Librarians Recommend... Books for Kindergarten through Sixth Grade

North Penn School District www.npenn.org

Librarians Recommend...Books for Kindergarten Through Sixth Grade

Dear Parent:

The world of independent reading is one of the most satisfying gifts we can give to our children. Although some children may discover this marvelous world on their own, many of them need our help and encouragement. When children discover that reading can be helpful and enjoyable, it becomes a meaningful, necessary part of their lives. They may read because of a hobby or interest, to seek information, or to satisfy their curiosity, but they will read with pleasure.

Our task, then, as adults to whom our children look for example and guidance, is to cre-ate favorable conditions for reading. Below are some suggestions for creating a climate that encourages reading.

1. Children follow examples. If they see that books are an important part of your family life, they will want to make them a part of theirs.

2. Children love to be read to. Studies have shown that most successful readers have had parents or brothers and sisters who have read to them.

3. Children appreciate organization. Setting aside a special time for reading - when TV is not permitted as a substitute - is an excellent way to develop a pattern for reading.

The lists which follow have been compiled to aid you in encouraging your child to read. They are not all-inclusive. Although the books are listed under specific grade levels, the interest and ability of your child should be considered when selecting a book.

Top Ten Read Aloud TipsTo Remember When Reading to your Child

1. Spend at least ten wildly happy minutes every single day reading aloud.

2. Read at least three stories a day: it may be the same three stories. Children need to hear a thousand stories before they can begin to read.

3. Read aloud with animation. Listen to your own voice and don’t be dull, or flat, or boring. Hang loose and be loud, have fun and laugh a lot.

4. Read with joy and excitement: real enjoyment for yourself and great joy for the listen-ers.

5. Read the stories that the kids love, over and over and over again and always read in the same “tune” for each book: i.e. with the same intonations on each page, each time.

6. Let children hear lots of language by talking to them constantly about the pictures, or anything else connected to the book; or sing an old song you remember; or say nursery rhymes in a bouncy way, or be noisy together doing clapping games.

7. Look for rhyme, rhythm or repetition in books for younger children, and make sure the books are really short.

8. Play games with the things that you and the child can see on the page, such as letting kids finish rhymes, and finding the letter that starts the child’s name and yours, remem-bering that it’s never work, it’s always a fabulous game.

9. Never ever teach reading, or get tense around books.

10. Read aloud every day because you just love being with your child, not because it’s the right thing to do. This is as important for fathers as it is for mothers.

~ Mem Fox

“Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.”

~ Mortimer J. Adler

Curtis, Jamie Lee. I’m Gonna Like Me: Letting Off a Little Self-Esteem. Traces the day of two children and focuses on everyday occurrences that can build self-esteem.*

Dannenberg, Julie. First Day Jitters. Sarah is afraid to start at a new school, but both she and the reader are in for a surprise when she gets to class.

Ehlert, Lois. Color Zoo. Introduces colors and shapes with illustrations of shapes on die-cut pages that form animal faces when placed on top of one another.*

Falconer, Ian. Olivia. Whether getting ready for the day, enjoying the beach or preparing for bedtime, Ol-ivia is a feisty pig who has too much energy for her own good.*

Feiffer, Jules. Bark, George. George’s mother is in for a big surprise when she takes him to the veterinarian to find out when he doesn’t bark.

Havill, Juanita. Jamaica’s Find. A little girl finds a stuffed dog in the park and decides to take it home.* Henkes, Kevin. Wemberly Worried. A mouse named Wemberly, who worries about everything, finds that he has a whole list of things to worry about when he faces the first day of nursery school.*

Henkes, Kevin. Kitten’s First Full Moon. Kitten mis-takes the full moon for a bowl of milk, she ends up tired, wet and hungry trying to reach it.*

Keller, Holly. Help: A Story of Friendship. Mouse hears a rumor that Snake does not like mice and while trying to avoid his former friend, he falls into a hole from which neither Hedgehog, Squirrel, nor Rabbit can help him out. This is an engaging tale of friendship and forgiveness.*

Lehman, Barbara. The Red Book. A wordless story in which a little girl finds a red book in the snow that holds an astonishing surprise.

Lester, Helen. Listen, Buddy. A lop-eared rabbit named Buddy finds himself in trouble with the Scruffy Varmint because he never listens.

