Summer is a great time to read a good book, isn’t it? For kids as well as parents.

A brand new gaggle of self-published authors are offering fun and interesting books for kids at AuthorHouse.

C is for Chicago is written by Ashleigh Deese Grambo and introduces young readers to Chicago culture while teaching the alphabet.

The Misadventures of Dust Bunny by Beth Smithem teaches the importance of friendship with its lighthearted tales of one dust bunny’s adventure.

Pediatrician and mother Avril Beckford discusses the importance of play in the life of a child and in the parent-child connection in her new book, I Love You 65 Bulldozers.

Inspired by the imaginative lives of children and his own creative thoughts, Thomas S. Adam brings together a delightful collection of short stories for children and their parents, Tom’s Short Tales.

Sometimes it’s the most read book of all time that inspires writing. Author Melanie C. Christmas wrote a story for her daughter that she turned into for a children’s book series. A Picnic with Jesus is the first book in her series called Miss Patricia Diane’s Bible Study Class. The Bible story of the loaves and fishes comes alive in Melanie’s tale. “My life has been filled with many obstacles to overcome,” she says. “However, if God brought me to it he would bring me through it.”

For anyone working with kids ages 10 to 13, leadership development specialist Dr. Alan Nelson’s new book,  KidLead: Growing Great Leaders, explores a  new way of training the next generation of leaders.

“We’re giving these kids a 10- to 20-year head start from when most leadership training begins,” says Dr. Nelson, founder of KidLead, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing effective, ethical leaders while they’re young. “Imagine what any of us would do with that kind of jump on the competition.”

With personal stories from leaders like Stephen Covey, Mike Huckabee, Ken Blanchard and George Foreman, the book offers a tool chest of ideas for parents, teachers and coaches in a new approach to leadership training.

With a master’s degree in psychology-communication and doctorate in leadership from the University of San Diego, Dr. Nelson has  published many articles and books in the field of leadership. He is also certified by the American Society of Trainers & Development and the Center for Creative Leadership. Look for the book in stores  July 31.

-Janet Muniz