Summer most definitely means being by the water for us. Everything from beach combing to long afternoons pool side to even the occasional puddle jump. We love it when the books on our bookshelves inspire a child to seek more, either trying what they read in the book, or just inspiring them to go out and adventure.
These are our absolute favourites:
The Beachcomber’s companion found here is a new one for us and is filled with beautiful illustrations and lots of detail about the many treasures one could find on beaches all over the world. Suited best for ages 6+ a younger child would enjoy looking at the pictures and we love well illustrated books like this for vocabulary building in toddlers.
We wrote about our love affair with Red Sky at Night Here. Its pages are stunning as are all books by this amazing Canadian author. The “sailing sayings” listed on each page have gotten us testing out each of these theories over the course of the Summer. Quentin will often check for dew in the back garden in the morning in hopes of predicting the weather that day. So far its been right every time.
Red Rubber Boot Day has been in our house for sixteen years. It was a favourite of our oldest and it quickly became a favourite of Quentin as well. The images are stunning, and the story drips with language. We wrote about it as part of our favourite books for Birth-2 here.
Jambari Jumps has been a book that we’ve been waiting until this summer to read with Quentin. A story of a young boy wanting to take his first dive on the diving board, it gave Quentin the extra bit of bravery he needed to try it himself. Bubbling up after his jump he exclaimed that he had jumped like Jambari did and that he hadn’t been scared after all. An excellent book to read with children 3-6 and it can be found here.
We’ve written about Pool and Beyond the Pond before here. Both excellent for inspiring adventure and seeking the extraordinary in the ordinary. Both books were enjoyed by Quentin at a young age and we feel that although these books clearly dabble in the fantastical, that they were a good fit for us from around 4 years of age.
If you have summer favourites that you’d like to see featured here please leave a comment! We’d love to feature some excellent new finds.
Our Montessori Life 
Reblogged this on Usborne Books and More With Niki.