Summer is a great time for adventures of all kinds! Why weren’t my summers as a kid this exciting? See also Summer Camp or Camping Out.
General Fiction
Dandelion Cottage (1904)
The four friends make a deal that they can use the cottage as their playhouse, provided that they take care of it.
Double Trouble on Vacation (1989)
Randi and Sandi are spending the summer at a lake. Randi enters a fishing contest with a friend, and Sandi is trying to earn a wilderness merit badge. An accident with a skunk sets off a situation where the girls need to switch places.
Eleven Kids, One Summer (1991)
A large family spends their summer at an island vacation home meeting movie stars and investigating the creepy house next door. It’s a collection of short stories, one for each child in the family. By Ann M. Martin.
Peter finds out that he’s going to have to share his family vacation with the awful Sheila and her family because the families have gone together to rent a house in Maine. Worse than that, when romance blossoms between his grandmother and Sheila’s grandfather, will Peter and Sheila be able to stand becoming . . . relatives?
Gone-Away Lake (1957)
A pair of cousins, exploring a swampy area over summer vacation, find the remains of an old resort community that once stood by a lake and meet the people who still live there. By Elizabeth Enright.
A set of twins who were separated by their divorced parents and haven’t seen each other since they were babies meet again at a summer camp. This was the basis for the Disney movie The Parent Trap. Originally written in German. By Erich Kastner.
The Railway Children (1906)
When their father is accused of a crime he didn’t commit, three children move to a house in the countryside with their mother. The house is near railroad tracks, and their adventures with the trains and a particular Old Gentleman who rides them help to improve their situation and prove their father’s innocence. This book is public domain and is available on Project Gutenberg. It was also made into a movie more than once. By E. Nesbit.
Return to Gone-Away (1961)
A family renovates an old, abandoned house as a summer home, and the children have adventures with their friends. Sequel to Gone-Away Lake. By Elizabeth Enright.
A brother and sister run away from their harsh baby-sitter to spend the summer secretly at the lake. By Ruth Chew.
The kids spend their summer in many different ways. By Carolyn Haywood.
Sunny-Side Up
Richard and Matthew end up having to go to summer school. Then, Matthew finds out that his family is going to move to a new state! Can Richard face the loss of his best friend? Part of the The Kids of the Polk Street School series.
Thimble Summer (1938)
A nine-year-old girl named Garnet, who lives on a farm in Wisconsin, finds a thimble by the river and becomes convinced that it’s magical and brings her good luck. By Elizabeth Enright.
Adventure
The Rescue (1978)
A family on vacation has to save themselves from a sudden flood. By Mary Cunningham.
The Witch’s Spoon (1975)
Two children visit their grandmother beach cottage over the summer, getting to know a cousin they never met before and sharing a special day of freedom and adventure. By Mary Cunningham.
Mysteries
The Case of the Lost Lookalike
The girls are spending the summer at a lake with their aunt when people start claiming that Clarice is a lookalike for a young girl who disappeared in that area around 40 years ago. What happened to the girl all those years ago, and does Clarice really resemble her?
Professor Carver and his family move into a house in the country to solve the mystery of the ghost that is haunting it. By Clyde Robert Bulla.
Siblings who are making a car trip home without their parents become trapped by a storm at an old house full of sinister people and a possible ghost. By Vic Crume.
The Haunting of Cabin 13 (1987)
When Laurie’s family rents a cabin by a lake during the summer, it seems like the cabin is haunted by the ghost of a girl who died there the year before, who keeps leaving mysterious notes for Laurie.
Mystery Aboard the Ocean Princess
A girl and her cousin who are on a cruise to Europe try to prevent the theft of a valuable painting being transported on their ship.
A girl and her brother investigate a mysterious man near their family’s summer home.
The Mystery in Dracula’s Castle
A boy who idolizes Sherlock Holmes agrees to help his brother with his Dracula movie over the summer and ends up finding a mystery to solve. This is the novelization of a Disney movie.
