BOOK MARKED
12 Books About
Summertime Fun
These children’s books are filled
with the adventures and hijinks we
associate with summer, plus a few
activities to try at home.

BY JENNIFER ROTHSCHILD,
COLLECTION ENGAGEMENT LIBRARIAN, ARLINGTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
PRESCHOOL best summer ever together. Then Allie’s par-
ents tell her she’s going to sleep-away camp,
but Amy isn’t. Now the friends have to find
Written and illustrated by
a way to still have the best summer—with-
Gaia Cornwell
Jabari has finished his swim lessons, passed out each other.

his test and can’t wait to jump off the high
dive. But when he gets there and looks up, ‘If I Were a Park Ranger’
up and up at the diving board, he finds many Written by Catherine Stier,
things he needs to do before he works up the illustrated by Patrick Corrigan
courage. Learn about everything park rangers do at
our National Parks, including which parts of
‘Hike’ the job change depending on which park you
Written and illustrated by Pete Oswald work at.

In this nearly wordless picture book, a boy
and his dad take an early morning hike and ‘Plant, Sow, Make and Grow’
are filled with wonder at nature’s sights and Written and illustrated by
sounds. Their adventures, including cross- Esther Coombs
ing a river on a log and climbing a steep This colorful guide for young gardeners not
slope, are rewarded with a wonderful view. only covers planting and tending a garden,
but also includes related art projects and sci-
‘The Bear’s Garden’
ence experiments.

‘Jabari Jumps’
Written by Marcie Colleen,
illustrated by Alison Oliver
After her tomato plant falls off the window-
sill into the empty lot next door, a young
girl starts a community garden, leaving her
stuffed bear in charge when she can’t be
there to help the plants grow.

EARLY ELEMENTARY
‘Adventures of Allie and Amy:
The Best Friend Plan’
Written by Stephanie Calmenson and
Joanna Cole, illustrated by James
Burks MIDDLE GRADE
‘To Night Owl from Dogfish’
Written by Holly Goldberg Sloan and
Meg Wolitzer
When their dads start dating, Bett and Avery
are secretly sent to the same summer camp
in hopes they’ll bond. However, in this
reverse “Parent Trap,” the girls know about
the plan and are determined to make sure
happily-ever-after isn’t in the cards.

‘Lumberjanes: Beware
the Kitten Holy’
Best friends Allie and Amy have planned the Written by Noelle Stevenson and
38 Washington FAMILY JUNE 2020



BOOK MARKED
Grace Ellis, illustrated by Brooke
Allen ‘Young Adventurer’s Guide
to (Almost) Everything’
Written by Ben and Penny Hewitt,
illustrated by Luke Boushee
A survival guide for kids, this activi-
tiy book teaches 45 awesome outdoor
adventure skills, such as navigating by
the stars, tapping a maple tree, cook-
ing on a campfire, tying knots, mak-
ing a log raft and turning an acorn into
a whistle. And, of course, the many,
many ways to use a bandana.

YOUNG ADULT
‘Imaginary Girls’
Written by Nova Ren Suma
When one of Chloe’s classmates is
found dead after a night with Chloe’s
older sister, Ruby, Chloe is sent to live
with her father. When she returns to
town two summers later, Chloe begins
to realize that the power Ruby holds
over the town may be darker and more
supernatural than sheer popularity and
charisma. ‘Again Again’
Written by E. Lockhart
Adelaide’s life fractures the summer
before her senior year, as different
decisions and interactions create mul-
tiple directions for her life to go. A cre-
ative visual design and font changes
help keep the different versions of
Adelaide’s story straight.

‘Games of Deception’
Written by Andrew Maraniss
Missing this summer’s postponed
Olympics? This nonfiction book tells
the story of the first Olympics to fea-
ture basketball. The year was 1936, and
Hitler was using the Berlin Olympics to
showcase an idealized Germany while
hiding the true horror of his regime.

Maraniss looks at the different threads
of this story to weave together a narra-
tive that will appeal to fans of history
and sports. n
Happy Birthday,
Maurice Sendak!
Each month we celebrate a
birthday of literary significance
Maurice Sendak was born on June 10, 1928.

Growing up in Brooklyn, Sendak wrote short
stories with his older brother, Jack. The two
brothers would illustrate their work and
bound them into books. As a teen, Sendak
began to illustrate and sketch children
in his neighborhood. These children
later showed up in Sendak’s work,
notably in his illustrations for Ruth
Kraus’s 1952 book, “A Hole is to Dig.”
Sendak briefly attended the Art Students
League of New York but prided himself
on being a self-taught artist. In 1963, he
released the book “Where the Wild Things
Are” about a young boy named Max whose
bedroom is transformed into a mystical
jungle where beasts called Wild Things roam.

The book received universal acclaim, earning
Sendak the 1964 Caldecott Medal. Sendak
considered “Where the Wild Things Are” as
part of a trilogy, later writing and illustrating
“In the Night Kitchen” in 1970 and “Outside
Over There” in 1981 to round out the series.

In his lifetime, Sendak illustrated more than
90 children’s books. In 1970, his collective
works won the Hans Christian Anderson
Medal, making him the first American
author to accomplish this feat. In 1996,
Sendak was awarded the National Medal
of Arts by President Bill Clinton. In his later
years, Sendak spent his time in the U.S. and
England designing sets and costumes for
ballets and operas, including productions of
“The Nutcracker” and Mozart’s “The Magic
Flute.” Sendak passed away on May 8, 2012
at age 83 in Danbury, Connecticut.

WIKIPEDIA Five friends thought they were going to
have a normal summer at Miss Quinzella
Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s
camp for hard core lady-types, but as this
graphic novel starts, they’re following a
bear shapeshifter and dealing with light-
house-guarding hipster yetis. And that’s
just the beginning.

WashingtonFAMILY.com 39