5 Summer Picture Books with Engaging Activities Your Students Will Love

Ready to sprinkle some literacy fun into your summer reading plans? These five summer picture books are perfect for keeping students engaged while sneaking in some seriously smart skills! Each one comes with an easy-to-implement activity and a go-to resource that’ll make your teacher life just a little bit easier (yay for that)! Let’s dive in!

**1. Shark Lady by Jess Keating**

This true story celebrates Eugenie Clark, a fearless female scientist who followed her passion for sharks—and changed the way the world sees them!

Summer Picture Book Shark Lady by Jess Keating

After reading, dive into the elements of literary nonfiction or biography! Have your students complete a one-page organizer focusing on plot summary, Eugenie’s awesome character traits (with text evidence, of course!), the author’s purpose, and how Eugenie made a difference in the world. Wrap it all up with a discussion about what lesson we can learn from her story! I love using these One-Page Genre Graphic Organizers to help students break it all down in a visually simple way—they work like magic for focusing thinking!

Literary Nonfiction One Page Graphic Organizer — Explore literary nonfiction elements, character traits, author’s purpose and more with this printable.

**2. The Seashore Book by Charlotte Zolotow**

In this dreamy, poetic book, a boy asks his mother what the seashore is like—and she paints a vivid picture with her words.

Summer Picture Book The Seashore Book by Charlotte Zolotow

This is the perfect summer picture book for visualizing with the five senses! After reading, create a two-column chart: one side for sensory details from the text, and the other for what students can see, hear, feel, smell, or taste in their imaginations. Bring those summer scenes to life with this Writing Descriptive Details using 5 Senses resource—it has everything you need to model and support richly detailed writing. Beach vibes in the classroom? Yes, please!

Visualizing with sensory details anchor chart — Recording sensory details from The Seashore Book and what mental image it creates.

**3. Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall**

This sweet and relatable story follows Jabari as he works up the courage to jump off the diving board for the very first time.

Summer picture book Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall

Jabari’s emotional journey is the perfect springboard (see what I did there?) for character analysis! Have students create an accordion book to track how Jabari’s feelings change, what he wants, what’s standing in his way, and what he learns by the end. It’s a beautiful blend of social-emotional learning and reading comprehension! This Character Analysis resource has everything you need to dig into emotions, traits, conflict, and change with your readers.

Tracking character change in Jabari Jumps — Jabari Jumps is a great text to explore how a character changes over the course of a story.

Character trait analysis with Jabari Jumps

**4. Whoosh! by Chris Barton**

Meet Lonnie Johnson, the brilliant inventor behind the Super Soaker (yes, that Super Soaker!), and discover how his ideas—and persistence—led to a splash-tastic invention!

Summer picture book Whoosh! by Chris Barton

This summer picture book is awesome for sequencing events and thinking about the author’s craft! After reading, either prep main events on cards (or use this freebie I’ve made) or brainstorm them together, then get students to place them in order. Next, dive a little deeper: why did the author choose this order? What impact does it have? This Sequence of Events activity set gives you the tools to guide students through understanding the why behind the what – a great way to encourage critical thinking!

Sequencing events with Whoosh! by Chris Barton — Whoosh! is an engaging story and a great text for sequencing events!

**5. Surprising Sharks by Nicola Davies**

This nonfiction gem throws shark stereotypes out the window and grabs readers right from the very first line!

Summer picture book Surprising Sharks by Nicola Davies

Use this one to explore what makes an awesome beginning in informational writing. After reading, discuss what makes the intro to Surprising Sharks so good—does it hook the reader? Share interesting facts? Set the tone? Then challenge students to write their own sizzling summer-themed expository openings using what they’ve noticed! And some resources to help you out – this blog post, Creative Expository Introductions and this resource pack, Good Introductions for Expository Writing. They’ve both got student-friendly strategies and examples to make your lesson shine!

Exploring great beginnings to stories — Surprising Sharks is a great example of a sizzling start!

Bonus Freebie!
To kick off summer reading with a little extra fun, grab this FREE Summer Reading BINGO board! These picture books make the perfect starting point—read one, mark a square, and watch the excitement grow as students track their summer reading adventures. It’s a great way to build momentum and celebrate books all season long!

So there you have it—five summer picture books with purposeful, skill-packed activities that feel nothing like worksheets. Grab your beach bag (or your book bin), print those resources, and get ready for some seriously fun summer learning!