Mystery of the Angry Idol (1965)
When Jan’s family moves overseas for her father’s work, she stays in the United States to go to school, living with her mysterious, reclusive great-grandmother in an old house filled with Asian art and secrets. By Phyllis A. Whitney.
Mystery of the Fog Man (1966)
The boys investigate the theft of money from a ferry boat over the summer, and part of the secret of this mystery centers around a mysterious figure on the beach known as the Fog Man.
The Mystery of the Gulls (1949)
When Taffy’s mother must prove that she can manage her aunt’s old hotel on Mackinac Island in order to inherit it, strange things start happening, and someone seems to be trying to interfere. By Phyllis Whitney.
The Mystery of the Haunted Trail
When Brian visits his pen pal in Hawaii for the summer, he confronts a ghostly mystery based on Hawaiian legends. By Janet Lorimer.
Mystery of the Secret Dolls (1993)
A pair of girls search for antique dolls from the Civil War era that are the key to an old family secret. There’s a lot about the history of this particular family in their small town and a kind of rivalry between the heroine’s aunts, one of which loves cooking and the other of which is obsessed with doll-making and their family’s collection of antique dolls made by an ancestor. By Vicki Berger Erwin.
Amy goes to Taboga Island, off the coast of Panama, with her aunt for the summer and finds a mystery involving a lost painting.
An orphan girl takes a trip to Scotland with her relatives and carries out a series of tasks set for her by her grandmother. By Phyllis Whitney.
The Secret of the Strawbridge Place
The story takes place in during the Great Depression when Kate learns a secret about her family’s home that dates back to the Civil War. By Helen Pierce Jacob.
A girl and her family go to visit a relative in South Africa and solve the mystery of a theft that occurred years ago. By Phyllis Whitney.
A Spell is Cast (1974)
Cory, a lonely young orphan, goes to stay with her guardian’s relatives in California, learning the secrets of her own past and those of her new family and finding a better home than the one she left behind. There are a lot of nature themes in the story as Cory falls in love with the California countryside and makes friends with a group of kids who like to go exploring. By Eleanor Cameron.
A brother and sister move to Maine with their father, where he is put in charge of a collection of Egyptian artifacts at a small college. They are soon confronted with a mystery concerning the mummy in the collection.
A young deaf girl is kidnapped for ransom. Her best friend searches for her while she struggles to leave clues to help her friend learn her kidnapper’s identity.
Series
Two pairs of fraternal twins have adventures and solve mysteries. Early books were more adventure/general fiction than mystery, but the series evolved over time. Books in this series are public domain and are available on Project Gutenberg. A Stratemeyer Syndicate series. 1904-1992.
Four children who lived alone in a boxcar after the death of their parents are taken in by their grandfather and solve mysteries everywhere they go. 1924, 1942-Present.
About three siblings who solve mysteries together. Many of them are treasure hunts, and many of them are set by family members. By Peggy Parish. 1966-1986.
Meg and her best friend Kerry solve mysteries in their small Virginia town and other places along the east coast. By Holly Beth Walker. 1967-1972, Reprinted 1978.
A series of mysteries with The Kids of the Polk Street School. Dawn uses her Polka Dot Private Eye detective kit to solve mysteries with her friends and classmates. By Patricia Reilly Giff. 1987-1990.
“Queer” as in strange, weird, mysterious. No other sense of the word! Two friends, Gwen and Jill, solve mysteries with the help of Jill’s dog, Fletcher, who loves salami. By Elizabeth Levy. 1973-2003.
The Stanleys are a blended family, and the children solve mysteries, sometimes with a spooky theme. By Zilpha Keatley Snyder. 1971-1989.
A classic mystery series featuring a girl and her group of friends who solve mysteries and support good causes. Created by Julie Campbell and continued by other authors. 1948-1986.
