Dive Into Summer Reading: Book Ideas for Kids

Sharing books is one of the easiest and most important activities you can do with your little one, especially if your child is deaf or hard of hearing. It’s never too early to start! When you read to your child every day, you grow their brain for listening, language, and learning. Just 15 minutes a day will make a big difference.

School’s out for the summer! Make it your summer goal to read aloud together with your child every day. Bonus points if you can squeeze in extra reading time more than once a day!

Whether you’re at the park, by the pool, at the beach, or on a trip, dive into summer with this list of great books!

Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) professionals have also shared some tried-and-true strategies and techniques you can use while you read with your little one.

“Baby Touch and Feel: Animals” by Dawn Sirett and DK

Ages 0-12 months

This delightful book features different animals such as a fluffy puppy, a sparkly fish, and an enormous elephant for your baby to explore with you! Your baby will love to interact with the engaging touch-and-feel pages while you read aloud.

Try this: Use the Play-by-Play LSL strategy and describe the pages. Build your baby’s language by adding new words, using different words, and repeating some words.

For example, instead of saying “This is soft” try saying: “Ohh, the bunny is so soft. It’s fluffy! The bunny feels so nice.” Or “You like touching the little zebra! Feel how scratchy!”

“We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” by Michael Rosen

Ages 2-5 years

Follow this family along as they go on an outdoor adventure to find a bear! This book uses repetitive lines to describe how the family noisily makes their way through tall grass, a big river, and a dark cave to find the bear. Rhymes and special sounds make this book perfect for early preschool skills, including:

• Higher level vocabulary
• Story sequencing
• Auditory memory
• And more!

Try this: Before beginning the book, use the It’s Your Turn LSL strategy to ask your child open-ended questions, such as “What do you think this book is about?” or “Why do you think they are going on a bear hunt?”

As you read, take advantage of the rhythm and rhymes! Have your little one chant along with you while you read together. Take turns making the sounds of “swish-swish” while walking through the grass and the “up, up, up, up” while climbing up the tree to look for the bear.

“The Very Busy Spider” by Eric Carle

Ages 1-5 years

As the spider works hard at building a silky web to catch a fly for dinner before she goes to sleep — she encounters many farm animals who want to play! Each animal asks the spider to play in the mud or go for a ride but the spider is “too busy” building her web.

The Very Busy Spider is perfect for both the littlest listeners and older kiddos because it is interactive and repetitive.

Try this: Use the LSL strategy Hear It Before They See It to talk about the animal on the next page before you turn the page. This allows your little one to practice their listening skills.

Try using different voices for each of the animals, like this:

• For the large cow, read “Do you want to play?” in a deeper voice.
• For the tiny cat, use a softer voice.

Or pause and wait before you turn the page and ask your child, “Which animal is next?”

Being a Drama Mama or Dramatic Daddy helps spark your child’s interest and love of reading with you! There are all kinds of tips and ideas to try!

“Down by the Cool of the Pool” by Tony Mitton

Ages 2-5 years

This book follows a group of animals who gather by the cool of the pool for some fun and games. From splashing in the water to dancing to the beat, the animals have a blast together. This is a fun book to learn new words like prance, caper, flap, wiggle, stamp, and more!

Try this: As the animals dance and play, you and your child will be encouraged to join in with the actions, such as flapping their wings or shaking their hips. This makes it a great book for getting children up, moving, and laughing!

“When a Dragon Moves In” by Jodi Moore

Ages 3-7 years

Did you know if you build the perfect sand castle that a dragon will move in? Well, that’s what happened to one lucky little boy at the beach and his family wouldn’t believe him! The little boy and his dragon have some exciting adventures as he tries to convince his family there is a dragon in his perfect sand castle.

Try this: Use the All About Me strategy and ask your child thinking and feeling questions while reading this book. You could say:

• “What would you want to do with a dragon at the beach?”
• “Why do you think he is frustrated with his sister?”
• “Who do you think really ate the brownie?”

Go beyond the book and have a pretend beach picnic with your child! Invite a pretend dragon. You can have your favorite dragon imaginary food for the picnic and take turns describing the pretend dragon using as many adjectives as you can! “I spy a dragon with shiny scales, sharp teeth, and a long pointy tail.”

Reading is In-Season All Year Round

No matter the season, reading aloud together is a wonderful way to bond with your child. When you read aloud with your little one, you’re helping them build a strong foundation for talking, reading, and writing. This also develops their thinking skills, understanding, curiosity, creativity, and more.

Watch the video below to learn more tips on how to raise a reader!

How to Grow Your Baby’s Brain with Reading

Download a printable version of this resource here.