Best Summer Reads for Kids

School might be out for the summer, but reading is an activity that kids should continue year round. Your kids might not automatically reach for books between baseball games and play dates, but you can help encourage them. Don’t know what books will grab their attention? We’ve tapped into the brains of grade-school teachers to find out what your kids should be reading this summer.

Is your 1st grader feeling a little anxious about leaving the cosy world of kindergarten? “Try First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg, for obvious reasons!” says Jennifer Benes, a 1st grade teacher from Georgia. Looking for something a little more academic? Get your kids ready to pick up their pens. She suggests, “I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufman Orloff for persuasive writing.”

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Summer "is no reason to cease the 15 to 30 daily minutes your child’s teacher recommended during the school year,” says Darlene Mack, former elementary teacher and founder of Successful Innovations, Inc. Tie books into summer vacation, with themes about pool trips and summer camp. “If your family is headed to the beach, try a fun read like Magic Beach by Crockett Johnson or Ladybug Girl at the Beach by David Soman and Jacky Davis.”

Feed your child’s free spirit and incorporate a history lesson at the same time. “Try The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne!” says 2nd grade teacher Sue Wilkin from Brighton, Mich. “It’s adventure and history mixed with fictional characters.” And you can read along, too. “Parents can ‘quiz’ their children on the plot, setting, problem and solution, character development, vocabulary and so forth. Have a mini book club to encourage them to talk about the book.”

Gertrude Chandler Warner's The Boxcar Children series is perfect for advanced readers. “The books follow children living in a boxcar and their trials and challenges,” Wilkin says. If a book is too tough for children on their own, you can help by reading with them. "There's lots to be learned from hearing a book out loud and the way we use our voices to express feelings.”

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You can’t go wrong with an age-old classic like Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. “It’s timeless and makes you feel like you are a part of the story,” says Chicago 3rd grade teacher Christa Henkel. “The main characters show you how to be a loving friend.” You can also explore beyond the pages by going online. "Many books and authors have wonderful interactive, child-friendly websites. Some also have areas for parents to complete activities with their children.”

Don’t think you have to go with lengthy novels for 3rd graders. A lot can be said in few words, so encourage your child to get imaginative. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is a perfect read to expand their minds. “It’s a true classic of children’s literature about the relationship between a boy and a tree, and learning how to give of yourself,” Henkel says. Third grade is a real transitional stage.

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“As a teacher, I loved encouraging my students to read chapter books,” says principal Juli VanDeven from Michigan. “In the upper grades, I tried to lead them to series books. For instance, The Fudge series by Judy Blume. I found that if they really enjoyed the first one in the series, they would tend to read them all. This really impacted them over the summer, and reading did not become a chore.”

Make sure reading doesn’t get lost among your 4th-grader’s growing list of extracurriculars and social activities. Choose books with a hearty dose of humor to hold your child's attention. Offer the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid series,” suggests VanDeven. “The books are funny and the kids really get a kick out of them.”

Focus on books with great storytelling and quirky ideas as your child reaches the older stages of grade school. “Frindle by Andrew Clements is always a fun read for children,” says Sarah Croucher, who teaches 5th graders at a private school in Michigan. “It's a story about a boy who creates a new word for pen, which eventually becomes a word published in the dictionary. Any Andrew Clements book is great, in my opinion.”

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Fifth graders can also start to handle books with older themes, like survival and tough choices. “Hatchet by Gary Paulsen is great to read any time,” says Croucher. “I feel it's slow to start, but becomes a book kids hate to put down. It's full of adventure, since it's about a boy who crashes a plane into a lake and survives in the wilderness, as the pilot dies of a heart attack during the flight.”