Fantasy Mysteries
When Sally goes to stay with an aunt she’s never met before, she finds a portrait of a young girl who looks very much like her wearing old-fashioned clothes and holding a doll. This young girl, also named Sally, used to live in her aunt’s house many years ago, and Sally begins to have visions of her life there and how she lost her beloved doll, Elizabeth, who is a little bit magic and is still in the house, waiting to be found. Part mystery, part fantasy.
Fantasy
Moondial (1987)
A girl who is staying with a family friend discovers that the sundial of an old manor house nearby has the ability to send her back through time, where she has to help unhappy children who lived at the house in the past. By Helen Cresswell.
Moon Window (1996)
Jo is trying to adjust to her mother’s remarriage when a visit to a distant relative at their old family home shows her a magic window that allows her to travel back in time. By Jane Louise Curry.
The Silver Nutmeg (1956)
Anna Lavinia enters a strange, upside down land by jumping through a still pool. By Palmer Brown.
The Summer Birds (1962)
Charlotte and Emma meet a boy who teaches them and their friends to fly with magic.
Tom’s Midnight Garden (1958)
Tom is spending the summer with his aunt and uncle. He is lonely at first, but he discovers that when the clock chimes thirteen times at night, he can go back in time, where he befriends an equally lonely girl named Hatty. By Phillipa Pearce.
Series
Various groups of children go on magical adventures. A somewhat loose series that follows different sets of characters, although some of the events are related. By Edward Eager.
Scary
When Alison and her father travel from Canada to Wales in order to see the house that they’ve inherited from a distant relative, Alison finds herself caught up in a ghostly mystery from the past. Somehow, she must prevent another young girl from making the worst mistake of her life while considering the choices she is making in her own life.
Historical Fiction
Adopted Jane (1947)
An orphan in the early 1900s goes on a special summer trip with two families who are both interested in adopting her, and she tries to decide where she really belongs. By Helen Fern Daringer.
A pair of twins star in a silent movie serial during World War I and learn that their father’s death was due to war-related sabotage, not an accident.
Short stories about the adventures a brother and sister have with their grandmother in the rural Midwest during the Great Depression. Hysterical! By Richard Peck.
The Richleighs of Tantamount (1966)
A family of wealthy Victorian children spend the summer at their ancestral home, experience newfound freedom, and learn a few things about their family and themselves. By Barbara Willard.
Series
A collection of different series of books, each focusing on a girl from a different period of American history. Each of them has a summer story. 1986-Present.
Picture Books
The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Vacation (1989)
The Berenstain Bears go on vacation, but their trip doesn’t turn out the way they thought it would. When everything goes wrong, they find a way to laugh about it later.
Blueberries for Sal (1948)
Little Sal goes picking blueberries with her mother, but when they each wander off, Sal and a baby bear each mistake each other’s mother for their own.
Charlie the Tramp (1966)
Charlie the beaver thinks that he wants to be a tramp, but when his family lets him try it, he realizes that there is something else he wants to do with his life.
Harvey’s Hideout (1969)
Harvey and his sister Mildred are bored and lonely over the summer because their friends are away. The two of them spend a lot of time arguing and fighting, but that changes when Harvey makes a surprising discovery about the place where he has dug his secret hideout. By Russell Hoban.
The Moon Jumpers (1959)
Four children and their black cat are enchanted by the beauty of a summer night as they play outside. By Janice May Udry. Pictures by Maurice Sendak.
One Morning in Maine (1952)
A little girl spends an enchanting morning with her father on the coast of Maine and loses her first tooth. By Robert McCloskey.
Thunder Cake (1990)
A girl talks about how her grandmother, who she likes to call “Babushka” because she originally came from Russia, cured her of her fear of storms by teaching her to make a special kind of cake, Thunder Cake. By Patricia Polacco.
Time of Wonder (1957)
A girl enjoys a special family vacation in Maine, made magical by the beauties of nature and her own imagination. By Robert McCloskey.
When I Was Young in the Mountains (1982)
A woman remembers what life was life when she lived with her grandparents in rural West Virginia as a child. By Cynthia Rylant.
Children’s Nonfiction Books
Looking for a way to spend your summer vacation or just something different to do? Try these books!