Lionni, Leo. Swimmy. Swimmy, a small black fish, finds a way to protect a school of red fish from their natural enemies.*

Aylesworth, Jim. Little Bitty Mousie. In this alphabet book, Little Bitty Mousie sneaks into a house one night and discovers many tantalizing new things as well as one very scary thing.*

Beaumont, Karen. I Like Myself! In rhyming text, a child expresses her self-esteem.*

Binklow, Howard. Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen. Howard Wigglebottom has a great deal of difficulty listening, which gets him into a great deal of trouble.

Brett, Jan. The Mitten. Several animals sleep snugly in Nicki’s mitten until the bear sneezes.*

Bridwell, Norman. Clifford’s Busy Week. Clifford and Emily Elizabeth set out to retrace the big red dog’s week in an attempt to find his lost mouse. Everyone’s favorite big red dog continues to delight young readers with many new adventures.*

Brown, Marc. D. W. All Wet. Part of a series about an aardvark family. D.W. announces, “I don’t like the beach and I don’t like to get wet.”*

Capucilli, Alyssa Satin. Biscuit Finds a Friend. A pup-py helps a little duck find its way to the pond.*

Carle, Eric. The Grouchy Ladybug. Hour by hour, a hungry, irritable ladybug challenges everyone she meets to a fight.*

Carlson, Nancy. Get Up and Go! Author’s signature characters, rabbit and pig speak directly to children to take care of themselves by getting exercise and what fun it can be.*

Catalanotto, Peter. Ivan the Terrible. Illustrations and simple text tell a story about a terrier named Ivan who keeps interrupting story hour.

Cristolow, Ellen. Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. It’s bedtime at the monkey house, yet the five rambunctious little monkeys keep jumping on their bed until, one by one, each falls off and has to visit the doc-tor.

Cronin, Doreen. Wiggle. In rhyming text, a busy, hap-py dog shows readers the many ways and places to wiggle.*

Books for the Kindergartener

Lionni, Leo. Little Blue and Little Yellow. Two blobs of paint play together but when they meet and hug, something happens!*

Marshall, James. Red Riding Hood. (retold and illus-trated) A humorous retelling of the story of the little girl who meets a hungry wolf in the forest on her way to grandmother’s house.*

Martin, Bill. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. An alpha-bet rhyme/chant that relates what happens when the whold alphabet tries to climb a coconut tree.*

Munsch, Robert. Thomas’ Snowsuit. His mother, teacher and principal have a hard time trying to con-vince Thomas to wear his snowsuit.*

Pierce, Terry. Mother Goose Rhymes. (6 set series)Illustrations give a fresh take on the traditional Mother Goose nursery rhymes organized by everyday themes. Set contains familiar to lesser known rhymes.*

Reynolds, Peter. The Dot. Vashti believes that she cannot draw, but her art teacher’s encouragement leas her to change her mind.

Rohmann, Eric. My Friend Rabbit. Something always seems to go wrong when Rabbit is around, but Mouse lets Rabbit play with his toy plane anyway because he is his good friend.

Sendak. Maurice. Where the Wild Things Are. Max dreams of a voyage to the island where the wild things are after he is sent to bed without dinner for behaving like a wild thing.*

Seuss, Dr. Green Eggs and Ham. Sam-I-Am wins a campaign to get another character to try a plate of green eggs and ham.*

Shannon, David. No, David! Tells the adventures of young David doing all kinds of things he isn’t supposed to do.*

Willems, Mo. Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale. Trix-ie becomes very unhappy when she accompanies her daddy to the Laundromat and realizes she has lost her stuffed bunny.*

Willems, Mo. Can I Play Too? Elephant and Piggie’s adventure starts out smoothly but when Snake shows up and wants to play, it causes concern since he is dif-ferent. This story offers guidance to children on friend-ship among peers and differences. In the Elephant and Piggie series the characters continue to learn many of life’s lessons through their adventures.*

Wilson, Karma. Hilda Must Be Dancing. Hilda Hippo tries other, quieter, activities when her jungle friends are disturbed by her dancing. Nothing else makes her happy until Water Buffalo suggests swimming and she finds a new way to express herself.*

Books for the Kindergartener

Clements, Andrew. Dogku. Tells a story through hai-ku about a dog named Mooch and the many things it does, such as riding in a car, barking at the neighbors, and chewing on dirty socks.

Cronin, Doreen. Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type. When Farmer Brown’s cows find a typewriter in the barn they start making demands, and go on strike when the farmer refuses to give them what they want.

DePaola, Tomie. Strega Nona: an Original Tale. When Strega Nona leaves him alone with her mag-ic pasta pot, Big Anthony is determined to show the townspeople how it works.

