The Camp Walt Whitman Summer Reading List

Having your child at summer camp is a great time to work through your summer reading list. It’s also a perfect moment to reflect on where your child is in their development and your parent-child dynamic—in case you want to set a new tone when your camper returns home!

These are a few books we recommend that speak to the social-emotional skills we try to foster at camp, such as confidence, independence, responsibility and kindness.

Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman

Homesick and Happy: How Time Away from Parents Can Help a Child Grow by Michael Thompson

How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success by Julie Lythcott-Haims [Interestingly, Lythcott-Haims recommends having your child fill out their own camp forms as part of the path to independence—note to self for next year!]

Raisin’ Cain: Protecting the Emotional Lives of Boys by Michael Thompson

Best Friends/Worst Enemies: Understanding the Social Lives of Children by Michael Thompson

How Children Succeed by Paul Tough

Not Much Just Chillin’: The Hidden Lives of Middle Schoolers by Linda Perlstein

The Blessing of a Skinned Knee by Wendy Mogel

Perfect Madness, Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety by Judith Warner

Odd Girl Out, The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls by Rachel Simmons

Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence by Rosalind Wiseman

Cliques: Eight Steps to Help Your Child Survive the Social Jungle by Charlene Giannetti and Margaret Sagarese

Bullyproof Your Child for Life – Protect Your Child from Teasing by Joel Haber