Books like 'The Summer Book'
Readers who enjoyed The Summer Book by Tove Jansson also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary 20th century action / adventure classics literary-fiction season-summer outdoors family journey children
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Captains of the Sands by Jorge Amado
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsLiving by their wits in the steamy slums of Bahia, a gang of orphans and runaways, led by fifteen-year-old "Bullet," spend their time stealing from Brazil's rich and privileged until public outcry demands their capture...Categorized as:
children classics journey literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book -
![Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst]()
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsThe perennially popular tale of Alexander's worst day is a storybook that belongs on every child's bookshelf.Alexander knew it was going to be a terrible day when he woke up with gum in this hair.And it got worse...His best friend deserted him. There was no dessert in his lunch bag... -
![Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey]()
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsThis classic tale of the famous Mallard ducks of Boston is available for the first time in a full-sized paperback edition. Awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1942, Make Way for Ducklings has been described as "one of the merriest picture books ever" (The New York Times). Ideal for reading aloud, this book deserves a place of honor on every child's bookshelf...Categorized as:
children classics family literary-fiction outdoors realistic 20th-century action-adventure -
![Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman]()
Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsARE YOU MY MOTHER? tells a very simple story for children who have just started to read. their younger brothers or sisters will also want to follow the baby bird's quest as he asks everyone and everything he meets, "Are You My Mother?".Back in 1957, Theodor Geisel responded to an article in Life magazine that lamented the use of boring reading primers in schools. Using the pseudonym of "Dr...Categorized as:
children classics family humor 20th-century action-adventure animals anthropomorphism -
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![The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter]()
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 71 ratings"Now, my dears," said old Mrs Rabbit one morning, "you may go into the fields or down the lane, but don't go into Mr. McGregor's garden."But what does Peter Rabbit do? Beatrix Potter's delightful 'Tale of Peter Rabbit' tells the story...Categorized as:
children classics family humor literary-fiction outdoors 20th-century action-adventure -
![Charlotte's Web by E.B. White]()
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 87 ratingsA gorgeous full-colour large format edition of Charlotte's Web, one of the best-loved animal stories of our time.The unforgettable story of a girl called Fern who loves a little pig called Wilbur. It tells how Charlotte A... -
![The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper]()
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsThe story of a train filled with toys and gifts for little boys and girls that breaks down before reaching the children. After asking several passing trains for help over the hill, a little blue train agrees to help the stranded toys. Even though she is small, the blue train tries her best to bring the toys to the children on the other side of the hill...Categorized as:
children classics family literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure animals book -
![End of the Game and Other Stories by Julio Cortázar]()
End of the Game and Other Stories by Julio Cortázar
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsEnd of the game is one of the most important collections of stories of the second half of the 20th century. Engaged in transgressing the laws of conventional narrative, in these eighteen stories Julio Cortázar combines intertextuality, an unpublished use of the colloquial and endless game to bring the reader into a particular universe where nothing is what it seems...Categorized as:
classics journey literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies -
![The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll by Álvaro Mutis]()
The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll by Álvaro Mutis
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMaqroll the Gaviero (the Lookout) is one of the most alluring and memorable characters in the fiction of the last twenty-five years...Categorized as:
classics humor journey literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Iza's Ballad by Magda Szabó]()
Iza's Ballad by Magda Szabó
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen Ettie's husband dies, her daughter Iza insists that her mother give up the family house in the countryside and move to Budapest. Displaced from her community and her home, Ettie tries to find her place in this new life, but can't seem to get it right...Categorized as:
classics family female-mc grief journey literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure -
![Água Viva by Clarice Lispector]()
Água Viva by Clarice Lispector
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA meditation on the nature of life and time, Água Viva (1973) shows Lispector discovering a new means of writing about herself, more deeply transforming her individual experience into a universal poetry. In a body of work as emotionally powerful, formally innovative, and philosophically profound as Clarice Lispector’s, Água Viva stands out as a particular triumph...Categorized as:
classics journey literary-fiction magical-realism season-summer 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford, Carl Burger]()
The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford, Carl Burger