Finchler, Judy. Miss Malarkey Doesn’t Live in Room 10. A first-grade boy is shocked, then pleased, when he finds out that his teacher has a live away from school.

Fleming, Denise. Buster Goes to Cowboy Camp. When Buster the dog’s owner goes away for a few days, he sends Buster to Sagebrush Kennels for Cow-boy Camp, where Buster is homesick at first, but then has fun herding balls into the corral, gathering sticks for a campfire, and making wanted posters with his paw prints.

Frazee, Marla. A Couple of Boys have the Best Week Ever. Friends James and Eamon enjoy a won-derful week at the home of Eamon’s grandparents dur-ing summer vacation.

Henkes, Kevin. Chester’s Way. Chester and Wilson share the same exact way of doing things, until Lilly moves into the neighborhood and shows them that new ways can be just as good.

Herriges, Ann. Dolphins. Simple text and support-ive images introduce beginning readers to dolphins. (Blastoff! Readers series)

Holabird, Katharine. Angelina and the Princess. Angelina is too sick to dance well during the tryouts for the lead for the “Princess of Mouseland” ballet, but when the leading ballerina sprains her foot, Angelina is ready to prove she is still the best dancer of all.

Johnson, Crockett. Harold and the Purple Crayon. Harold uses his fantastic purple crayon to draw himself some wonderful adventures.

Adler, David. Bones and the Cupcake Mystery. (Vi-king easy-to-read series) Detective Jeffery Bones finds he does not need fancy equipment to solve the school-lunch mystery of “Not Me” Amy’s missing cupcake.

Allard, Harry. Miss Nelson Is Missing. The kids in Room 207 take advantage of their teacher’s good nature until she disappears and they are faced with a vile substitute.

Arnold, Tedd. I Spy Fly Guy! While playing hide-and-seek with Buzz, Fly Guy is taken away by a garbage man.

Bang, Molly. When Sophie Gets Angry — Really, Really Angry. When Sophie gets angry she goes outside and runs, cries, climbs her favorite tree – and then, calmed by the breeze, she is soon ready to go back home.

Bemelmans, Ludwig. Madeline. Madeline, smallest and naughtiest of the twelve little charges of Miss Clavel, wakes up one night with an attack of appendicitis.

Brett, Jan. Honey-Honey-Lion!: A Story from Africa. After working together to obtain honey, the African bad-ger always shares it with his partner, the honeyguide bird, until one day when the honey badger becomes greedy and his feathered friend decides to teach him a lesson.

Brown, Marc. Arthur and the True Francine. Francine and Muffy are good friends until Muffy lets Francine take blame for cheating on a test.

Bunting, Eve. Picnic in October. A boy finally comes to understand why his grandmother insists that the family come to Ellis Island each year to celebrate Lady Liberty’s birthday.

Burton, Virginia Lee. The Little House. A country house is unhappy when the city, with all its buildings and traffic grows up around her.

Burton, Virginia Lee. Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. Although Mike Mulligan’s steam shovel is too old fashioned to compete with newer models, the peo-ple of Popperville find a way to keep it working.

Chaconas, Dori, Cork & Fuzz : Best Friends. A pos-sum and a muskrat become friends despite their many differences. (Cork & Fuzz series)

Books for the First Grader

Joose, Barbara M. Mama, Do You Love Me? An Inuit child learns that her mother’s love is unconditional when she disobeys and journeys across the Arctic from village to ice floe, in search of her puppy.

Katz, Alan. Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs. Well-known songs, including “Oh Susannah” and “Row, Row, RowYour Boat” are pre-sented with new words and titles, such as “I’m So Car-sick” and “Go, Go, Go to Bed”.

Lester, Helen. Tacky the Penguin. Tacky the penguin does not fit in with his sleek and graceful companions, but his odd behavior comes in handy when hunters come with maps and traps.

Marshall, James. George and Martha. Relates several episodes in the friendship of two hippopotamuses.

Munsch, Robert. Stephanie’s Ponytail. When all the kids in Stephanie’s class keep copying her hairstyle by making ponytails of their own, she threatens to shave off her hair.

Murray, Julie. Iguanas. An introduction to the physi-cal characteristics, behavior, habitat, and life cycle of iguanas, lizards that range in length from a few inches to many feet. (Animal Kingdom series)

Numeroff, Laura. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. A young boy, having given a cookie to a bossy mouse, is run ragged by the energetic rodent’s subsequent re-quests.

O’Connor, Jane. Fancy Nancy. A young girl who loves fancy things helps her family to be fancy for one spe-cial night.

