Savor the Day

Written by Shari Green

Illustrated by Gabby Grant

Sleeping Bear Press

978-1-53411-353-4

32 pp.

Ages 5–8

April 2026 

 

Time can go very slowly or very quickly. It only seems to have two speeds. Either way, it will pass, and, when it has passed, it cannot be recovered. Savouring the day is the only way to hold onto it through the fullness of experiencing it and the memories created. Shari Green, eloquent writer of middle-grade novels like Root Beer Candy and Other Miracles (2016), Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess (2017), and Missing Mike (2018) as well as her award-winning YA novel Song of Freedom, Song of Dreams (2024), has given readers a debut picture book that reminds us to find and appreciate all the moments of a day.

From Savor the Day, written by Shari Green, illustrated by Gabby Grant

The day enjoyed by this child may look to an outside observer as quiet and uninteresting. She is woken up by her grandfather and taken to the beach. From all appearances, it is a simple day of playing, resting, walking, swimming, and eating. But there is more to her day, to their day, because they are mindful of each moment.

From Savor the Day, written by Shari Green, illustrated by Gabby Grant

In rhyming text that is as subtle as their day is understated, Shari Green takes us by the hand to walk alongside this grandparent and grandchild, from morning wake-up and breakfast, to evening car ride home and bed.

Savor the sun sinking down to the sea—

savor the finger-paint sky.

The peeking-out stars and getting in cars—

the pause as you're waving goodbye.

(pg. 27-29) 

From Savor the Day, written by Shari Green, illustrated by Gabby Grant

This child and her grandfather make it clear that everything can be enjoyed, whether it's a twinkle in the eye, the feel of the sand between your toes, the colours of sea stars, or the sound of a blackberry dropped into a pail. It's the sounds and feels, and sights and tastes of life that need to be appreciated, no matter how small or fleeting.

From Savor the Day, written by Shari Green, illustrated by Gabby Grant

Shari Green's words have always soothed through the uncertainty of life and the challenges that may be daily or rare. Without preaching about being mindful, Shari Green helps us see what mindfulness can bring. It's being in the moment for the sake of that moment. For this child and her grandfather, a simple, perhaps typical, day becomes a sensory experience that is exceptional and full.

 

The UK's Gabby Grant keeps that lightness of simplicity with her pencil crayon drawings enhanced with watercolours. Her scenes reflect the idea that you don't need lots of stuff or lots of people or busyness to make something grand. There is sand and water and sky. There are the two, grandfather and granddaughter, and occasional others, both human and animal. Otherwise, the focus is on what this child is enjoying in the way of sounds, tastes, sights, and feels. And by keeping her palette to one of softness, Gabby Grant makes us feel the calm of that day. She helps readers savor their own day of reading a book about a day at the beach.

 

Whether you're fortunate to have a beach near you to enjoy or to have the opportunity to spend time with a grandparent or someone who loves you, keep the moments of that day close. Feel every moment of quiet or turbulence, or warmth and sun or coolness and rain, of nothing special and something extraordinary. Every moment and every feeling is to be savoured as an important part of the whole. After all, the moments make the day, which add up to a life lived well.

The Case of the Disappearing Castle (A Gumboot Kids Nature Mystery)

by Eric Hogan and Tara Hungerford 

Firefly Books

978-0-228104711

32 pp.

Ages 3-8

September 2024

 

As there were two Gumboot Kids Nature Mystery books released this month,  I won't repeat myself about the virtues of the series in teaching young children science concepts in a playful and mindful manner, as I did in yesterday's review of The Case of the Noisy Neighbor. But I would still like to share the story of The Case of the Disappearing Castle so that teachers and parents might consider the value of its scope.

From The Case of the Disappearing Castle by Eric Hogan and Tara Hungerford

This time, Daisy is building a sandcastle on the ocean's beach when Scout comes along. When they return from taking a walk, Daisy's beautiful sandcastle is gone. It's a new mystery for the nature sleuths and they take to Daisy's field notes to solve it. Daisy had, of course, made note of the sand and the ocean and even the moon that was visible during the day. With their clues and a trip to the knowledged-filled library, the two learn about tides.

