5 Books About Fun at the Lake

A Day at the Lake, by Stephanie Wallingford and Dawn Rynders, illustrated by Erica Pelton Villnave
If your kids aren’t already begging for a day at the lake, this rollicking rhyming account of one family’s daytrip will have them itching to “Race to the end of the old wooden dock. / Thumpity thump / Slappity bump.” From skipping rocks, to imitating wildlife, to watching the sun go down, there are many familiar experiences to which children can connect. This is also a great title for building excitement if you’re preparing young kids for their first visit to a lake.

Jangles: A Big Fish Story, by David Shannon
My kids love the anticipation of fishing even though they rarely catch anything. This book is their favorite “big fish” story. A young boy relays his father’s tale of an encounter with a legendary giant fish, called Jangles because of the number of hooks and lures stuck in its mouth. Illustrations worth poring over and a surprise ending that invites pondering make this a great family read aloud to put on repeat.

Hattie & Hudson, by Chris Van Dusen
Hattie McFadden is a lake-loving girl who enjoys exploring all day in her canoe. There are plenty of realistic details about growing up in a lakeside community—besides the extra-large green lake monster Hattie befriends. While the grownups plot to remove the monster in the name of safety, Hattie hatches her own plan to convince them to be more open-minded. The vibrant illustrations and imaginative feel-good plot make this another title my kids ask for again and again.

Me and You and the Red Canoe, by Jean E. Pendziwol, illustrated by Phil
There are many books my family enjoys for their exuberance and humor, and others that make us all sigh because they are just so beautiful. This title is one of the latter, and embodies what I hope my kids will remember about summers at the lake together. On a lakeside camping trip, two siblings wake early and sneak out of their tent to go fishing. The author perfectly captures the magic of the lake at dawn as the pair slip their red canoe. As they paddle through the still water, they notice sights and sounds of nature all around. The closeness of the closing scene, a cozy breakfast of sizzling fish on the campfire, is the perfect endcap.

The Winter Visitors, by Karel Hayes
The end of summer is bittersweet for many reasons, and if you enjoy time at a lakeside cabin, closing it up for the season is definitely one of them. Karel Hayes’s almost wordless Visitors series plants wonderful seeds in kids’ imaginations about how local animals might enjoy a property after its human occupants leave. In this title, we see a human family wistfully packing up their car while the young boy quietly leaves the door to the cottage ajar. Soon a family of bears moves in and enjoys free reign for the winter, even sledding in the family canoe. Kids will love noticing the witty details in the illustrations, and you’ll all be left wondering what’s happening at your own beloved lake while you’re away.