Games, Activities, and Pastimes
50 Card Games for Children (1933, 1946)
How to play different kinds of card games and solitaire and how to do magic tricks with cards. By Vernon Quinn.
The American Boy’s Handy Book (1882)
A guide to outdoor activities and hobbies for boys. By Daniel Beard.
The American Girl’s Handy Book (1887)
A guide to seasonal activities and celebrations for girls. By Lina Beard and Adelia Beard.
Children’s book that explains how to make string figures and play the game of cat’s cradle. By Camilla Gryski.
The Dangerous Book for Boys (2006, 2007)
A book of hobbies and activities for children, particularly boys. It’s sort of like The American Boy’s Handy Book for the 21st century.
The Daring Book for Girls (2007)
A book of how-to projects, activities, and hobbies for girls. It’s sort of like The American Girl’s Handy Book for the 21st century.
The Double-Daring Book for Girls (2009)
A book of how-to projects, activities, and hobbies for girls. Sequel to The Daring Book for Girls.
From Junk to Jewelry (1991)
A book of craft projects for children, using things that might otherwise be thrown away to make fun jewelry.
The Girl’s Own Book (1834)
A guide with instructions for games, activities, and handicrafts for girls. By Lydia Maria Child.
I would particularly recommend this one for older children who are interested in history. I think there are easier activity books for younger children.
Hand Shadows to be Thrown Upon the Wall (1859)
A how-to guide to making hand shadows. By Henry Bursill.
The Cartoon Book (1990)
How-to book about how to draw cartoons and comic strips. By James Kemsley.
Kate Greenaway’s Book of Games (1889)
A book about children’s pastimes and games with rules for playing. It includes games like I Love my Love with an “A”, Blind Man’s Buff, Frog in the Middle, Russian Scandal (this is an old name for the Game of Telephone, before the invention of the telephone became really popular – I don’t know why it’s specifically Russian, but I’ve also heard it as Russian Gossip or just Gossip) and Twenty Questions. Some games are like playground games (some of them are even still played on playgrounds today), that require running and motions, and others are more talking games (some of those have become classic road trip games, played in the car). Pastimes include making soap bubbles, flying kites, and swings. One of the interesting things about this book, besides noticing which games are still played and which are more obscure now, is that the children in the pictures are actually wearing clothes that are from an earlier part of the 19th century than when the book was written. This is a classic feature of Kate Greenaway’s illustrations, also seen in her other books. By Kate Greenaway.
For more information about Victorian games in general, see the Victorian Games section of my Historical Games site. (Games are also a hobby of mine.)
Totally Useless Skills (1994)
A book that helps children develop confidence and learning skills through tricks and stunts.
Series
A series of nonfiction books for children about educational topics like history, technology, and science with projects for them to do themselves. 2005-2019.
The classic children’s hobby and activity book series from Klutz Press. Each book comes with materials needed for the hobbies and activities. 1977-Present.
Nature and Outdoor Activities
Bird Wise (1988)
A beginning guide book to birds and bird watching. By Pamela M. Hickman, illustrations by Judie Shore.
Discover the Night Sky (1989)
A children’s book about astronomy with glow-in-the-dark pictures. By Chris Madsen and Michele Claiborne.
On the Trail: An Outdoor Book for Girls (1915)
A guide to teach girls about camping, wilderness fun, and outdoor handicrafts. By Lina Beard and Adelia Belle Beard. Available online through Project Gutenberg.
Seashells for Katie and Andy (1973)
A couple of children look for seashells on the beach with their grandmother, and she tells them a little about each of the shells they find. By Solveig Paulson Russell, illustrated by Marjorie Cooper.
Starlings (1948)
A vintage children’s picture book from the 1940s about starlings, showing how the birds live and interact with their ecosystems. By Wilfred S. Bronson.
Usborne First Book of Nature (1980)
A nonfiction guide book to plants and creatures.
Jestress's Forgotten Books and Stories 