From The Case of the Disappearing Castle by Eric Hogan and Tara Hungerford

Told with accuracy and simplicity, the two friends realize that the castle was swept away by the ocean tides. And with a mindful moment or two, Daisy and Scout take the time to breathe and appreciate the waves and the sounds of the ocean.

From The Case of the Disappearing Castle by Eric Hogan and Tara Hungerford

In addition to learning about tides and gravity, children will learn to make a sand clay handprint as their Nature Craft. As a support for early STEM learning, the Gumboot Kids Nature Mystery series does its job well but I am most impressed with the stories' focus on children being mindful in natural settings. Daisy and Scout always take a moment to breathe and relax as they contemplate what they've observed. With this multifaceted focus on science and self-awareness and relaxation, The Case of the Disappearing Castle reveals more than it disappears.

From The Case of the Disappearing Castle by Eric Hogan and Tara Hungerford

Sandy Toes: A Summer Adventure

Words by Shauntay Grant

Pictures by Candice Bradley

Abrams Appleseed

978-1-4197-6307-6

32 pp.

Ages 3-5

April 2023

 

Shauntay Grant's poetry has always shared the community and culture of African Canadians in Africville, The City Speaks in Drums and Up Home with great depth and heart. But, with Sandy Toes, she focuses on a child at play and new life beginning at the beach.

From Sandy Toes, words by Shauntay Grant, illus. by Candice Bradley

A family of four make their way to a sandy beach to enjoy the sun and the surf. There's wading into the water, sandcastle-building, kite-flying and ice cream, and getting wet. His older sister may have her own way of playing, but the toddler finds joy in running and splashing and floating. His fun comes from trying things out, both following his sister and being instructed by his dad.

From Sandy Toes, words by Shauntay Grant, illus. by Candice Bradley

But as the family enjoys the beach, sea turtle hatchlings are making their way from their birth locations to the ocean. A note Shauntay Grant appends to the story shares information about sea turtles and the nature of hatchlings to head for the ocean but also for the females to return when mature to lay their own eggs on the very beaches on which they'd hatched.

Whether a sea turtle hatchling making its way slowly to the sea or a young child joyously relishing a day in the sun and the water, the beach is a place of growth. That growth comes from a laborious trek or watching an elder sibling or parent but it's always a positive experience key to a turtle or child's development.

From Sandy Toes, words by Shauntay Grant, illus. by Candice Bradley

Shauntay Grant keeps her text simple but always alliterative and relevant to the young boy's experiences. The plainness of the text makes this book appropriate for those youngest children who are just learning to read, matching words with pictures and letter combinations. Though not really a concept book–after all, what concept would be being taught?–Sandy Toes will take children to the beach, to reflect on their own experiences there but also to imagine how others, both human and sea turtle, might enjoy it.

American Candice Bradley gives a brightness to Shauntay Grant's day at the beach. The warmth of the sand and water and sun are all there as is the affection of the family for each other. Her palette of blues and golds and roses might seem austere, but the variety of shades and tints increase her palette multifold and bring us to that beach to dig into that warm sand, cool off in the water, and rest on colourful towels.

Not all families are privileged enough to partake in a day at the beach with their children. But if they are, Sandy Toes shows us how it can involve delighting in their time together or in the play that is unique to a sandy shore or in the learning about sea turtles. It can truly be a summer adventure.

A Day for Sandcastles

Written by JonArno Lawson

Illustrated by Qin Leng

Candlewick Press

978-1-5362-0842-9

48 pp.

Ages 4-8

May 2022

 

JonArno Lawson has the words, as his picture books like The Playgrounds of Babel and  Leap! have demonstrated, but he doesn't need the words. As his award-winning Sidewalk Flowers and now A Day for Sandcastles show us, his storytelling can go beyond text and, with the skill of an amazing artist like Qin Leng, a story rich in characters, activity and feeling is told.

