Great picture books for the summer

Child’s Play continue to build on their range of truly inclusive and accessible books with this sensory gem. Off to the Beach! takes us on a tactile trip to the seaside.

A child begins their journey of experiencing water as a baby in their mother’s arms – but the sea is so big that they feel scared by it.

A lovely addition to any little person’s blossoming bookshelf, this is a great way to learn about our country’s wildlife and the illustrations are a treat for tiny art lovers. Be warned though, you’ll want to collect the entire set from Nosy Crow and the National Trust!

Lilly is holidaying at Grandma’s seaside house in Wales. She always enjoys her gran’s tall stories about sea monsters living in a cave nearby. When it finally stops raining, Lilly can’t wait to get outside and explore – especially as she’s found an old torch to play with. 

It’s a hot day and a lonely hot dog sausage watches the dogs playing on the beach with envy. How he wishes he could run and jump and chase his tail – if he had one.

Dinah the Diplodocus is a bit of a star: she finds everything easy, from baking to learning the alphabet. And, even though Dinah always wins at everything, she also has tons of friends because she’s nice enough to help others out when they don’t understand something, and she cheers them on when they do.

A lively rhyming picture book with fun, inclusive illustrations and brilliant repetition that will have children joining in with the actions. 

This is a joyful and warm-hearted picture book which takes inspiration from CBT coping skills to explore how children can manage difficult feelings. The minimal and sensitive text comes together beautifully with the innovative holes and flaps that are used to recast the child’s negative experiences into positive ones.

Transport and dogs come together in this bright, joyful picture book which follows a train, boat and plane over the course of a busy day.

John Burningham’s simple yet sophisticated account of a trip to the seaside is both a masterly drawing of grumpy Mum and Dad and a vibrant depiction of Shirley’s magical inner world. Fantastic.

A welcome re-publication of Foreman’s timeless and evocative account of a boy’s relationship with life and death.

Raffelton Grey is bored of his life and longs to be free from his cage. After hatching a master escape plan, he finally gets to experience life at the seaside, but is being free as fun as he thought it would be?