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsInstinct told them that the way home lay to the west. And so the doughty young Labrador retriever, the roguish bull terrier and the indomitable Siamese set out through the Canadian wilderness. Separately, they would soon have died. But, together, the three house pets faced starvation, exposure, and wild forest animals to make their way home to the family they love... -
![Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar]()
Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 66 ratingsThere was a terrible mistake - Wayside School was built with one classroom on top of another, thirty stories high (The builder said he was sorry.) Maybe that's why all kinds of funny things happened at Wayside-especially on the thirteenth floor...Categorized as:
children classics humor magical-realism realistic 20th-century action-adventure audiobook -
![Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume]()
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsLife with his little brother, Fudge, makes Peter Hatcher feel like a fourth grade nothing. Whether Fudge is throwing a temper tantrum in a shoe store, smearing mashed potatoes on the walls at Hamburger Heaven, or trying to fly, he's never far from trouble... -
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![Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry]()
Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsAn Oscar-winning story of a memorable mother and her feisty daughter who find the courage and humor to live through life's hazards and to love each other as never before. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lonesome Dove created two characters who won the hearts of readers and moviegoers everywhere--Aurora Greenway and her daughter Emma...Categorized as:
classics family female-mc humor literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Overstory by Richard Powers]()
The Overstory by Richard Powers
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsThe Overstory is a sweeping, impassioned work of activism and resistance that is also a stunning evocation of - and paean to - the natural world. From the roots to the crown and back to the seeds, Richard Powers’s twelfth novel unfolds in concentric rings of interlocking fables that range from antebellum New York to the late twentieth-century Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest and beyond...Categorized as:
classics epic family literary-fiction magical-realism outdoors realistic 20th-century -
![Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien]()
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 71 ratingsMrs. Frisby, a widowed mouse with four small children, must move her family to their summer quarters immediately, or face almost certain death. But her youngest son, Timothy, lies ill with pneumonia and must not be moved. Fortunately, she encounters the rats of NIMH, an extraordinary breed of highly intelligent creatures, who come up with a brilliant solution to her dilemma...Categorized as:
children classics family female-mc literary-fiction magical-realism outdoors 20th-century -
![The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño]()
The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsFirst published in Spanish in 1998, The Savage Detectives was immediately hailed as a critical success, wining the Herralde Prize and the Romulo Gallegos Prize. But with the 2007 English-language translation the book became more than a bestseller -- it began the global sensation of Bolanomania. New Year's Eve 1975, Mexico City...Categorized as:
classics epic humor journey literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly by Luis Sepúlveda]()
The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly by Luis Sepúlveda
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsA cat. A seagull. An impossible task.A worldwide bestseller and the subject of a feature film, THE STORY OF A SEAGULL... is finally out in paperback!Her wings burdened by an oil slick, a seagull struggles to the nearest port to lay her final egg. Exhausted, she lands on a balcony where Zorba the cat is sunning himself... -
![Malgudi Days by R.K. Narayan]()
Malgudi Days by R.K. Narayan
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsFour gems, with new introductions, mark acclaimed Indian writer R. K. Narayan’s centennialIntroducing this collection of stories, R. K. Narayan describes how in India “the writer has only to look out of the window to pick up a character and thereby a story...Categorized as:
children classics humor journey literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure anthologies -
![Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary]()
Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsRamona tries her hardest to be brave and fearless, but now she has her own bedroom it's sometimes a little difficult to be brave - you never know what could be lurking under the bed... -
![Ramona's World by Beverly Cleary]()
Ramona's World by Beverly Cleary
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThere's never been anyone quite like Ramona Geraldine Quimby! And now, the irresistible, irrepressible star of Beverly Cleary's best-loved and bestselling series is back -- in the paperback version of her first book in 15 years. Now, Ramona is a fourth grader, struggling with her spelling; feuding and flirting with her old nemesis, Yard Ape; and joyfully making her first real girlfriends... -
![On the Road: the Original Scroll by Jack Kerouac]()
On the Road: the Original Scroll by Jack Kerouac
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe legendary 1951 scroll draft of On the Road, published as Kerouac originally composed it IN THREE WEEKS in April of 1951, Jack Kerouac wrote his first full draft of On the Road—typed as a single-spaced paragraph on eight long sheets of tracing paper, which he later taped together to form a 120-foot scroll... -
![Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren]()
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsAstrid Lindgren's story of feisty, red-haired Pippi has been given a sparkling new translation by award-winning Tiina Nunnally and engaging pictures by acclaimed Lauren Child.Pippi Longstocking was first published in the United States in 1950, and has been translated from the original Swedish into ninety-one languages... -