From A Day for Sandcastles by JonArno Lawson, illus. by Qin Leng

It's a day at the beach for this family of five. As they disembark from a bus, mum and dad coming up the rear, the three children race to through the grassy dunes, arms raised in cheer. There's a red-haired girl in a red-striped bathing suit, and older brother in navy patterned board shorts and a small child in green T-shirt and yellow shorts. Having found the remnants of a washed out sandcastle, they retrieve their pails and shovel and begin to work on their own.

 

But, as focused as they are on their creative endeavour, beach life teems around them. There are the swimmers and the sunbathers, the runners and the volleyball players. There are older women and toddlers, lovers walking hand-in-hand, and friends taking selfies. And there's also the splash of water and a wind-blown sun hat that damage their multi-castle structure with moat, compelling them to take a break and join their parents for lunch.

From A Day for Sandcastles by JonArno Lawson, illus. by Qin Leng

The children, though, are determined and look to rebuild their sandcastle. Together they fill buckets, mould turrets and dig out shapes. Even a toddler who sits herself down in the midst of their creation does not deter them from their work and adding flourishes of shells, twigs and other found objects.

From A Day for Sandcastles by JonArno Lawson, illus. by Qin Leng

But time and a tide wait for no one, and the children's numerous efforts must ultimately be left behind as they take their weary and sun-kissed bodies back to the bus for the trek back home.

For those who know the pleasure of a day at the beach, whether outside their own door or a bus ride away, A Day for Sandcastles is a day of possibilities. It's a day filled with play and family togetherness, cooperative fun and creative building. It's enjoying the positives and accepting the setbacks as natural and moving forward–or backward from the tide!–to dream of what sandcastles might be. JonArno Lawson gives us a full day at the beach with the companionship of siblings and the quiet but never-failing support of parents. He gives us the promise of a wide-open day as they step from the bus and the satisfying fatigue of a day well lived. We're there for the lapping cool water, the mild frustration of an errant sunhat, and the warmth of the sun on our backs. It's a day bursting with life and JonArno Lawson has given it to us without words.

Of course, without Qin Leng's watercolour and ink artwork, we couldn't envision this beach or these children on this day. Her media are perfection for a day at beach, giving us the fluidity of splashing water, the summer bustle of a diverse group of people and animals on a beach, and the heat of a sun warming sand and people. Qin Leng's skilled artistry transports us to this beach with this family and these strangers to share in a day of outdoor recreation.

There is far too much in A Day for Sandcastles to share in a single review. It will be up to you to visit that beach with your own children, students or family, and discover the minutiae of one day with these people at this one beach to build your own sandcastles, with sand or otherwise.

Hidden Treasure

Written and illustrated by Elly MacKay

Running Press Kids

978-0-7624-6301-5

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

June 2021

 

There's magic here. It's the magic of Elly MacKay's artwork but it's also in a child's wonder of discovery, finding treasure which most would overlook and appreciating a day of togetherness. It's in a lazy summer day on a beach and we're invited to watch.

 

From Hidden Treasure by Elly MacKay

A child and her Papa stroll down to the bay with their dog, past stores that claim to sell treasures, though she knows better.  She knows what true treasures are, and it's not the stuff sold in stores or the kind lauded by pirates in movies.

From Hidden Treasure by Elly MacKay

She finds treasure in the beach stones that are different with each visit. This day she picks up one that looks like a whale tooth, a perfect match for the whale she envisions in the clouds.

Dipping into the water, she discovers more treasure including shells, a speckled rock, a bubble wand, a rusty key and a marble, all which she lays out on the dock for her dog to see. Some she will return to the water to revisit another day and some treasures she will admire from afar, like the cocoon on the swamp milkweed.

 

From Hidden Treasure by Elly MacKay

Deciding what she will choose to add to her treasure box–“ones I can borrow, keep for a while”–is an important part of the process and one she shares with her Papa.

When I’m here, I feel like a queen.
So I think I know what treasure means.

