Alright folks, we have just a week of Summer Learning left! There’s still plenty of time to sign up, log your reading, and win prizes. With warm days and late sunsets, summer days can feel endless sometimes. One of the best ways to take advantage of these extra long days is to have an adventure, so we wanted to highlight some books for the adventurer in all of us. In the Reading Without Walls booklist, children and adults alike can explore the stars, planets, and space in these great fiction and non-fiction titles. Prefer to keep your feet on the ground? It's A Small World After All booklist highlights inclusive picture books featuring children from all over the world. These books celebrate both our differences and similarities in the experiences we all share. Care to adventure closer to home? The Walk & Roll booklist explores all the fun times you can have on a bicycle, skateboard, or on foot. Lastly, have a totally new adventure in the Wild and Wonderful: Animals on Land, Air, and Sea booklist, featuring colorful and informative books about animals, or have an adventure at an Amusement Park.
Whatever kind of adventure you want this summer, San Jose Public Library is here to help guide you. Here are a few more favorites:
Reading Without Walls
Rocket Beams, Lunar Dreams by Chiara Colombi. For Pre-Readers and Readers. Rocket and Lander are headed to the Moon for an expedition, but Rocket must drop Lander off and then return to Earth, instead of staying to explore the Moon's surface.
Snatched From Earth by Bruce Coville. For Readers. When Tim Tompkins dreamed of visiting other galaxies, he didn't think he would do it as a captive of an alien, and now he must try to survive and find his way back home.
Rogue Princess by B.R. Myers. For Teens. Princess Delia must marry in order to secure an alliance and save her failing planet but, hoping for true love, she steals a spaceship and finds Aidan, a handsome stowaway, aboard in this retelling of Cinderella.
Find more great books on the Reading Without Walls: Stars, Planets, and Space Booklist.
Wild And Wonderful: Animals on Land, Air, and Sea
5-minute Baby Animal Stories by Libby Romero. For Readers. Twelve heart warming true stories about baby animals with stunning photos
An Anthology of Aquatic Life by Sam Hume. For Readers. Dive under water to explore all the magic that happens in the biggest oceans, lakes, rivers, to the tiniest puddle. Explore animals, plants, and everything aquatic in this unique book full of beautiful photos and illustrations.
Animal Teams: How Amazing Animals Work Together in the Wild by Caroline Stamps. For Readers. "Featuring a stunning blend of illustrations with photographs, this fascinating book takes young readers through a range of habitats to discover how different groups of animals work together to survive in their environments."
Find more great books on the Wild and Wonderful: Animals on Land, Air, and Sea Booklist.
Walk & Roll
Together We Ride by Valerie Bolling. For Pre-Readers. Told in rhyming text, a young African American girl learns to ride a bike, with the help of her father.
Let's Go by Julie Flett. For Pre-Readers and Readers. An extraordinary book that celebrates skateboarding, family, and community. Every day, a little boy watches kids pass by on skateboards, and dreams of joining them. One day, his mother brings a surprise: her old skateboard, just for him!
Sarai and the Around the World Fair by Sarai Gonzalez. For Readers/Pre-Teens. When Sarai outgrows her bike, she worries she will never get to travel anywhere, until an around the world fair at school teaches her that with a little imagination, she can go anywhere she wants.
Find more great books on the Walk & Roll Booklist.
Amusement Park Adventures
Wombats! Go to Wizards Wharf by Maddie Frost. For Readers. "Begrudgingly agreeing to accompany his best friend Pickles to Wizard's Wharf, Albert tries to get into the spirit of things, but when a malfunctioning ride separates them, Albert and Pickles must rely on how well they know each other, and a little magic, to find their way out"
Carousel Summer by Kathleen Gros. For Readers & Pre-Teens. "With her best friend away at camp, tons of chores to do, and her dad always on her case for being such a tomboy, Lucy is dreading summer. That is, until Milforth's plan to revive an old carousel for the town's 150th anniversary brings artist Ray and her daughter, Anaïs, to town."
We Could Be Magic by Marissa Meyer. For Teens. "When Tabitha Laurie was growing up, a visit to Sommerland saved her belief in true love, even as her parents' marriage was falling apart. Now she's landed her dream job at the theme park's prestigious summer program, where she can make magical memories for other kids, guests, and superfans just like her. All she has to do is audition for one of the coveted princess roles, and soon her dreams will come true. There's just one problem. The heroes and heroines at Sommerland are all, well--thin. And no matter how much Tabi lives for the magic, she simply doesn't fit the park's idea of a princess. "
Find more great books on the Amusement Park Adventures Booklist.
It's a Small World, After All
Bisa's Carnaval by Joana Pastro. For Pre-Readers & Readers. In the city of Olinda, Brazil, Clara is looking forward to the Carnaval street parade, with the colorful, fantastic costumes that her great-grandmother makes for the family--but her Bisa is too old to follow the parade, so Clara decides to bring the parade to her.
When Lola Visits by Michelle Sterling & Aaron Paul Asis. For Pre-Readers & Readers. For one young girl, summer is the season of no school, of days spent at the pool, and of picking golden limes off the trees. But summer doesn't start until her lola--her grandmother from the Philippines--comes for her annual visit. When Lola visits, the whole family gathers to cook and eat and share in their happiness of another season spent together.
Midnight Motorbike by Shay Maureen Tajsar For Pre-Readers & Readers. A mother lulls her little girl to sleep with a motorbike ride through Southern India.
Find more great books on the It's a Small World After All Booklist.
If you've read any of these titles, we'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts on Beanstack (the site to log your summer reading) by writing a review.
(Information Updated: June 2026)
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