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![A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle]()
A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsAfter a tumultuous year in New York City, the Austins are spending the summer on the small island where their grandfather lives. He’s very sick, and watching his condition deteriorate as the summer passes is almost more than Vicky can bear. To complicate matters, she finds herself as the center of attention for three very different boys... -
![Lotta's Bike by Astrid Lindgren]()
Lotta's Bike by Astrid Lindgren
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLotta is determined to have a bicycle, and when she hears that her neighbor keeps one in a shed, she decides to take it for a ride. But Lotta learns that not all bicycles are easy to ride! Full-color illustrations...Categorized as:
children classics family 20th-century action-adventure book children-books contemporary -
![The Complete Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino, Jefferson Mays]()
The Complete Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino, Jefferson Mays
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe definitive edition of Calvino’s cosmicomics, bringing together all of these enchanting stories—including some never before translated—in one volume for the first timeIn Italo Calvino’s cosmicomics, primordial beings cavort on the nearby surface of the moon, play marbles with atoms, and bear ecstatic witness to Earth’s first dawn...Categorized as:
classics humor journey literary-fiction magical-realism outdoors 20th-century action-adventure -
![Wild Chicks by Cornelia Funke]()
Wild Chicks by Cornelia Funke
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe series that launched Cornelia Funke as one of the most beloved authors in German, THE WILD CHICKS is a middle-grades to YA series about a group of German girls who form the eponymous “Wild Chicks” gang... -
![Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary]()
Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsThis is the second title in the hugely popular series about Ramona Quimby. Ramona doesn't think she's a pest - she knows that she isn't a pest on purpose... -
![The Room on the Roof by Ruskin Bond]()
The Room on the Roof by Ruskin Bond
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe Room on the Roof is a timeless coming-of-age novel that will resonate with a whole new generation of readers. Written by renowned author Ruskin Bond when he was just seventeen, it is the story of Rusty, a teenage Anglo-Indian boy who is orphaned and has to live with his English guardian in the stifling European quarter of Dehra Dun...Categorized as:
children classics humor literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure bildungsroman book -
![Lisa and Lottie by Erich Kästner]()
Lisa and Lottie by Erich Kästner
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsWhen they meet for the first time at summer camp, two ten-year-old girls discover they are twins and agree to exchange identities in an attempt to reconciliate their divorced parents... -
![LA Trompeta Del Cisne by E.B. White]()
LA Trompeta Del Cisne by E.B. White
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 57 ratingsLouis is a mute swan. His beloved Serena ignores him because of his handicap. To help him, his father steals a trumpet. Louis learns how to play it, not only to give his father the money to pay for the instrument, but also to win Serena's heart... -
![What's Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges]()
What's Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsJust about everything in Endora, Iowa (pop. 1,091 and dwindling) is eating Gilbert Grape, a twenty-four-year-old grocery clerk who dreams only of leaving. His enormous mother, once the town sweetheart, has been eating nonstop ever since her husband's suicide, and the floor beneath her TV chair is threatening to cave in...Categorized as:
classics family humor literary-fiction realistic season-summer 20th-century action-adventure -
![Second Form At Malory Towers by Enid Blyton]()
Second Form At Malory Towers by Enid Blyton
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDarrell, Sally, Gwendoline, Mary-Lou and all the other girls from the First Term at Malory Towers are now in the second form and they are as lively as ever. Mam'zelle Dupont is still trying to be strict, Alicia plays a terrible trick with invisible chalk and Gwendoline and Daphne inevitably get into trouble... -
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![Trout Fishing in America / The Pill vs. the Springhill Mine Disaster / In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan]()
Trout Fishing in America / The Pill vs. the Springhill Mine Disaster / In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsAn omnibus edition of three counterculture classics by Richard Brautigan that embody the spirit of the 1960s...Categorized as:
classics humor literary-fiction magical-realism outdoors 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior]()
How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsA curmudgeonly but charming old woman, her estranged grandson, and a colony of penguins proves it's never too late to be the person you want to be in this rich, heartwarming story from the acclaimed author of Ellie and the Harpmaker.Eighty-five-year-old Veronica McCreedy is estranged from her family and wants to find a worthwhile cause to leave her fortune to... -
![First Term at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton]()
First Term at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsDarrell's off to her new school.But what has she packed?1. Tennis racket? Yes2. Pocket-money? Yes3. A lid for her temper? NoOh dear! Malory Towers has a whole trunkload of trouble to come!Darrell and her friends grow together as they share their school days. There are new students to induct, sporting matches to be won, tempers to control and tricks to play on teachers...Categorized as:
