The Guild's Summer Reading Lists

For the Grown-Ups

All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks

Why We Recommend: In this genre-defying work, bell hooks reframes love as a radical, communal, and ethical choice—one that challenges dominant cultural narratives about power, success, and individualism. All About Love invites us to rethink how love can be the foundation of both personal healing and systemic change. For caregivers and educators, this book offers a deeply personal and societal framework for raising children in ways that honor authenticity, compassion, and accountability—laying the foundation for relationships rooted in justice and care.

The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Why We Recommend: In this essay-turned-manifesto, Robin Wall Kimmerer imagines what our world could be like if our systems of economy were guided by reciprocity, mutual flourishing, and kinship instead of extraction. Through the lens of the serviceberry tree, she offers a gentle but powerful invitation to reimagine our relationships—with land, with community, and with our students. For caregivers and educators, this piece encourages us to model and teach values of interdependence, generosity, and gratitude—showing children that true wealth lies in connection and shared responsibility.

Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brené Brown

Why We Recommend: Braving the Wilderness challenges our assumptions about what it means to belong. Rather than fitting in, Brené Brown teaches us that true belonging comes from standing in our integrity—even when we stand alone. This book is especially resonant for educators and caregivers committed to building spaces of inclusion and courage. It offers both language and practices for cultivating belonging at home and at school—where children are longing to feel seen, safe, and supported in being exactly who they are.

Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students by Zaretta Hammond

Why We Recommend: As a former English teacher, Zaretta Hammond explains the science of culture, neuroscience, and learning in ways that are relevant and easy to understand. In addition to exploring some deep philosophical questions about the nature of education, this book gives amazing real-world examples and provides actionable steps you can take to become a culturally responsive practitioner. For caregivers, it offers an accessible lens for understanding how children learn and how to support their growth with empathy, awareness, and respect for their unique identities.

Troublemakers: Lessons in Freedom from Young Children at School by Carla Shalaby

Why We Recommend: This beautiful book profiles four children who have been labeled as “troublemakers.” Carla Shalaby sees “troublemakers” as the canaries in the coal mine, indicating the toxic environments at school that limit their freedom and silence their voices. This book advocates a radical reframing of so-called troublemakers and calls for a system of education centered around love and freedom. For caregivers, it’s a powerful reminder to see behavior as communication and to create nurturing spaces where all children can be seen, heard, and valued.

We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom by Bettina Love

Why We Recommend: In this book, Dr. Love uses her own life story, history, and theory to make the argument that we must dismantle the status quo and build something different for our students. She writes of the educational survival complex that forces our students of color to merely survive, and she shares ways to pursue educational freedom so that our students can truly thrive. This book feels different from any other education book—it connects to ancestry, resistance, and reimagining, and it centers joy, love, and humanity. For caregivers, it offers an urgent and empowering call to action to advocate for justice, liberation, and joy in the lives of the children they love.

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown

Why We Recommend: As teachers and caregivers, we are often encouraged to never make mistakes, to not show our cards, and to maintain a facade. In this book, Brené Brown encourages us to throw that all out and instead embrace imperfection, live authentically, and engage in scary, vulnerable, courageous ways. While this book is not specifically geared toward educators, chapter six focuses on disrupting the status quo and rehumanizing education. For caregivers, the entire book is deeply resonant, offering transformative insights into how to raise and support children with empathy, courage, and wholehearted presence.

The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life by Parker Palmer

Why We Recommend: In this critically acclaimed book, Parker Palmer lays out a simple theory: good teaching can take many forms, but all good teachers have something in common. They are authentically present in the classroom, create a community with their students, and build connections between their community and their subject. This book explores what it takes to teach with your full heart and soul, how not to lose heart, and how to reconnect with your passion for teaching. For caregivers, it offers rich reflections on how to engage with children in meaningful ways, showing up as whole, intentional humans.

Schools with Spirit: Nurturing the Inner Lives of Children and Teachers Edited By Linda Lantieri

Why We Recommend: Schools with Spirit is a collection of essays that propose a broader vision of education—one that welcomes the natural, spiritual, and creative lives of all learners. These essays connect us to our humanness, our wildness, and our need for community, and show how each of those things connects to our teaching practice. For caregivers, this book is a powerful reminder to honor the inner life of every child and to nurture learning environments, at home or elsewhere, that support emotional and spiritual well-being.

For the Children

Picture Books

• And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson & Peter Parnell
• And That’s Their Family by Kailee Coleman
• Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah Jones & Renée Watson
• IntersectionAllies by Chelsea Johnson, LaToya Council, & Carolyn Choi
• It Feels Good to Be Yourself by Theresa Thorn
• Julian is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
• Let The Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson & Frank Morrison
• Momma, Where Are You From? By Marie Bradby
• My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss
• Red: A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall
• My Shadow Is Purple by Scott Stuart
• Something Happened in Our Town by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, & Ann Hazzard
• The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
• The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad with S. K. Ali
• The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
• We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom
• What Do You Do With A Problem? by Kobi Yamada (and all his other books)
• When We Were Alone by David A Robertson

Chapter Books

• All American Boys by Jason Reynolds
• A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd
• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
• A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
• Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
• Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick
• Hatchet by Gary Pulsen
• Hidden Figures young readers edition by Margot Lee Shetterly
• Holes by Louis Sachar
• Inside Out and Back Again by Thanha Lai
• Mause by Art Spiegelman
• Night by Elie Wiesel
• Refugee by Alan Gratz
• Sold by Patricia McCormick
• The Absolutely True Story of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
• The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
• The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
• The Outsiders by S.E Hinton
• The River by G. Paulsen
• The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper lee
• Wonder by R. J. Palacio