Family Vacation Book List: Fun for the Whole Family

Going on vacation this summer? What about daily trips to the pool and back? Perhaps you have some summer evenings on the porch planned.

Sounds like you need a good family vacation book list! The books below are all excellent choices for some family reading time this summer: enjoyable for a wide variety of ages with a mix of adventure and humor.

Pick one from the classics list and one from the new books list for some good variety.

We’ve specified a good narrator if he or she is the perfect fit. Don’t overlook the value of mom or dad reading aloud–even in the car!

Family Vacation Book List

Classics

• Adventures of Tom Sawyer narrated by Nick Offern
• Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
• Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne, narrated by Jim Dale
• The Borrowers by Mary Norton
• The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
• Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
• Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
• Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey (note: there is some language in this book!)
• The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
• Classic fairy and folk tale collections (see our Fairy and Folk Tale List)
• Freddy the Detective, Freddy the Pilot & others by Walter R. Brooks
• Half-Magic and others by Edward Eager
• Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary (narrated by Neil Patrick Harris)
• The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
• Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
• Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O’Brien
• Railway Children by E. Nesbit
• The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Anything by Wodehouse (short stories)
• By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman
• Joyful Noise (poetry) by Paul Flesichamn

Newer Books

• 100 Cupboards Trilogy & Dragon’s Tooth by N. D. Wilson (a little scary for younger readers)
• Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke
• Astrid the Unstoppable by Maria Parr
• Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotsen (WONDERFUL audiobook)
• Mercy Watson by Kate DiCamillo
• The Last Last Day of Summer by Lamar Giles
• The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies
• The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
• Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes (and Sophie Quire) by Jonathan Auxier
• The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon (some language–see review)
• Septimus Heap by Angie Sage
• SIX by M. M. Vaughn
• Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (and the rest of the series; audio is fantastic, but do check the book out to see the beautiful illustrations)
• The Wilderking Trilogy by Jonathan Rogers
• The Green Ember by S. D. Smith