LEARN’s Summertime Reads 2025: A Farewell to Bells and a Hello to Hammocks
With another school year in the rearview mirror (and maybe a few glitter-covered art projects still clinging to your car seat), LEARN wants to send you off into summer with one simple message: You’ve earned this. It’s time to trade attendance sheets for beach towels, and swap smartboards for sun hats.
Forget students who think Quebec is a country, colleagues who cite Socrates to win arguments about the coffee maker, and that one hallway bulletin board debate that somehow turned into a six-email thread. You’ve survived another season of spelling tests, spirit days, and sandwich lunches eaten standing up. Now, it’s time for naps so long they qualify as time travel.
In our 10th(!) annual edition of Summertime Reads, we’re once again going beyond the books. This year’s curated picks include:
- Podcasts that make traffic jams feel like spa days
- Playlists that turn dishwashing into dance-offs
- Articles and zines that don’t require a highlighter or a rubric
- And yes, some audiobooks perfect for zoning out under a sunhat or powering through a rainy day clean-up
Whether you’re chilling at a cabin, camping with mosquitoes, or just lying motionless in front of a fan, our list is here to bring joy, laughs, and maybe a tiny bit of learning (but shhh… we won’t tell).
We’ll see you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the 2025-2026 school year. Until then, dear educators, cancel your notifications, turn your phone to “out of office,” and remember: the only thing you’re required to grade this summer is the sandcastle competition.
Happy Summer from all of us at LEARN
The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer
In The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance, Robin Wall Kimmerer invites us to imagine a different kind of economy—one rooted in reciprocity, kinship, and care. Drawing from Indigenous knowledge and ecological wisdom, she challenges the assumption that value is transactional and that scarcity is inevitable.
Instead, she proposes a model inspired by the natural world, where relationships—not commodities—are at the heart of exchange. The humble serviceberry becomes a metaphor for how we might share, sustain, and support one another without always calculating cost or return.
This essay offers a powerful lens through which to reflect on leadership, community, and what it means to thrive together. In a world shaped by competition and extraction, Kimmerer’s words are a welcome reminder that abundance grows when we honour our interdependence.
It’s a thoughtful, restorative read—perfect for summer.
Christine Truesdale
North of North
This TV show about a young Inuk mother and her community in Nunavut is hilarious and unpredictable, beautifully representative of Arctic small-town life, and a wee bit heartbreaking all at the same time. I highly recommend it! It is free to watch on CBC Gem: https://gem.cbc.ca/north-of-north
Kerry Cule
Ninan Auassat: We, the Children
is a powerful documentary that was recommended to me, and I’d like to share it with you as well. Directed by Kim O’Bomsawin and available through the National Film Board (NFB), it follows children from the Atikamekw, Eeyou Cree, and Innu Nations over six years, as they share their dreams, challenges, and hopes while growing up. Told entirely through the voices of the children themselves—without adult narration—it offers a unique and deeply moving window into their lives and cultures. I’m looking forward to learning from their stories and perspectives.
Carolyn Buteau
North of North (TV Series on CBC, APTN, and Netflix)
Why I’m absolutely stoked about it: As someone who used to live in Kuujjuaq, North of North immediately grabbed my attention. It looks incredibly funny, and I’m already anticipating admiring all the beautiful parkas! Wondering why you should give it a go? This comedy series showcases contemporary Inuit culture, offering a fun and accessible way to learn about the Inuit Nation and life in Northern Canada today.
Stacy Anne Allen
Pareil, pas pareil
Cet été, je vous recommande de découvrir la balado “Pareil, pas pareil” où différents francophones des Amériques comparent différents traits culturels de leur région et jouent à ce qui est similaire ou différent dans leurs régions respectives. Évidemment, mon épisode préféré traite des traditions culinaires!
Voici le lien pour la série de balado: https://webouest.ca/balados/pareil-pas-pareil/
Marc-Albert Paquette
HUMANS by Brandon Stanton
HUMANS by Brandon Stanton is a powerful collection of real stories that reminds us of our shared humanity. In today’s divided world, it’s a much-needed dose of empathy and understanding. I love the beautiful and raw photographs, and others should read it to reconnect with compassion, diversity, and the human experience.
Leanna Di Fulvio
At A Loss For Words, Conversations in an Age of Rage by Carol Off
A look at the evolution of the meanings of 6 key concepts, Freedom, Democracy, Truth, Woke, Choice, and Taxes and how these affect our times. Well researched and explained by a journalistic Pro from the CBC.
