Off the Shelf: Summer Reading for Kids
Posted June 22, 2022
By Lori Faust
Warren-Trumbull County Public Library Youth Services Manager
It’s summer! And that means it’s time for Summer Reading at the library! This year, our Summer Reading Program features an “Oceans of Possibilities” theme that combines fun programs and special events with incentives to encourage children to keep reading over the summer months.
Have you signed up for the free Summer Reading & Learning Challenge? It’s easy and fun for kids and teens of all ages to earn prizes for reading at home and completing other learning activities. Stop by one of our library locations, the Bookmobile, or the Warren Farmer’s Market to pick up a Reading & Learning Challenge BINGO sheet, or join in online by signing up at WTCPL.READSQUARED.COM (or download the READSquared app).
Adults can also participate in the Summer Reading Program by filling out book review slips to enter their name for prize drawings; find all the details on the library website here.
So that your child is ready to earn prizes in the Summer Reading Program, check out the reading lists we’ve created on WTCPL.READSQUARED.COM, or borrow one of the following titles. These books are some of our children’s librarians’ new favorites and are all available through the W-TCPL:
Cat’s First Baby, Natalie Nelson
There’s a new addition to the family, and Cat is curious. It doesn’t meow like a cat or even have a tail, but it does enjoy a good catnap! (For ages 6 mos. – 2 yrs.) |
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Sunny Days, Deborah Kerbel & Miki Sato
Brightly colored collage art and sturdy pages make this rhyming ode to summer the perfect book for toddlers. A final page includes age-appropriate STEM activities related to the sun. (For ages 2 – 5) |
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Best Day Ever!, Marilyn Singer, Illustrated by Leah Nixon
Puppy thinks she’s having the best day ever! But then her friend scolds her, and suddenly – Worst. Day. Ever. Will puppy be able to turn their day back around? (For ages 3 – 6) |
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Chester Van Chime Who Forgot How to Rhyme, Avery Monsen, Illustrated by Abby Hanlon
One day, Chester wakes up and discovers he’s lost his ability to rhyme! The text is laid out on the pages to highlight the missing end rhyme: “It baffled poor Chester. He felt almost queasy. To match up two sounds, it was always so…” (page turn) “…simple for him.” This will have kids yelling out the easily guessable rhyme that Chester forgets, adding to the fun. (For ages 4 – 8) |
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Cranky Chicken: Queen of Crank, Katherine Battersby
Cranky Chicken learns how to look on the bright side when she meets a very optimistic worm. A funny easy graphic novel for the early chapter crowd. (For grades 1 – 4) |
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Cress Watercress, Gregory Maguire
Cress, her baby brother, Kip, and Mama are forced to move out of their cozy burrow when Papa goes out at night to get honey and doesn’t return. The rabbit family moves into the basement of the Broken Arms, a run-down apartment tree full of quirky neighbors. Through shared experiences and adventures, those neighbors become friends and the dead tree becomes home. This beautifully illustrated chapter book feels classic and fresh at the same time – a great book for families to read aloud! (For grades 2 – 5) |
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Those Kids From Fawn Creek, Erin Entrada Kelly
There are twelve kids in the seventh grade at Fawn Creek Middle School. They’ve been together all their lives, and everyone knows everything about everyone. Then exotic Orchid Mason – born in New York City but moving from Paris – arrives wearing a floor-skimming dress and a flower behind her ear, and the other seventh graders don’t know what to think – or believe. This contemporary school story about friendship, deception, and being true to yourself is another compelling read by the Newbery Medal winning author Erin Entrada Kelly. (For grades 4 – 7) |
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Daughter of the Deep, Rick Riordan
Rick Riordan’s legions of fans will not be disappointed by this fantasy-adventure inspired by Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Ana Dakkar is a freshman at the Harding-Pencroft Academy, a school for all things marine and aquatic, where students must prove their survival skills to keep their place. While her group is out on the water for their trials, Harding-Pencroft is demolished in an attack, and Ana has to put her leadership skills to the test as she and her classmates fight to stay ahead of the enemy. (For grades 5 – 9) |
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Want to read more?
Use the library’s Novelist Plus online research resource and type in a keyword. It will offer up a list of similar books about your topic or reading level.