Park, Linda Sue. Bee-bim Bop! Newbery Award win-ner about a young Korean girl who helps her mother with shopping, food preparation, and table setting for her favorite meal. Presented in rhyming verse.

Pinkney, Jerry. The Lion and the Mouse. In this word-less retelling of an Aesop fable, an adventuresome mouse proves that even small creatures are capable of great deeds when he rescues the King of the Jungle.

Prelutsky, Jack. There’s No Place Like School: Classroom Poems. A collection of eighteen illustrated classroom poems

Rathmann, Peggy. Officer Buckle and Gloria. The children at Napville Elementary School always ignore Officer Buckle’s safety tips, until a police dog named Gloria accompanies him when he gives his safety speeches.

Rey, H. A. Curious George. The curiosity of a newly-captured monkey gets him into continual trouble.

Rylant, Cynthia. Henry and Mudge and the Big Sleepover. Henry and Mudge are going to a sleepover at Patrick’s house! There’s pizza and popcorn, games and monster movies...and Mudge even has his own sleeping bag (he’s too big to share Henry’s). But will anyone at this sleepover ever get to sleep? (Henry and Mudge series)

Scanlon, Elizabeth Garton. All the World. Follows a group of family members and friends through the course of a day as they learn the importance of all things great and small

Scarborough, Sheryl. About Bugs. Describes the life cycle, colors, senses, defense mechanisms, sizes, and shapes of bugs. (We Both Read series)

Sharmat, Marjorie. Nate the Great and the Owl Express. Nate investigates when an owl named Hoot disappears on board the Owl Express. (Nate the Great series) Silverman, Erica. Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa. Cowgirl Kate and her always-hungry horse Cocoa, count cows, share a story, and help each other fall asleep. (Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa series)

Stead, Philip Christian. A Sick Day for Amos McGee.Zookeeper Amos McGee, who is adored by all the ani-mals, gets some unexpected guests while home sick one day.

Stevenson, James. Candy Corn: Poems. A collec-tion of short poems with titles such as “The Morning After Halloween”, “Dumpsters”, and “What Frogs Say to Each Other”.

Tarpley, Natasha. I Love My Hair. A young African-American girl describes the different, wonderful ways she can wear her hair.

Van Leeuwen, Jean. Chicken Soup. When they hear that Mrs. Farmer is making soup, all the frightenened chickens run for their lives, but Mr. Farmer finds Little Chickie, who has a bad cold, and he takes her to the kitchen for some nice hot vegetable soup.

Books for the First Grader

Waber, Bernard. The House on East 88th Street. A family moving into a new house discovers in their bathtub a talented crocodile named Lyle, who soon be-comes an important part of the family.

Waber, Bernard. Ira Sleeps Over. A little boy is excit-ed at the prospect of spending the night at his friend’s house but worries how he’ll get along without his teddy bear.

Watt, Melanie. Scaredy Squirrel. Scaredy Squirrel is afraid to leave his nut tree, but when he is finally one day forced out of his home, he discovers some inter-esting things about the great unknown.

Wilson, Karma. Bear Snores On. On a cold winter night many animals gather to party in the cave of a sleeping bear, who then awakes and protests that he has missed the food and fun.

Winters, Kay. This School Year will be the Best! When a teacher asks her students on the first day of school what they wish for in the coming year, the an-swers range from having a good school picture to re-ceiving a perfect report card.

Yee, Wong Herbert. Mouse and Mole: a Winter Wonderland. Best friends Mouse and Mole enjoy play-ing in the snow with Sno-Mouse and Sno-Mole, two more best friends. (Mouse and Mole series)

Yolen, Jane. How do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? Mother and child ponder the different ways a dinosaur can say good night, from slamming his tail and pouting to giving a big hug and kiss.

Adler, David A. A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln. A brief biography of the sixteenth president from his childhood on the frontier to his assassination after the Civil War. (Picture Book Biographies series.)

Andreae, Giles. Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs. Flinn’s imagination send him on a high seas adventure when he enters the art room closet.

Auch, Mary Jane. Chickerella. A humorous barnyard version of Cinderella.

Baker, Keith. Meet Mr. & Mrs. Green. A loving alliga-tor couple enjoy going camping, eating pancakes and visiting the county fair.

Bang, Molly. Paper Crane. A mysterious man enters a restaurant and pays for his dinner with a paper crane that magically comes alive and dances.

Blume, Judy. Freckle Juice. Andrew wants freckles so badly that he buys Sharon’s freckle recipe for fifty cents.

