Happy summer everyone! Well, Western Hemisphere friends that is. I was hoping to post these summer books on the actual first day of summer two days ago; but alas, summer came bounding in with a summer cold for me. Nevertheless, I am excited about the warm months and the many lovely things it holds. We started our summer bucket list and are definitely looking for lots of summery literature to fill our thoughts and dreams. These three are all vintage, simply because they came to mind first and are just lovely favorites. Let’s read three books about summer!
1. What Do You Play on a Summer Day? by Ethel and Leonard Kessler, 1977
Such a sweet 70s book about a little girl in the city on a hot summer day. Josephine is her name and she trots around the city asking different people, animals, birds, and insects what they do on a summer day. The perspectives are marvelous from a robin, to her grandparents, to the policewoman directing traffic on the street. And Josephine continually interjects about how much fun she has on summer days.
I love the simplicity of the story, examining the summer days from different perspectives of 70s city life. And Leonard Kessler’s illustrations are classic 70s. They are filled with simple lines and shapes and colored roughly with bright colors. The text has a poetic rhythm to it with rhymes and repeated phrases. I can easily see this becoming a favorite with our own summer city explorations.
2. Just Around the Corner by Leland B. Jacobs, pictures by John E. Johnson, 1964
Call it a bit of cheating if you must, but I’m pulling this favorite book of poems with illustrations by a favorite illustrator to share just the summer section. This book is filled with poems about simple things in each season — summer being about long shadows, the seashore, butterflies, camping, and other fun things.
Our exploration of poetry books has been continuous and this book is a fun one to pull out as it is divided by seasons, but the poems are not always so tightly themed. They are simple rhymes paired with limited color illustrations. I have always enjoyed Johnson’s illustrations in their vintage simplicity and cute layouts. The rest of the book is just as adorable of course and celebrating the seasons that are “just around the corner” from each other.
3. Summer by Gerda Muller, 2005
And what would a Wednesday book list be without including a wordless beauty? I’ve already shared Spring by Gerda Muller, and thankfully I stumbled on a vintage edition of Summer just in time! Once again, this is a beautiful board book with spreads filled of summer goodness. This one has a little girl and boy engaging summer in all it has to offer.
There is lots of water, sand, gardening, fireflies and summer play. And best of all, the book ends with the children walking into school, with light jackets on too. I just love that little touch. Gerda Muller’s books are delightful capsules of the seasons. This one is a current fixture on our little coffee table as our youngest loves to search through it daily.
I hope your summer is off to a marvelous start! Would love to know what new or old summery books you are reading.
Three Books a Night 