The Glory of Summer Reading…

This illustration is a scene from every summer of my son’s younger years. We would throw a cozy blanket on the backyard lawn and sprawl out with a stack of good books. Sometimes we would read together. Sometimes we would read on our own. Snacks would typically be involved. And the glory of summer reading would commence! As he has grown into an independent teen, I tend toward using a chair in the garden and read on my own as he does his independent teen things but yet, I still bask in the glow of summer reading. There’s a freedom to our reading choices when the sun gleams bright and the dappled shade glimmers and shimmers with polka dots of light on the lawn. Somehow the kick-off-your-shoes nature of summer invites us to take reading less seriously and deep dive into magical worlds, suspending the real one for awhile. As I write, I hear the breeze blowing and the blue jays cawing calling me outside.

At Confident Parents, Confident Kids, we have written, revised, and rewritten our book recommendations every year – as true book lovers tend to do to stay current. Some are serious and take a learning agenda in the area of our role as parents. Summer can be a time for our own personal growth, awareness raising, and deepening of our understanding as we retreat and renew. Our children’s books and teen books offer a wide range from fantastical worlds, to travel and social and cultural awareness in this world, to mind-expanding nonfiction. It’s all here. And it’s all been curated with the social and emotional developmental lens in mind.

So check out our recommended lists. Find your favorite kid and your favorite stack of new books, get outside, and get reading! Enjoy!