children classics humor literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure audiobook -
![Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl]()
Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 53 ratingsDanny’s life seems perfect: his home is a gypsy caravan, he’s the youngest car mechanic around, and his best friend is his dad, who never runs out of wonderful stories to tell. And when Danny discovers his father’s secret, he’s off on the adventure of a lifetime. Here’s Roald Dahl’s famous story about a 9-year-old boy, his dad, and a daring and hilarious pheasant-snatching expedition... -
![Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts]()
Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsTalk about unlucky sevens. An hour ago, seventeen-year-old, seven months pregnant Novalee Nation was heading for California with her boyfriend. Now she finds herself stranded at a Wal-Mart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma, with just $7.77 in change...Categorized as:
classics family female-mc humor literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure -
![Rosy Is My Relative by Gerald Durrell]()
Rosy Is My Relative by Gerald Durrell
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsRosy, the elephant bequeathed to young Adrian Rookwhistle by a reprobate relative, turned out to be a handful: not alone because of her size but also because of her fondness for strong drink. To Adrian she represented the chance to get away froma City shop and a suburban lodging by exploiting her theatrical talent and experience...Categorized as:
children classics humor literary-fiction outdoors 20th-century action-adventure animals -
![I'm Not Stiller by Max Frisch]()
I'm Not Stiller by Max Frisch
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsArrested and imprisoned in a small Swiss town, a prisoner begins this book with an exclamation: "I'm not Stiller!" He claims that his name is Jim White, that he has been jailed under false charges and under the wrong identity... -
![The Risk Pool by Richard Russo]()
The Risk Pool by Richard Russo
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Risk Pool is a thirty-year journey through the lives of Sam Hall, a small-town gambling hellraiser, and his watchful, introspective son Ned... -
![Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary, Tracy Dockray]()
Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary, Tracy Dockray
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsBeverly Cleary's Newbery Honor Book depicts an average middle-class family dealing with the realities of life. With the perfect mix of humor and warmth, Ramona Quimby shines as a spirited girl with her heart set on helping. This chapter book is an excellent choice to share during homeschooling, in particular for children ages 7 to 9 who are reading independently... -
![Ramona Forever by Beverly Cleary]()
Ramona Forever by Beverly Cleary
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsGrowing up just wouldn't be the same without Ramona! Young readers delight in her trials and triumphs at home and at school... -
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![The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie]()
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsIn this darkly comic short story collection, Sherman Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, brilliantly weaves memory, fantasy, and stark realism to paint a complex, grimly ironic portrait of life in and around the Spoke Indian Reservation...Categorized as:
children classics family humor literary-fiction magical-realism realistic 20th-century -
![کلبهی هنری by Beverly Cleary]()
کلبهی هنری by Beverly Cleary
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFiery Ramona Quimby and the well-meaning Henry Huggins may clash, but in this delightful and hilariously told novel by Newbery Medal-winning author Beverly Cleary, an unlikely compromise wins the day.Henry and his friends are building a no-girls-allowed clubhouse... -
![Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech]()
Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 26 ratings“Intriguing, delightful, and touching.” —School Library Journal (starred review)“Creech’s best yet.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)It started out as an ordinary summer. But the minute thirteen-year-old Zinny discovered the old, overgrown trail that ran through the woods behind her family’s house, she realized that things were about to change... -
![Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary]()
Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsHaving a little sister like four-year-old Ramona isn't always easy for Beezus Quimby. With a wild imagination, disregard for order, and an appetite for chaos, Ramona makes it hard for Beezus to be the responsible older sister she knows she ought to be…especially when Ramona threatens to ruin Beezus's birthday party... -
![Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver]()
Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 53 ratings"Animals dream about the things they do in the day time just like people do. If you want sweet dreams, you've got to live a sweet life." So says Loyd Peregrina, a handsome Apache trainman and latter-day philosopher. But when Codi Noline returns to her hometown, Loyd's advice is painfully out of her reach... -
![House of Day, House of Night by Olga Tokarczuk]()
House of Day, House of Night by Olga Tokarczuk
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsThe English translation of the prize-winning international bestseller Winner of the Gunter Grass PrizeNowa Ruda is a small town in Silesia, an area that has been a part of Poland, Germany, and the former Czechoslovakia in the past. When the narrator moves into the area, she discovers everyone--and everything--has a story...Categorized as:
epic journey literary-fiction magical-realism 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook
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