Super Summer Reading

Whether sprawled on a beach blanket, sitting cross-legged by a campfire, or lying under a shade tree, reading in the summer can be a child's ticket to transformation. In the stretched-out days of this slower season, the best books offer a sense of freedom and mastery: a taste of life without parents, a supply of friends when yours are away, an intimate look at faraway places and endless adventures of the mind and imagination.

The 75 titles in this summer reading list represent some of the best children's books ever written. Some we remember warmly from our own childhood, others are hot off the press, but all have proven their power to captivate.

By its nature, this selection leans in the direction of children who can read by themselves, but don't let that constrain you: even the littlest or biggest listener loves to be read to--a wonderful ritual, in fact, for those long summer evenings.

So pick a category, kick back and get ready to dive into a summer's worth of reading adventures.

Writer Teri Keough lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.