Thomas Stenzel
The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen
Earlier this year, I read a fascinating book that explores the history and enduring power of the notebook.
The author traces how notebooks have shaped, and been shaped by, the people who use them, from merchants, to great thinkers of the past, to everyday observers. The book follows the evolution of the notebook, showing how it has remained relevant and adaptable, even in our digital age. For anyone who loves journaling, sketching, or scribbling ideas on paper, this book is for you.
Katherine Dimas
Narwhal and Jelly: Super Pod Party Pack! by Ben Clanton
This is a cute story of unlikely friendships who love to play using their imagination. This graphic novel series is an easy and fun read with silly sayings and graphics. It is great for beginning readers.
Melissa Price
Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
… came highly recommended to me by many people. I have not had the time to start reading it, so I put it #1 on my summer reading list. It is known as an emotional story that explores trauma, identity, and survival in a war-torn world. If you are similar to me and love stories that challenge and move you, this one deserves a spot on your summer list too!
Marlee Rozansky
The Apollo Murders, by astronaut Chris Hadfield
… is his first foray into novel writing. As a long-time space geek and admirer of Hadfield, I am excited to read this book. While it’s not a historical account, it does incorporate real history and science into the plot. I’m looking forward to a breezy, engaging read, perfect for a summer hammock afternoon.
Side note: I bought the book from a small local bookstore on Independent Bookstore Day!
Rob Costain
I Only Read Murder by Ian and Will Ferguson
I have my ‘elbows up’ this summer so I’m going with a summer recommendation from CBC books. I chose “I only read murder” by Canadian authors Ian and Will Ferguson. Nothing funny about murder but these brothers are described as comedy writers. I’m hoping for a nice light read to set the tone for a relaxing summer. Wishing you all the same.
Craig Bullett
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
I am a long-time reader of Kazuo Ishiguro, and I’ve even read another of his books for an earlier edition of LEARN’s summertime reads. This time though, the Nobel prize winning writer moves into unfamiliar territory. Klara and the Sun is told from the perspective of an AF, an Artificial Friend who is designed to be a companion to children. I’ve only read part one, but from the start it is unmistakably Ishiguro—quiet, aching, deceptively simple. If you’ve read Never Let Me Go or The Remains of the Day, you’ll feel the same restraint, the same emotional undercurrents just beneath the surface. Is it science fiction, or is it our near future? For me it doesn’t matter. It’ll be great writing to enjoy while relaxing quietly in the shade.
Paul Rombough
Les Yeux jaunes des crocodiles by Katherine Pancol
I was gifted this novel years ago… and I’m finally cracking it open! Les Yeux jaunes des crocodiles is the first in a best-selling trilogy written by Katherine Pancol. The story revolves around the complicated lives of two very different sisters and their extended family, living in Paris. Where do the crocodiles come in? Well, both in the human and animal kind. So far, it’s a fun, colourful, twisty, summertime read.
Kristine Thibeault
Shark Heart: A Love Story by Emily Habeck
I picked up this highly recommended book with no idea what to expect. Wow! Shark Heart is the most original novel I have read in a long time! Story telling, script, and poetry are woven together beautifully, with elements of magical realism, to explore the complexities of love, loss, and grief.
Dianne Conrod
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
This is the first of a series; as with most stories that went from paper to screen, the book version is much better than the screen version! It offers good entertainment and a great way to disconnect from our daily preoccupations. It’s easy to read, a real page turner. Although it may start slow, make sure you have plenty of time ahead of you as once you hit the middle of the book, you won’t be able to put it down!
Caroline Dupuis
ShiftED Podcast
This summer, relax and recharge! Tune into the ShiftED Podcast on LEARN’s platform, where educators like Dan Fitzpatrick (The AI Educator), Peter Gray (play-based learning), Steve “Stand Tall” Bollar (leadership), and Valéry Psyché (AI in education) share fresh, real‑world insights. Perfect for poolside inspiration—big ideas in bite‑size episodes.
Chris Colley
The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins
I have just started reading The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbin, a New York Times bestselling author who became famous with her viral “five‑second rule” technique and now hosts the award‑winning The Mel Robbins Podcast. In her latest book, Robbins co-writes this book with her daughter Sawyer to share a powerful yet simple mindset shift (“Let Them”) that helps you stop wasting energy on things beyond your control and start focusing on what really matters, your life, goals, and happiness. I listen to her podcast too (The Mel Robbins Podcast), it’s honest, hilarious, with the occasional kick in the pants you didn’t know you needed. Perfect summer vibes, a great read to reset and recharge. Happy Summer to all!
Carolina Toteda
