Books are helpful tools in educating your child about the summer transition and preparing for upcoming events. We wrote about preparing for summer in the previous blog post and thought it would be helpful to provide a list of materials suitable for your child to read or be read to, in preparation for the transition. This can be helpful in setting expectations.
Robin Talley, MEd, BCBA with the University of Washington Autism Center (UWAC), provided these recommendations at her presentation for the Autism 200 Series at Seattle Children’s Hospital, on April 21, 2011. For younger children, picture books help illustrate plans for the summer and Talley recommends reading books about summer break, taking vacations and other summer themes.
For older children, Talley recommends reading books about summer and summer activities. We have included a list of suggested material below for these two age groups.
Picture Books
- The Night Before Summer Vacation by Natasha Wing
- How I Spent My Summer Vacation by Mark Teague
- Go Go America by Dan Yaccarino
- Last Day Blues by Julie Danneberg
- A Couple of Boys Have The Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee
- To Be Like the Sun By Susan Marie Swanson
- Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett
Reading Books
- The Aurora County All Stars by Deborah Wiles
- The Life and Crimes of Bernetta Wallflower by Lisa Graff
- Violet Bing and the Grand House by Jennifer Paros
- Greetings from Nowhere by Barbara O’Connor
- Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford
These books are available on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble, as well as your local library. We hope you find this information helpful. For more information about preparing for summer or to obtain a full copy of her presentation, you can email Talley at [email protected].
And as always, if you have any books that have been helpful as your child transitions from school to summer, please feel free to share!
