This summer reading list for kids is just as much fun as summer day camp!
School's out! What next?
By now, your kiddos are either already out of school for summer break or are just counting down the days. It's possible they may have even been looking forward to this break since school started in the fall. For a child, summer break means active days outside, ice cream, playdates, lemonade stands, swimming…and hopefully lots and lots of reading! On top of all the fun and activity, you want to also make sure they are continuing to learn and finding the joy books they love. (Hint: this is how little ones become lifetime readers!)
Whether your child is not yet in school, has just finished preschool, kindergarten, or the first grade, personalized books can make summer awesome. You'll surely keep your kids busy learning and having fun with our personalized books summer reading guide!
Make it fun! Get 'em to say: "I want to stay home from day camp so I can read!"
- Let your child choose the book. Hop on the Put Me In The Story website together and see what he or she might be interested in just by looking at the covers!
- Make it personal. With Put Me In The Story personalized books, you can add your child's name, photo, and a special message, so you and your child will always remember the moment you created the book together.
- Take reading field trips. Go somewhere special to read a book, maybe bring a picnic too? Be adventurous and try a tree house, a garden, a lake, or somewhere totally unexpected, like an empty boat house.
- Read on the go: Check out the Put Me In The Story app. When waiting at doctors' offices, restaurants, or even if you're waiting for your oldest to play a soccer game, keep the little ones entertained with a fun (and educational) app!
- Read outside as much as possible. Encourage your child to take a book and read under a favorite tree or next to a body of water. Or find a spot together.
- Track your child's reading progress throughout the entire summer and maybe offer a reward if they meet their goal!
Summer Reading Guide: Great Picks for a Preschooler
If you're reading with 3- or 4-year-olds, choose books with shorter text and colorful pictures that will keep their attention. Or try a book that will help them wind down (like a great bedtime story). Here are a few of our summer reading recommendations:
Find Me If You Can Personalized Book
This search-and-find personalized book is wonderful for summer travel: car, train, or plane, take this book anywhere for endless entertainment! You'll get the best of both worlds in this one—a fun, interactive search-and-find game, a snappy reading rhyme, and photo/name recognition practice for younger readers. Plus, this book can be personalized for one, two, or three children. This means you can include brothers, sisters, Mom, Dad, a favorite pet, or whoever else you want!
The Night Night Personalized Book
This book is the perfect addition to your family's bedtime ritual! For a special summer night outing, try going stargazing and bring The Night Night Book along with you. Pack a telescope, flashlight, blanket, and maybe even some milk and cookies. After gazing, The Night Night Book is the sweetest way for you and your child to say night night to the sky and the moon, and make a goodnight wish on a lucky star!
Both The Night Night Book and Find Me If You Can are great preschool books, but we have many more to choose from! View more preschool books here.
Summer Reading Guide: Great Picks for a Kindergartener
For 5- or 6-year-olds, choose books that are fast-paced with longer rhymes, have fun, detailed artwork and words they're starting to recognize. Here are a few of our summer reading recommendations:
What Makes You Giggle? Personalized Book
The summer is made for giggling! Check out our latest full-color sesame street book and join favorites such as Oscar, Big Bird, Elmo, Grover, and more! Visit all the fun summery spots (the same ones the Sesame Street crew visits) and bring this personalized book along with you! A picnic in the park, a BBQ in the backyard, an afternoon at the zoo, a day poolside, or maybe just a few minutes on your front door step observing the neighborhood (just like our furry Sesame friends!) and reading the book aloud.
If I Could Keep You Little... Personalized Book
A sweet book to celebrate your relationship with your always-growing child, If I Could Keep You Little... reminisces on some of the fun things you'll do to enjoy the summer! This personalized book is especially wonderful for kids starting kindergarten or first grade next year! Take this book with you on a bike ride to the park and read it under a tree. The pictures and words are warm and bright, just like summer.
What Makes You Giggle? and If I Could Keep You Little… are perfect summertime reads, but we have tons of fun and sweet personalized books to choose from! View more kindergartner books here.
Summer Reading Guide: Great Picks for a First Grader
For 6- and 7-year-olds, try books that have more text, a solid plotline, and enough adventure to really engage them as they're starting to comprehend more and more. Here are a few of our summer reading recommendations:
Isabella: Girl on the Go Personalized Book
The newest in the Isabella and Alexander series available to personalize, in Isabella Girl on the Go, you'll visit extraordinary places and travel the world—and it all takes place in the backyard sandbox. Great for kids who have a big imagination or even for those who need to expand their imagination more, this book will spark it! Read this one in the sandbox, the backyard swing set, or a playground, and let your imagination soar!
You Are a Gift to the World Personalized Book
A great catalyst to celebrate all your child's special gifts out loud! This personalized book in particular will remind them how truly special they are and, also, how special the world is to us. You Are a Gift to the World is one of the best books to show your little one how much you love them while sharing with them how unique their gifts are. Take this book on a hike, to the ocean or lake, or anywhere you can give nature some love!
Summer reading for soon-to-be first-graders is incredibly important! First grade is often when children make great strides in reading by themselves, so be sure to prepare them with this big learning growth by reading together every day. All the books in the Isabella and Alexander series are great selections, along with many others. Check them out here.
We hope these great summer reads will have your kids shouting "I want to stay home from day camp so I can read!"
Questions on recommendations? Ask us in the comments section below!