And she knows that treasure goes beyond the things she picks up or sees on their outing.

From her debut picture book, If You Hold a Seed, Elly MacKay has been wowing young readers and their teachers, school and home, with her expressive illustrations. Because she blends drawings with ink and cut paper into scenes which she photographs–her Twitter handle is appropriately @theaterclouds–Elly MacKay melds layer upon layer of colour and texture and shape into an evocative landscapes of life and setting. The water produced from iridescent wrapping paper shimmers with movement and warmth and the beach radiates summer heat and softness with natural quiet. There's connection between people and with place but there is solitude as well. This is treasure in itself, as the child recognizes. 

 

I suspect that there will be, as there always have been, children collecting hidden treasures from walks in forests, along beaches and in urban settings on this very day. They will see the extraordinary in the ordinary. With Hidden Treasure and her ethereal artwork of theatre, Elly MacKay has reminded us all of the magic that comes from the ordinary and to see the treasure that is too often missed.

Capelin Weather

Written and illustrated by Lori Doody

Running the Goat Books & Broadsides

978-1-927917-09-1

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

July 2017

When the small fish known as capelin are rolling, it's a sight to behold and one with which many Newfoundlanders and some others on the Gaspé and in Nova Scotia are familiar.  Normally the capelin arrive to spawn on the beaches sometime between June and July, at the onset of summer, and grey, cold, wet weather is referred to as capelin weather.  But for Kate, the end to Capelin Weather can't come soon enough!

From Capelin Weather by Lori Doody

Like many children, summer holidays means the freedom to be outside playing in the sun and warmth.  For Kate, it means picnics and swimming and soccer and bonfires on the beach.  But not this year.  This year it is cold and overcast and rainy.  All the things she wants to do can't be done.  Her bingo-playing grandmother explains that when this "capelin weather" passes i.e., when the capelin arrive and people have collected their fill, a hot and sunny summer will be left behind.  Kate tries to make the connection between the small fish and the weather, imagining them falling from the sky like rain.  That is until the capelin do roll in.  Then the people come out to catch some, as does Kate, heralding the true beginning to summer.

From Capelin Weather by Lori Doody

Lori Doody's story is quintessential Newfoundland with its rocky beaches, summer past times, icebergs, lupines, lighthouses and more.  From the paintings on the wall of Kate's room and where her grandmother plays bingo–pictures of the Queen and a Newfoundlander dog– to the landscapes of shores and sea, Capelin Weather is a folk artist's rendering of the province affectionately known as the Rock.  The story is not an unusual one–a child wishing for warmer weather to have some outdoor summer fun–but it is unique in the context of that summer weather being signalled by the arrival of some fish and a fishing expedition like no other.  Of course children who've participated in this summer ritual and live in Newfoundland will love this story. But I'm sure other young ones will enjoy it as well, fascinated by the practice, the scenery and the weather lore within.  From her story to her boldly-coloured art, Lori Doody gets the flavour just right (though I do wonder what capelin taste like!)

Mr. Postmouse Takes a Trip

Written and illustrated by Marianne Dubuc

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-354-7

24 pp.

Ages 3-7

April 2017

Mr. Postmouse is the postmaster but he's closing up the post office and going on vacation with Mrs. Postmouse and his mouselings Pip, Milo and Lulu.  But this is a busman's holiday, if ever there was one, because each stop involves a delivery.  Half the fun of Mr. Postmouse Takes a Trip is looking for what package has disappeared from Mr. Postmouse's wagon and to whom it has been delivered.  The other half of the fun is taking in all the intricate details of Marianne Dubuc's astounding illustrations, overflowing with characters, activity and novelty. If you could only take one picture book on vacation, it would be Mr. Postmouse Takes a Trip, for the sheer volume of stories told within the minutiae of each illustration.

The trip, which is more inclusive than a world cruise, begins with the family Postmouse leaving their rural neighbourhood (I recognize the rural mailbox with its flag up) and bidding adieu to Mr. Bear and heading to a campground.  Amidst the woods of hikers and multitudinous fauna, Marianne Dubuc provides a glimpse into the tidy camper of Aunt Claudette and the family's own tent with cozy sleeping bags.

