Adventure Begins at Your Library: Independent Readers

These are some books we recommend to elementary-aged readers who want to find adventure in a book this summer!

Updated May 2, 2024
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The boy who loved maps
Allen, Kari
This enchanting picture book about a map-making boy who is stumped when a girl asks him for a map of the "perfect place" helps readers appreciate the charms of their own neighborhood--and even shows them how to make a map of it! The Mapmaker loves maps. He loves to collect...
The girl who speaks bear
Anderson, Sophie
The newest heart-expanding, magical adventure from Sophie Anderson, author of the critically acclaimed House with Chicken Legs."They call me Yanka the Bear. Not because of where I was found. Only a few people know about that. They call me Yanka the Bear because I am so big and strong."<...
Explorers of the wild
Atkinson, Cale
Boy and Bear both love to explore the outdoors. There are so many neat things to see, and so many strange things to find. These explorers are prepared for anything. except each other! When Bear and Boy meet in the woods, they're scared at first. Really scared. But soon, these kings of the wild...
Race to Fire Mountain
Blackwood, Remi
The start of a thrilling, highly illustrated series about a boy who finds a portal to a legendary world in his local barbershop . . . and learns he's the hero they've been waiting for. For younger fans of Black Panther and Last Gate of the Emperor! Jarell has never quite known...
Bad Kitty goes on vacation
Bruel, Nick
Bad Kitty gets a vacation in this full color graphic novel in Nick Bruel's New York Times bestselling series. Kitty's life is hard. Really, really hard. She's always being bothered, Puppy is always in her space (and drooling on her), and her plans for world domination...
The adventures of Mark Twain by Huckleberry Finn
Burleigh, Robert.
Everyone knows the story of the raft on the Mississippi and that ol' whitewashed fence, but now it's time for youngins everywhere to get right acquainted with the man behind the pen. Mr. Mark Twain! An interesting character, he was...even if he did sometimes get all gussied up in linen suits and...
The Adventurers Guild The Adventurers Guild Trilogy, Book 1
Clark, Zack Loran.
Few ever asked to join the Adventurers Guild. . . . Their members often died young. In one of the last cities standing after the world fell to monsters, best friends Zed Kagari and Brock Dunderfel have high hopes for the future. Zed desperately wishes to join the ranks of the...
The miraculous journey of Edward Tulane
DiCamillo, Kate.
The #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestseller -- now in a digest edition (Age 7 and up) Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a china rabbit named Edward Tulane. The rabbit was very pleased with himself, and for good reason: he was owned by a girl named Abilene, who adored him...
Big Bigfoot's secret vacation
Factor, Katherine
4th Bestselling Children's Book Series of all Time -The New Yorker Spend your spring vacation with the legendary Bigfoot, either camping in the mountains in the Pacific Northwest or surfing in Hawaii. Big Bigfoot's Secret Vacation takes you on a...
The hike
Farrell, Alison
The Hike is a must-have for budding scientists, best friends, and all adventurers in preschool and kindergarten. "These young explorers demonstrate the best principles of time spent in the woods: observing, admiring and learning. And, through...
Fortunately, the milk
Gaiman, Neil.
An absolute delight of a madcap story for the young (and young-at-heart) by New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman, with equal parts pirates and piranhas, adventure and aliens, oddity and love. "I bought the milk," said my father. "I walked out of the corner shop...
The storm dragon
Harrison, Paula
A group of friends set out to save magical creatures from a cruel queen and her wicked soldiers in the first book in the brand-new Secret Rescuers chapter book series. When Sophy finds a little lost dragon named Cloudy, she knows he's in danger. It will take all the courage she...
Voyage of the Frostheart
Littler, Jamie
The whimsy of Nevermoor meets the mythical world-building of Neil Gaiman in this unlikely hero's quest to find his parents--and find the home he's always longed for. In a snow-covered land where monsters rule the icy tundra, only song weavers hold the power to control...
Finding wild
Lloyd, Megan Wagner
A lovely, lyrical picture book with gorgeous illustrations that explores the ways the wild makes itself known to us and how much closer it is than we think. There are so many places that wild can exist, if only you know where to look! Can you find it? Two kids set off on an...
The ice cream machine
Rubin, Adam
Don't miss the #1 New York Times bestseller everyone is raving about! From the wild and wonderful imagination of the author of Dragons Love Tacos comes this hilarious, irresistible debut collection of six totally different stories with the same exact name. In these...
The map to everywhere
Ryan, Carrie.
Adventure, magic, and hilarity collide in New York Times bestselling author Carrie Ryan and John Parke Davis's first book in a fantastical series. To Master Thief Fin, an orphan from the murky pirate world of the Khaznot Quay, the Map is the key to finding his mother. To...
Grounded : a novel
Saeed, Aisha
Four kids meet at an airport for one unforgettable night in this middle-grade novel by four bestselling and award-winning authors--Aisha Saeed, Huda Al-Marashi, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, and S. K. Ali. When a thunderstorm grounds all flights following a huge Muslim...
The adventures of Beekle : the unimaginary friend
Santat, Dan
Winner of the Caldecott Medal #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning creator Dan Santat combines classic storytelling with breathtaking art in an unforgettable tale about friendship, imagination, and the courage to find one's place in...
Bessie the motorcycle queen
Smith, Charles R., Jr.
Hop on the bike with Bessie Stringfield, the motorcycle queen of Miami, in this powerful picture book from Coretta Scott King medalist Charles R. Smith, Jr. and debut picture book illustrator Charlot Kristensen. The folks they lined up to meet the Motorcycle Queen, seated sidesattle on her motorbike...
The adventures of a girl called Bicycle
Uss, Christina
Selected for the 2019-2020 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year A determined 12-year-old girl bikes across the country in this quirky and charming debut middle grade novel. Introverted Bicycle has lived...

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