12 Survival Themed Books to Read to Your Children This Summer

I don’t know about your house, but summer is well underway in our house.   Summer means that the kids have more free time, and I usually have more free time.  One excellent way to spend time with my children is to read them survival-themed books.

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And the great thing about reading them books is that they love it!  I’ve read all seven of the Chronicles of Narnia books to my kids. We’ve read some of the Little House series together.  My husband has read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy to them, and they always beg for more.

If you are looking for some great reading books with a survival theme to read to your kids this summer or to challenge them to read on their own, here are some of my favorites.

Looking for other great reads for yourself?  You can find some book suggestions here.

1.)  Boxcar Children Book 1 – by Gertrude Chandler Warner

I was shocked when I read this book for the first time.  It is a delightful adventure of four Alden children who have lost their mother and father and don’t want to live with their grandfather.  They have no place to live until they stumble across an old abandoned boxcar in the woods.  They clean it out, fix it up, and create a place to live together until they hit a snag.

2.)  Hatchet – by Gary Paulsen

I gifted this book to my middle son a couple of years ago.  He has enjoyed the book.  It’s about a thirteen-year-old boy named Brian Robeson flying across Canada to see his father.  When his plane crashes, he has to survive the Canadian wilderness.  All he has with him is his hatchet.  As he makes his way to find his father, his ingenuity and resourcefulness make this a great book to encourage our children to think outside the box during challenging times.

I purchased this book for my (then 10-year-old) son.  He’s not fond of reading but enjoyed the story.  Funny enough, three of my other children borrowed the book from him and subsequently read it.  They all loved it.

3.)  Swiss Family Robinson – by Jean Rudolph Wyss (Free on Kindle)

Shipwreck, giant snakes, caves, tigers, pirates – this book has it all!

This was my first introduction to the survival genre as a child.  I loved it even then, but now I understand why I love it more.  If you have adventure-loving children, they will hang on this book’s every word.

4.) Robinson Crusoe – by Daniel Defoe (Free on Kindle)

This book and Swiss Family Robinson have a lot in common.  I love reading about how Robinson makes the most of his time and resources, braves the elements, and how his adventurous spirit prevails through hard times.  I love the lessons it teaches children about listening to parents’ sincere warnings and the consequences of not heeding them mixed in with the mercy he finds in God’s provision for him.

We’ve discovered the joy of audiobooks for our long trips.  On one of our long trips down to Texas from Illinois, this was one of the books that we chose to listen to.   All my children, minus my youngest, who was six at the time, really enjoyed it.

5.)  My Side of the Mountain – by Jean Craighead George

This was a standard read when I was going to school, but it’s a great fiction book with a beautiful survival theme.  Sam Gribley, a 14-year-old boy, becomes frustrated by living in a cramped New York City apartment with his eight brothers and sisters.  He convinces his father to let him travel to his grandfather’s old farm in the Catskill mountains of New York state.  The book chronicles his trials, triumphs, learning experiences, and frustrations as he learns to live a self-sufficient lifestyle in the woods.

6.)  Farmer Boy – by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Almanzo Wilder grew up in New York State.  This book is just about one year of his life, but the events during that year are fascinating.  So many of the tales about Almanzo in this book are skills and knowledge that we are completely unaware of today, like putting wheat into standing bundles to dry, going to a local river and cutting ice blocks to furnish their ice house, having someone come and make brand new shoes from scratch just for Almanzo.  It’s just so fascinating to see how people lived, their skills, the trials they underwent, and the small sense of triumph that was felt at the end of a hard day of work.

I’ve read several of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, but this one is my favorite.  I love hearing how things were done in times past.  I’ve always enjoyed living history, and this book makes it come alive to me.

7.)  Island of the Blue Dolphin – by Scott O’Dell

Karana lived on one of the channel islands off the coast of California in the early 1800s.  Russian hunters wiped out most of her tribe.  The rest of the tribe was removed from the island, but her brother missed the boat, so Karana jumped out of the ship to find her brother.  The boat didn’t wait for them.  Not long after, a pack of ferril dogs kills Karana’s brother, so Karana lives on the island all by herself.  She has to learn to fend for herself.

8.) Call It Courage – by Armstrong Sperry

Mafatu is afraid of the ocean because he witnessed his mother die in the sea when he was a small child.  He is teased and ridiculed by his stepbrothers and the rest of his tribe.  One night he takes a canoe out into the ocean, gets caught in a storm, and is blown to an island inhabited by cannibals.  Mafatu has to learn to survive, face his fears, and make a plan to get home.

Need a novel to help children learn to face their fears?  Call it Courage, is it.

9.)  Braving It – by James Campbell

Reading about adventure wasn’t enough for this family.  Because they developed a taste for adventure and self-sufficiency, this father and daughter traveled out into the Alaskan wilderness together.  James Campbell and his daughter Aidan moved to Alaska for a summer to help James’s cousin build a cabin in Alaska’s rugged Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  Garnering a taste for this challenging life, they return to the area three times.  Each visit tests them more than the last.

10.)  The Maze – By Will Hobbs

Lost and alone in the Red Canyons of the American West, fourteen-year-old Rick Walder discovers the camp of an ornithologist.  Once he gets to know the man, he decides to stay with him as he releases California Condors back into their native habitat.  But life is never as simple as it seems.  Rick’s newfound friend is threatened.  Rick has to try to save them.

11 – 12.)  The Boy’s Book of Survival – How to Survive Anything, Anywhere

– by Scholastic

A Girl’s Guide to the Wild – Be an Adventure Seeking Outdoor Explorer

By Ruby McConnell

Does your child enjoy non-fiction as much, if not more than fiction?  This is an excellent book for not just your boy but your adventurous girl as well.  Both of my girls enjoy survival non-fiction as much as survival fiction. Both them and my boys love books exactly like this!

What About You?

Do you have any children that you read to?  What kinds of activities do you do with your children during the summers?  What are your favorite fiction works that focus on self-sufficiency?  I’d love to hear.  Leave a comment below and let me know.

You’ve got this, Mama!

Originally posted May 28, 2018; Edited and Revised June 9, 2021