These pen and ink and pencil illustrations of structures from the camper to a department store and volcanic mountain are quintessential to the Mr. Postmouse series, taking down that fourth wall (or mountain side or ground) to expose an interior of intricacy and wonder.  It's a peek into unseen worlds, more whimsy than real (except for the human structures of food trucks and buildings), always imaginative and elaborate.

From Mr. Postmouse Takes a Trip

by Marianne Dubuc

Next stop: the beach.  Take a glimpse inside the sandcastle Lulu is building for Mr. Crab or into the ladybug’s ground hovel or the ice-cream truck of Mr. Panda. Or look for which package Milo is delivering to a seagull.

From Mr. Postmouse Takes a Trip 

by Marianne Dubuc

The trip continues with a foray onto the seas in an extraordinary cruise ship named the Rosetta, a stop on a volcanic island (and delivery for Tarzan to his tree house), a trek through the desert and into a jungle which seems to pay homage to Rousseau. The trip ends with stops in a bustling city, in the mountains, on an ice field, and with a venture into the heavens via hot-air balloon.  With each new destination, the Postmice deliver packages or envelopes, enjoy the attributes of the new locale and readers witness new worlds burgeoning with life and joie de vivre.

From Mr. Postmouse Takes a Trip 

by Marianne Dubuc

I hope Mr. Postmouse, Mrs. Postmouse, Pip, Milo and Lulu think to send lots of postcards–I'm sure Mr. Postmouse has a healthy supply of stamps!–to help them remember their trip because it is certainly a memorable one.  Even locales which may seem ordinary to some readers are teeming with delightfulness and amusing distractions for both Postmouses (Postmice?) and readers.  There’s Mr. Lizard’s dinner on a plate, meerkats playing chess under ground, the operatic cat putting an audience member to sleep, King Kong hiding, a marmot with booties on his ears, and ants in every location.  Without naming places, Marianne Dubuc may have taken everyone on a seven-continent tour via all manner of transportation.  But, it’s not like Mr. Postmouse Takes a Trip is a picture book to support your geography curriculum.  It is there to entertain and tickle, and it does, providing rich discussion fodder and a fascination with all that goes on, both inside and outside around the world.  Bon voyage!

Root Beer Candy and Other Miracles

by Shari Green

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-007-9

240 pp.

Ages 8-12

September 2016

I’m trying to have faith
trying to believe everything
will be okay.
But what if things don’t work out?
What if Jasper leaves,
Daniel can’t breathe,
my parents aren’t in love?
What if my family falls apart,
and I have to choose a parent
and not
the other?
Then what good
 is faith? (pg. 145)

It must feel like the weight of the world is upon Bailey’s small eleven-year-old shoulders.  Being sent with her 8-year-old brother to stay with their hitherto-unknown grandmother, Nana Marie, at Felicity Bay on Arbutus Island on the west coast seems trepidatious enough but this strangeness is compounded by her concerns for her parents who are attending Marriage Repair camp.

My parents should be here.
We should be together
the four of us–
diamonds, clubs, spades, hearts,
Crazy Eights on a Sunday afternoon,
four quarters making a whole
like we always used to be
but might never be
again. (pg. 13)

Still Bailey has the joie de vivre to find adventures in everything from the pancakes in which she searches for the face of God–Aunt Debbie saw Tom Hanks’ face in her pancakes once– to a piece of driftwood that becomes a mermaid she christens “Our Lady of the Bay.”  And when the prophecy-delivering ice-cream man Jasper, a former preacher, foresees a stranger coming who will change everything, Bailey is hopeful that it’s Our Lady of the Bay who will bring about some good fortune.  With her parents’ marriage in need of repair, her friend and neighbour Daniel suffering with cystic fibrosis, a community divided and occasionally hostile, the compassionate Jasper being disgraced and driven out of town, and the church’s chalice missing, Bailey and Felicity Bay need a miracle or two.

