Midsummer Reading For Kids

Editor’s Note: Book Review is grateful to the editors of the Horn Book, one of America’s most distinguished journals devoted to children’s literature, for providing the following midsummer recommendations.

BALLPARK

By Elisha Cooper

Greenwillow: 40 pp., $15

This quiet tour takes us behind the scenes as a groundskeeper prepares the baseball field, workers unload boxes of peanuts, uniforms are laundered, players dress in the locker room and fans pack the stands. You can almost smell the hot dogs and hear the roar of the crowd. (Ages 5-8)

NIGHT AT THE FAIR

By Donald Crews

Greenwillow: 24 pp., $15

This big-experience, you-are-there picture book cruises through the crowds, the booths, the games and the rides at an old-fashioned county fair. The climax is four glorious, almost wordless spreads of the thrilling rides, from tilt-a-whirl to Ferris wheel, all lit up against the night sky. A truly spectacular visual experience. (Ages 4-7)

I LOST MY BEAR

By Jules Feiffer

Morrow Junior: 40 pp., $16

When a young girl misplaces her bear, her big sister suggests she throw away another toy in hopes that it will land in the same place as the lost bear. This method uncovers a variety of other missing treasures, which the girl plays with happily until bedtime--when she shamefacedly realizes she’s forgotten all about her bear. Feiffer’s loose-lined cartoon style illustrations capture the comedy and the drama of this affectionate family satire. (Ages 5-8)

LOTTIE’S NEW BEACH TOWEL

By Petra Mathers

Schwartz/Atheneum: 26 pp., $15

Lottie is a chicken who receives a beach towel from her Aunt Mattie just in time for a picnic she’s having with her good friend Herbie, an unpretentious, big-bellied duck. Little does Lottie know just how useful her new red polka-dotted towel will prove. Pure fun on a hot summer day. (Ages 3-6)

RAISING DRAGONS

By Jerdine Nolen

Illustrated by Elise Primavera

Silver Whistle/Harcourt: 32 pp., $16

Ma and Pa are hard pressed to take their young daughter’s pet dragon seriously until mysterious things begin to happen on their farm. Seeds are sown, tomatoes are saved from the heat and an overabundant field of corn is popped by fiery breath for profitable popcorn. This magical tale of friendship will send youngsters scurrying to find (or invent) a dragon of their own. (Ages 5-8)

BOSS OF THE PLAINS

The Hat That Won the West

By Laurie Carlson

Illustrated by Holly Meade

Kroupa/DK Ink: 32 pp. $16.95

Learn how John Batterson Stetson’s ungainly but perfectly adapted tick-fur hat, which he named “Boss of the Plains,” became an indispensable part of Western attire. Rough-and-ready illustrations and enticing prose set the scene for John Stetson to win readers as easily as he won the West. (Ages 5-8)

ZELDA AND IVY

By Laura McGee Kvasnosky

Candlewick: 40 pp., $15.99

Zelda, the precious fox, decides that she and Ivy, her younger sister, will play circus. Zelda is the announcer, and Ivy is the performer of increasingly death-defying, Zelda-dictated tricks. When Zelda suggests they gussy up their tails like movie stars, only Ivy’s is painted, scalloped and beglittered. But soon Zelda’s know-it-all big-sister tactics backfire and she has to be nice to Ivy--temporarily. Big and little sisters everywhere will identify with this dead-on expose of sibling-hood. (Ages 4-7)

PURPLE MOUNTAIN MAJESTIES

The Story of Katharine Lee Bates and

“America the Beautiful”

By Barbara Younger

Illustrated by Stacey Schuett

Dutton: 40 pp., $15.99

Younger draws on archival materials and family correspondence to sketch the vivacious and sometimes quirky temperament of the woman who wrote “America the Beautiful,” while Schuett’s glowing paintings capture the scenery that inspired the patriotic song. Look no further for all-American fare. (Ages 6-10)

SAMMY KEYES AND THE HOTEL THIEF

By Wendelin Van Draanen

Knopf Books for Young Readers: 164 pp., $15

As Samantha Keyes trains her Gram’s binoculars on the burglary in progress across the street, the thief looks up and sees her through the window; rather than call the police, Sammy waves. The events snowball from there until Sammy deduces the surprising identity of the thief. A treat for mystery lovers. (Ages 10-13)

MY LOUSIANA SKY

By Kimberly Willis Holt

Holt: 202 pp., $15.95

Why can’t Tiger’s parents, dubbed “retarded” by the town of Saitter, be more like Tiger’s Aunt Dorie Kay, who lives the high life in big-city Baton Rouge? Tiger moves in with Dorie Kay, cuts her hair a la Hepburn and goes by her middle name, “Ann,” only to discover that her parents’ uncanny ways are an undeniable source of strength. An unpretentious plot and lyrical storytelling style make this a satisfying summer read. (Ages 10-14)

THE WRECKERS

By Iain Lawrence

Delacorte: 198 pp., $15.95

It is 1799, and John Spencer is 14 when his father’s ship, the ill-fated Isle of Skye, is shipwrecked on the coast of Cornwall. John survives but soon learns that the villagers are not rescuers but wreckers, pirates who lure ships ashore in order to plunder their cargoes. John’s harrowing escape provides a suspenseful plot filled with adventure. (Ages 10 -14)

THE EXILES IN LOVE

By Hilary McKay

McElderry: 74 pp., $16

Summer romance, anyone? In this third installment of the misadventures of the Conroy sisters, the girls discover what Big Grandma calls the “family failing”: “falling in love. Impractically. Desperately. Unsuitably. And usually quite hopelessly.” The humor is witty, the plot plentiful and the sisters unfailingly memorable. (Ages 10-14)

SUMMER READING IS KILLING ME!

By Jon Scieszka

Illustrated by Lane Smith

McElderry: 74 pp., $16

The popular Time Warp Trio (Fred, Sam and Joe). veterans of wacky time travel trips to the Stone Age, the Middle Ages and ancient Egypt, have a different kind of adventure as they find themselves in the midst of... their summer reading list!?! And it’s up to the boys to rescue the likes of Encyclopedia Brown, Frog and Toad, and Mary Poppins from the evil clutches of Teddy Bear. (Ages 10-14)

GO AND COME BACK

By Joan Abelove

Jackson/DK Ink: 180 pp., $16.95

Set among a fictional tribe in the Peruvian jungle, the story is narrated by Alicia, a young girl who is leery of the two anthropologists from New York (“old white ladies”--really only in their 20s) who have come to study her people. It’s a humorous (sometimes bawdy) yet respectful look into both cultures, shining a light on a nearly hidden society and allowing readers to view our own culture through new eyes. (Ages 12 and older)

RULES OF THE ROAD

By Joan Bauer

Putnam: 202 pp., $15.99

Jenna, newly armed with a driver’s license, thought she had her summer all worked out--until the imperious Mrs. Gladstone, owner of the national shoe store chain where Jenna works, asks Jenna to be her chauffeur. A fast and funny tale of one big-boned (and bighearted) gal’s summer of discovery on the road. (Ages 12 and older)

SOMEONE LIKE YOU

By Sarah Dressen

Viking: 282 pp., $15.99

From Halley’s first serious relationship with a boy to her ignorance over the details of sex (“I wasn’t very clear on the logistics”) to her fascination with her best friend Scarlett’s pregnancy, Dessen hits home with her sharp sense of humor. Adolescent girls will relish the honest explication of the things they really want to know. (Ages 12 and older)