Mom's Summer Reading Recommendations

Ever since I was a little kid I loved to read. I still remember some of my old favorite go-to books and even saved a couple to this day that are on my kids bookshelf.  Everytime I read those old books to my kids a wave of nostalgia rushes over me and memories of my childhood flood back.  It's amazing what reading and books can do for children.  

From the moment I became a mom I knew I wanted books and reading to be a part of my children's lives. From board books to emerging readers to beginning chapter books, my kids have, to my joy, inherited the love for reading.  As I watch them grow and I see the books that they read, I find myself excited at the opportunity to share books I enjoyed reading as a kid.

Here is a list of books I remember reading as a child that I would recommend to my kids today. I broke them down by what age group I think they are appropriate for.  I hope you find this list useful.  Printable version HERE

 Birth-PreK

• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom- Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar- Eric Carle

• The Mitten- Jan Brett

• If You Give a Mouse a Cookie- Laura Numeroff

• The Berenstain Bears Series- Stan and Jan Berenstain

• Corduroy- Don Freeman

• Little Critter Series- Mercer Mayer

• Arthur Books- Marc Brown

• Frog and Toad are Friends- Arnold Lodel

• Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day-  Judith Viorst

Early Elementary

• Freckle Juice- Judy Blume

• Ramona Series- Beverly Cleary

• Junie B Jones- Barbara Park

• Amelia Bedelia- Peggy Parish

• Magic Treehouse Series- Mary Pope Osborne

• Miss Nelson is Missing- Harry Allard

• Where the Sidewalk Ends- Shel Silverstein

Older Elementary

• The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe- C.S. Lewis

• A Wrinkle in Time- Madeleine L’Engle

• Holes- Louis Sachar

• The Babysitters Club Books- Ann M. Martin

• Hatchet- Gary Paulsen

• Goosebumps Series- R.L. Stine

• Charlotte’s Web-  E.B. White

• Tuck Everlasting- Natalie Babbitt

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid- Jeff Kinney

• Sideways Stories from Wayside School-  Louis Sachar

• Wayside School is Falling Down-  Louis Sachar

• The Egypt Game- Zilpha Keatley Snyder

• Island of the Blue Dolphins- Scott O’Dell

Teenage

• Sweet Valley High- Francine Pascal

• Little Women- Louisa May Alcott

• Redwall- Brian Jacques

• 99 Fear Street- R.L. Stine

• Girl Talk Series- L.E. Blair

• Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul- Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Kimberly Kirberger

• Harry Potter Series- J.K. Rowling

• Cousins- Colleen O'Shaughnessy McKenna