But, even with these uncertainties and burdens, don’t ever think of Root Beer Candy and Other Miracles as anything but a story, told magnificently in verse form, of hope and courage and trust in the universe.  Good and bad may ebb and flow like the tides but that’s just the nature of  things.  In the end, it is what it is, and Bailey accepts it to be so.  Nonetheless it doesn’t stop her from making an all-out effort to help, whether it be her parents, Jasper, or a beached dolphin, and try to turn the tides of adversity.

Root Beer Candy and Other Miracles is Shari Green’s debut novel but it is an accomplished story in form and content worthy of a seasoned writer.  If you’ve enjoyed reviews on CanLit for LittleCanadians, you know that I am fond of novels in verse, but I fully comprehend the titanic challenge of writing one well.  Balancing structure with plot is complicated.  Yet Shari Green dives right in, creating characters and circumstances that effortlessly carry the reader from beginning to end on waves of sentiments, some fearful, most benevolent, all heartfelt.  Root Beer Candy and Other Miracles is in itself a miracle of a free verse of

“…moments
of significance,
ordinary things
that turned out to be
extraordinary.” (pg. 232)

See You Next Year

by Andrew Larsen

Illustrated by Todd Stewart

Owlkids Books

978-1-926973-99-9

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

March 2015

I'll bet lots of families are already thinking about their summer plans, and many already know where and when they’ll be vacationing because it’s become an annual ritual.  It’s a ritual embedded in a known car trip, a familiar cottage à la motel, and a proverbial beach.

We’ve been coming to the same place every summer since I was little.
Nothing changes.
That’s why I like it. (pg. 8)

In See You Next Year, the intimacy of the location is only surpassed by the familiarity of the activities.  The very people may change from year to year but the sand-raking tractor, the umbrella-toting visitors, the evening concert at the gazebo bandstand and the beach bonfire are all the same.  However, a new friend,  not unexpected, adds some new milestones to the young girl’s summer.

The rhythm of Andrew Larsen’s text will easily transport older readers to summer holidays as children: the lapping of the waves on the beach, the pattern of the sea of umbrellas , the patter of that inevitable day of rain, the routine of waking, swimming, playing, staying up late and sleeping in.

And Todd Stewart, for whom this is his first picture book, captures the essence of those summer holidays with family in his retro art and minimal palette.  In illustrations in which he could have emphasized a myriad of colours across bathing suits, umbrellas, and blistering heat, Todd Stewart chooses eloquently to underscore the turquoise of the water, the sandy golds of the beach, the midnight blue of a clear sky, or the taupes of a rainy day inside.  It works so well.

I suspect Andrew Larsen may be recreating his own memories or sharing those of his own children.  Either way, summer will seem very familiar and too far in the future until it’s already gone, and a postcard and warm memories are all that are left.  Until next year.

Gertrude at the Beach

by Starr Dobson

Art by Dayle Dodwell

Nimbus Publishing

978-1-77108-171-9

32 pp.

Ages 4+

October, 2014

When Gertrude Allawishes, the goat, joined young Starr's family in My Goat Gertrude (Nimbus, 2011), she began an illustrious career of chaotic entertainment for the family and also for young readers.  Now Gertrude returns for a second literary adventure in Gertrude at the Beach, with Starr Dobson, the author and the little girl whose family adopted Gertrude, sharing Gertrude's exploits when the family goes to their summer cottage.

With Gertrude's exuberance, it's no wonder that Mom is apprehensive about having the goat roaming freely around their cottage by the water.  While Chips, the dog, is called trusty, Gertrude is deemed mischievous, and Starr and her two sisters are expected to keep track of Gertrude's activities.  Both animals love to race around, though Chips sticks to playing fetch while the goat gets stuck under an old rowboat and chews up a dried jellyfish.  But when Gertrude goes missing and is found swimming farther and farther out towards a boat and needs to be rescued, the family realizes that Gertrude isn't just getting into trouble.  She's trying to tell them something.

