10 great new children’s books for your beach bag ‹ Literary Hub

Reading for pleasure is my favorite pastime year-round, but it fits especially well with the longer, more relaxed days of summer, when school is out and young readers may not even need a flashlight to stay awake long past bedtime with a good book. My kids and I kicked off the season with a visit to our local library, where we signed up for the summer reading program and lugged home armloads of books that we hope we don’t smear with sunscreen, sprinkle with ice cream drops, or fill with sand. (I’m sorry, librarians. It’s very hot outside, too hot to make promises.)

Whether you’re traveling this summer or camping under the ceiling fan at home, I hope you and your family have plenty of opportunities to read just for the joy of reading. To help you get started, I’ve rounded up some particularly fun new releases for kids and teens. From sweet romances and thrilling heists to magical adventures and hilarious antics, there’s something for everyone.

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Janik Mantel, Onomatopoeia
(Abrams Appleseed, July 16)
Recommended for children aged 2–4 years

A small spark of genius in cardboard picture book format, Onomatopoeia is just as much fun for adults as it is for kids. The concept is simple: A panda goes about his daily business, from walking in the rain to a birthday party and bedtime, demonstrating the onomatopoeic language that makes up the entire text. Panda puts on a raincoat (zipper), drives in a small red car (vroom) and becomes a bit too fluffy after blow-drying while bathing (PUFF!). With just a few words, author and illustrator Janik Coat has managed to give this straightforward concept book a real narrative flow. It also has a great sense of humor; I can’t look at Panda’s subtly changing facial expressions without giggling. There’s enough joy and silliness here to make the inevitable requests to read it again a real pleasure.

Allan Ahlberg, Under the table
illustrated by Bruce Ingman
(Candlewick, July 2)
Recommended for children aged 3 to 7 years

For enthusiastic children’s book lovers, Allan Ahlberg needs no introduction: He is the author of The funny postman, Every peach pear plumand over 100 other published books, many illustrated by his late wife Janet. Under the table is Ahlberg’s latest work for young readers, a wonderfully absurd story about a family that keeps finding the most unusual animals under their dinner table. For a while, the family puts every animal in the house to work, asking Nathaniel the elephant to wash the car and Abigail the kangaroo to unload the groceries. When the animals multiply, however, Mama decides the only right thing to do with them is to take them on vacation. Acclaimed illustrator Bruce Ingman, who has been Ahlberg’s creative partner on several previous books, provides colorful, playful art that matches the lighthearted spirit of the text.

Angie Cruz, Angélica and la Güira
illustrated by Luz Batista
(Kokila, July 30)
Recommended for children aged 5 to 8 years

Here’s a lively read-aloud story that will make you feel like you’re making music on the sidewalk with your friends on a warm evening. Angélica has spent the summer visiting her extended family in the Dominican Republic, and when it’s time for her to return to New York, Angélica’s abuelito gives her a güira, a percussion instrument that’s been passed down in the family for generations. Angélica can’t wait to share the güira’s musical powers with her neighbors in Washington Heights, but no one there seems to understand how special it is—until Angélica figures out how to use it to bring her community together. Both author Angie Cruz and illustrator Luz Batista make their picture book debut here; just like their heroine, they’ve already figured out how to make her instrument sing. A Spanish-language edition, Angelica and the Güirapublished simultaneously.

Kristin O’Donnell Tubb, Foul play
(Katherine Tegen Books, July 30)
Recommended for children aged 8 to 12 years

Crime fiction is my favorite beach read, and I can’t wait to curl up under a beach umbrella with this funny and heartwarming new middle grade mystery from author Kristin O’Donnell Tubb. Chloe’s beloved uncle has died, and at the will reading, Chloe learns that she has inherited his pet African grey parrot, Charles Featherington II (but let’s call her Charlie). When Charlie says, “It was murder,” Chloe begins to wonder if her uncle died of natural causes. She enlists her older brother and true-crime-obsessed grandmother to help her find out what really happened to Uncle Will, and their thrilling investigation leads Chloe to uncover some important truths about her uncle and the entire family who loved him.

Deeba Zargarpur, Farrah Noorzad and the Ring of Destiny
(Labyrinth Road, July 2)
Recommended for children aged 8 to 12 years

If your middle school reader loves mythological fantasy, give them this fresh and engaging addition to the genre. Twelve-year-old Farrah longs for a closer relationship with her father, but when a birthday wish goes awry, she learns that her father is a genie—and that her wish trapped him in a magical ring. To make amends for her mistake and free her father, Farrah and some new acquaintances venture into a fantastical realm inspired by Persian and Islamic legends. Farrah’s strong narrative voice makes this series opener a real page-turner, and readers will enjoy exploring the novel’s rich, haunting fantasy world alongside her.

