What could be better than icy-cold raspados on a hot summer day? Isabel Quintero and Zeke Peña’s new picture book My Papi Has a Motorcycle has had us dreaming of shave ice since our Five Questions Summer Reading interview revealed their favorite flavors (limon for Zeke; for Isabel: “Strawberry and maybe pineapple. The fresh fruit kind, with real fruit, where the syrup is made from scratch”). We hope the books on our annual summer reading list — our top ten books for different age ranges that are perfect for the season — are as refreshing to book lovers as a sweet treat in the sun. Find a shady spot, slurp some raspados, and get to reading!

You can print out a handy PDF version of the Summer Reading list, featuring beautiful cover art from My Papi Has a Motorcycle and designed by Horn Book creative director Lolly Robinson. Find annotated descriptions of each book, by section, here.

Horn Book Summer Reading 2019: All the fun with none of the brain freeze.

Elissa Gershowitz
Executive Editor, The Horn Book, Inc.

Picture Books | Easy Readers and Primary Grades
Intermediate | Middle School | High School