15 Must-Read July Children’s Book Releases

Kimberly Derting and Shelli R. Johannes continue their science-loving girls series with Vivi Loves Science. Vivi and her classmates are going on a field trip to the beach, where they study flora and fauna there with the help of their teacher and a park ranger. Vivi listens to seashells, considers what really makes that wave-like noise, helps return a fish to the ocean, and discovers a shark tooth that could be 100 years old. In addition to being a great STEM picture book, it’s also an excellent beach-themed read for the summer.

Kalamata’s first day of school is tomorrow, and she and her alligator lovey Al Dente are scared. To help herself feel braver, she thinks back to a time when she felt nervous and everything turned out okay: when she visited the Indian spice market with her parents over the summer. Transporting herself and Al Dente back to the market, she remembers all the tasty ingredients she discovered in the market, and how exciting it felt to be brave and try new things. With the courage and comfort good food can bring, Kalamata feels ready for school. This deliciously charming and colorful picture book is the perfect read for children starting school in the Fall.

Prolific author/illustrators Michael Emberley and Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick have created a compulsive, rhythmic read-aloud in I Can Make a Train Noise. The title’s words, “I can make a train noise,” are repeated over and over but in different rhythms to match the chugging of a train. It begins with a little girl and her family going to a cafe beneath train tracks. Before long, the girl’s imagination has swept up all the cafe’s customers into an imaginary train, where she creates the train’s sound. My 3-year-old has read this picture book more than any other this year. It’s a compelling read.

Moving and heartwrenching, in When Grandfather Flew, Newberry Award–winning author Patricia MacLachlan tells the story of a grandfather passing on his love of birds to his grandchildren before his death. Emma, one of his grandchildren, recalls all the wondrous things she discovered with her bird-watching grandfather, from the beating heart of a chickadee held in her hands to her quiet brother Milo becoming particularly keen to identify birds with his grandfather to her grandfather’s growing blindness and the children identifying birds for him. Accompanied by Chris Sheban’s beautiful yellow-toned watercolor and pastel paintings, this picture book is a touching tribute to a grandfather that, I’ll admit, made me tear up.

In this illustrated early chapter book, each of the 11 chapters introduces a child from Cattywampus Street and tells an extraordinary story from their lives. Jamal’s magic ball can find him even after it’s been stolen. Charlotta can shrink small enough to fit inside her playhouse. These imaginative and delightful tales are perfect for beginning readers as each chapter can be read as a standalone, and each child’s story is as captivating as the next.

Kiki Kallira has anxiety, and drawing helps her combat that anxiety. She fills her sketchbooks with the depiction of the South Indian mythological stories her mother tells her. However, when Kiki draws the legend of Mysore and the demon King Mahishasura, she unwittingly creates a portal that allows the demon to enter her room. To get rid of Mahishasura, Kiki must travel to the world she’s created through her drawings. This action-packed fantasy adventure is a blast to read.

In Barbados, 11-year-old Josephine lives with her father, a fisherman, after her mother died a year earlier. Her father has tried dating again, but Josephine always manages to push them away. But then there’s Mariss. There’s something off about Mariss, and the more Josephine watches her, the more she’s convinced that Mariss is really a sea creature, specifically Mami Wata. This delightful novel is both heartwarming and thrilling.

While Forever This Summer is the second book in the Love Like Sky series, it can be read as a standalone. Georgia and her mama move from Atlanta to the small town of Bogalusa, Louisiana to take care of her great aunt Vie, who has Alzheimer’s. Vie owns a popular diner, and Georgia wants to help out there, but no one has the time to train her. Then she makes friends with Markie, who has a limb difference. Markie is slightly older and works at the diner. She used to be fostered by Vie, but now she’s fostered by Roselle. When Georgia’s best friend Nikki comes to visit, the three girls try to raise money for Alzheimer’s research. This series full of engaging characters tackles big issues while still being heartwarming and fun.

Maya is starting 5th grade, but instead of feeling excited, she feels nervous. Her friends MJ and Jada aren’t in her class, and she’s worried about making friends. Then she discovers a robot while helping to clean the school and takes it home. She loves science, so she decides to work on the robot and see if she can program it to do neat things. This illustrated novel is a perfect read for STEM-loving middle graders.

Taking place in the early 1990s, Bosnian Muslim tween Kenan lives in Brčko, Yugoslavia. He loves drawing and playing soccer and hanging out with his teammates, but as political tensions rise, his teammates and friends alienate him. Soon, he and his family are forced to leave Yugoslavia as refugees and travel first to Vienna and eventually wind up in the United States. This is a powerful story about a refugee journey from the eyes of a preteen and is based on the author’s own experience.