Having never lived with a goat, I can't imagine the turmoil a goat can cause.  Sounds like Gertrude ate just about anything and put herself in some compromising circumstances. But, as Starr Dobson demonstrates in Gertrude at the Beach, Gertrude's shenanigans are not always selfish pursuits, though they are often interpreted as such.  Her haedine heart is as full as her joie de vivre but the tone of the story does not capture the affection the family must have for her.  On the other hand, while Dayle Dodwell's illustrations have the feel of traditional picture book realism, her use of colour and perspective do much to warm the story to the summer days of the past when playing in the sand with family, human and pets, was relaxed and carefree.  Surprises, whether through discovery or calamity, were few but only helped to accentuate the freedom and ease of the season. Gertrude at the Beach reflects a singular calamity on one summer day that ends on a happy note, though I wish the depth of Gertrude's positive impact on the family, whether through words or actions, might have been characterized better.

Summer's On! A youngCanLit Picture Book list

Time to go on summer holidays, enjoy or endure vacations with or without family, and savour our Canadian summer, whether it be on the coast, in the city, in the north or in the bush, or even away.  Summer's on!

PICTURE BOOKS

Are We There Yet?

by Nancy Crystal

Scholastic

32 pp.
Ages 3-7
1991

Camping

by Nancy Hundal

Illustrated by Brian Deines

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

32 pp.

Ages 8-11

2002        

Checkers and Dot at the Beach
by J. Torres
Illustrated by J. Lum
16 pp.
Ages 0-3
2012

Dippers

by Barbara Nichol

Illustrated by Barry Moser

Tundra Books

32 pp.

Ages 8+

1997

The Fishing Summer

by Teddy Jam

Illustrated by Ange Zhang

Groundwood

32 pp.

Ages 4-9
1997

Goldsworthy and Mort in Summer Fun

by Marcia Vaughan

Illustrated by Linda Hendry

HarperCollins

64 pp.

Ages 5-6
1990

In the Tree House

by Andrew Larson

Illustrated by Dušan Petricic

Kids Can Press

32 pp.

Ages 5-10

2013

Kitten's Summer

by Eugenie Fernandes

Kids Can Press

24 pp.

Ages 1-4
2011

Mayfly

by Marthe Jocelyn

Tundra Books

32 pp.

Ages 2-7
2004

My Family Vacation   

by Dayal Kaur Khalsa

Tundra Books

24 pp.
Ages 6-9
2003

Nana's Summer Surprise

by Heather Hart-Sussman

Illustrated by Georgia Graham

Tundra Books

32 pp.

Ages 5-7
2013

A Prairie Boy's Summer
by William Kurelek
Tundra Books
48 pp.
Ages 8-12
1975

Prairie Summer
by Nancy Hundal
Illustrated by Brian Deines
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
34 pp.
1999

Ready for Summer

by Marthe Jocelyn

Tundra Books

16 pp.

Ages 1-3
2008

Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach

by Mélanie Watt

Kids Can Press

32 pp.

Ages 5-10
2008

Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping

by Mélanie Watt

Kids Can Press

32 pp.

Ages 5-10
2013
Reviewed here

Simon in Summer

by Gilles Tibo

Tundra Books

24 pp.

Ages 3-8
1991

The Summer of the Marco Polo
by Lynn Manuel
Illustrated by Kasia Charko
Orca Book Publishers
32 pp.
2007

Travels for Two: Stories and Lies from My Childhood

by Stephane Poulin

Annick Press

32 pp.

Ages 5-8
1991

The Twelve Days of Summer

by Jan Andrews

Illustrated by Susan Rennick Jolliffe

Orca

32 pp.

Ages 4-8
2005

When We Go Camping

by Margriet Ruurs

Illustrated by Andrew Kiss

Tundra Books

32 pp.

Ages 6-8

2001

Zoe's Sunny Day

by Barbara Reid

Scholastic Canada

10 pp.

Ages 1-3

2001