending piles of books. This reading list is that system, developed and sorted by my children.
Many of the recommended book lists published online are written by publishers, parents, and academic scholars. Dont get me wrong, their recommendations are invaluable, but there is something really special about a child recommending a book. It means they've read it, identified with it, loved it, and asked for it again and again. The book has become part of who they are, and they want to share it.
Summer picture book reading list
Kid-loved, kid-tested, kid-approved.
Hard Work, Perseverance, and Courage
The Most Magnificent Thing, Ashley Spires
Giraffes Cant Dance, Giles Andrae
Stand Tall, Molly Lou Mellon,
Patty Lovell
The Story of Ruby Bridges, Robert Coles
How I Became a Pirate, Melinda Long
The Curious Garden, Peter Brown
Innovative, Curious, and Problem Solving
What Do You Do With an Idea, Kobi Yamada
Iggy Peck, Architect, Andrea Beaty
Going Places, Paul A. Reynolds
Rosie Revere, Engineer, Andrea Beaty
If I Built a Car, Chris Van Dusen
If I Built A House, Chris Van Dusen
The Tree House That Jack Built, Bonnie Verburg
Humor
All of his books, Dr. Seuss
The Napping House, Audrey Wood
Dont Be Silly, Mrs. Millie, Judy Cox and Joe Mathieu
Click, Clack, Moo, Cows that Type, Doreen Cronin
The Book With No Pictures, B.J. Novak
Double Trouble in Walla Walla, Andrew Clements
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorist
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Lauren Numeroff
If You Give a Moose a Muffin, Lauren Numeroff
If You Give a Dog a Donut, Lauren Numeroff
If You Give a Pig a Pancake, Lauren Numeroff
The Snatchabook, by Helen Docherty
Dog vs. Cat, Chris Gall
Bark, George, Jules Feiffer
Inspirational, Adventurous, Life Lessons
The Kissing Hand, Audrey Penn
Miss Hazeltines Home For Shy and Fearful Cats, Alicia Potter
One, Kathryn Otoshi
Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons, Amy Rouse
Corduroy, Don Freeman
Miss Rumphius, Barbara Cooney
The Story of Ferdinand, Munro Leaf
The Three Questions, Jon Muth
The Circus Ship, Chris Van Dunes
Have You Filled a Bucket Today, Carol McCloud
Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak
The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein
Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken, Kate DiCamillo
The Blessing Cup, Patricia Polacco
Thunder Cake, Patricia Polacco
The Keeping Quilt, Patricia Polacco
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, William Joyce
Stellaluna, Janell Cannon
The Giant Carrot, Jan Peck
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, William Steig
Owen, Kevin Henkes
Ira Sleeps Over , Bernard Waber