Sarah Tolcser, majesty
illustrated by Antonio Caparo
(GP Putnam’s Sons, July 2)
Recommended for children aged 8 to 12 years

Are you a map person? Always have been. What I mean is, when I open a novel and find a map inside, I know I’m about to have fun. majestya kind of middle class Jurassic Park with magical creatures instead of dinosaurs, starts with this type of map and delivers what it promises: excitement and adventure. Hattie is a thirteen-year-old maid at the Hotel Majestica in Ridgewell’s Fantastical Creature Park, a nature reserve for unicorns, griffins, wyverns, and other magical creatures. When snooty Evelyn Ridgewell comes to the park for a wilderness tour, Hattie is assigned to tend to Evelyn’s needs. But their train ride ends in disaster, and the girls must work together – and with their new acquaintance Jacob, a government sorcerer’s apprentice – to stay alive and save the creatures that call the park home.

Jeff Zentner and Brittany Cavallaro, Sunrise nights
(Quill Tree Books, July 9)
Recommended for ages 13 and up

Jeff Zentner and Brittany Cavallaro, both talented young adult authors, have teamed up to create this sweet, well-crafted love story. Two teenagers, Florence and Jude, meet on Sunrise Night, the last night of summer at a camp for artistically gifted teens. Florence is a dancer faced with a medical diagnosis that threatens her long-term career; Jude is a photographer who lets Florence know when they meet that he already has a girlfriend. But the couple agree to meet again a year later on the next Sunrise Night, and the story — told in both verse and prose — follows their relationship over the course of the following summers. Immediately likable characters and a compelling concept make Sunrise nights an ideal reading for your own long, dreamy summer evening.

Chatham Greenfield, Again and again
(Bloomsbury, July 23)
Recommended for ages 13 and up

Phoebe Mendel has experienced August 6th twenty-six times in a row, and it’s always pretty much the same. She eats blueberry pancakes for breakfast, goes to her dad’s for a game of Scrabble, researches how to break out of the impossible time loop she’s trapped in, and suffers through the painful flare-up of irritable bowel syndrome that she suspects may have triggered the whole thing. And every day the groundhog greets you-like situation. Then something changes: Phoebe’s crush Jess Friedman, who is quite complicated, hits Phoebe with her car and suddenly Jess is caught in the time loop too. If time doesn’t stop repeating itself, Phoebe may never meet the gastroenterologist who could treat her irritable bowel syndrome… but when August 6th finally ends, she could lose the budding relationship she’s building with Jess. Chatham Greenfield mixes romance with speculative fiction to great effect in this charming debut.

Karen M. McManus, Such charming liars
(Delacorte, July 30)
Recommended for ages 14 and up

I was late to discover Karen M. McManus’ books, but when I finally picked up her bestselling thriller for young adults, One of us is lyingI was hooked. McManus’ intricate storylines and complex characters are easy to love, and I’m counting the days until her latest novel hits the shelves. In Such charming liars, We meet Kat, who lives on the fringes of her mother Jamie’s exciting and dangerous life as a jewel thief. When Jamie tries to give up her not-quite-legal job, she is given one last impossible robbery. Kat decides to come along, not realizing that this will lead to a reunion with Liam, her former stepbrother, whom she hasn’t seen for years. Of course, there is also a murder and a few surprising twists that create a lot of suspense.

Jennifer Yu, Grief in the fourth dimension
(Amulet, July 16)
Recommended for ages 14 and up

When we first meet Kenny Zhou, he’s in an empty, white room. Empty, but friendly and accommodating: when he wishes for a sofa, one appears, transforms into a less ostentatious armchair to suit Kenny’s taste, and reupholsters itself with yellow smiley faces to cheer him up. This is a tricky task, because Kenny is dead. As is his high school classmate Caroline Davison, who never had much to do with Kenny until she turns up in the same mysterious room in the afterlife. Via the television on the wall, the teens can follow the lives of their grieving families as they carry on on Earth, and author Jennifer Yu invites readers to watch too as Kenny and Caroline get to know the intersections and complexities of their stories better. With creativity and humor, this unique novel explores nuanced themes of grief, privilege, and connection.