Brezenoff, Steven. The Zoo with the Empty Cage. During a field trip to the zoo, Edward. G. Garrison, bet-ter known as Egg, discovers the endangered foxes have been stolen. (Field Trip Mysteries series.)

Broach, Elise. When Dinosaurs Came with Ev-erything. When a boy is shopping with his mother, every shop in town is giving away real dinosaurs to their customers.

Cannon, Janell. Stellaluna. After she falls headfirst into a bird’s nest, a baby bat is raised like a bird until she is reunited with her mother.

Cherry, Lynne. The Great Kapok Tree: a Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest. The many different animals that live in the great kapok tree in the Brazilian rainforest try to convince a man with an ax of the importance of not cutting down their home. Cronin, Doreen. Diary of a Spider. A young spider dis-covers, day by day, that there is a lot to learn about being a spider, including how to spin webs and avoid vacuum cleaners.

Demi. The Empty Pot. When Ping admits that he is the only child in China unable to grow a flower from the seeds distributed by the Emperor, he is rewarded for his honesty.

“It is important for your child to see you reading books, newspapers, magazines,

and even the mail.

Let them know that reading is important to you.”

~ Dorothy Strickland

Books for the First Grader Books for the Second Grader

DePaola, Tomie. Fin M’Coul: the Giant of Knock-many Hill. Fin M’Coul’s wife, Oonagh, helps him outwit his arch rival, Cucllin.

DiCamillo, Kate. Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride. Mercy the pig finds herself driving Mr. Watson’s Cadil-lac on their Sunday drive.

Florian, Douglas. Bow Wow Meow Meow: It’s Rhym-ing Cats and Dogs. A collection of short poems about dogs and cats.

Flournoy, Valerie. The Patchwork Quilt. Using scraps cut from the family’s old clothing, Tanya helps her grandmother and mother make a beautiful quilt that tells the story of her family’s life.

Golenbock, Peter. Teammates. Describes the racial prejudice experienced by Jackie Robinson when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers to become the first Afri-can-American player in Major League baseball and de-picts the acceptance and support he received from his white teammate Pee Wee Reese.

Hoffman, Mary. Amazing Grace. Although classmates say she cannot play Peter Pan in the school play be-cause she is balck and a girl, Grace discovers that she can do anything she sets her mind to do.

Howe, James. Horace and Morris but Mostly Delo-res. Three mice friends learn that the best clubs in-clude everyone.

James, Brian. Camp Buccaneer. Captain Stinky’s students compete in sailing races, treasure hunts and swashbuckling events. (Pirate School series.)

Kimmel, Eric A. Anansi and the Magic Stick. Anansi the Spider steals Hyena’s magic stick so he won’t have to do chores, but when the stick’s magic won’t stop, he gets more than he bargained for.

McCully, Emily A. Mirette on the High Wire. One hun-dred years ago in Paris, Mirette learns tightrope walking from Monsieur Bellini, a guest in her mother’s boarding house, not knowing that he is a celebrated tightrope artist who has withdrawn from performing because of fear.

McDermott, Gerald. Raven, a Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest. Raven sets out to find the sun.

Mazar, Anne. Mabel Makes the Grade. Mabel worries about her little sister’s magical abilities in Kindergarten. (Sister Magic series).

Mosel, Arlene. The Funny Little Woman. While chas-ing a dumpling, a little lady is captured by wicked crea-tures from whom she escapes with the means of be-coming the richest woman in Japan.

Osborne, Mary Pope. Dinosaurs Before Dark. Eight-year-old jack and his younger sister Annie find a magic tree house, which whisks them back to an an-cient time zone where they see live dinosaurs. (Magic Tree House series.)

Palatini, Margie. Zoom Broom. When her broom breaks down, Gritch the Witch visits a foxy salesman in search of a new Zoom Broom but ends up with some-thing unexpected.

Parish, Peggy or Herman. Amelia Bedelia Helps Out. Amelia Bedelia shows her niece Effie Lou how to follow instructions to the letter as they dust the potato bugs and sew seeds. (Greenwillow Read-Alone Books – Amelia Bedelia series or I-Can-Read Level 2 series.)

Park, Barbara. Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business. Through a misunderstanding, Junie B. thinks that her new baby brother is really a baby mon-key, and her report of this news creates excitement and trouble in her kindergarten class. (Junie B. Jones se-ries.)

Peet, Bill. The Whingdingdilly. Tired of a dog’s life, Scamp visits the wicked little witch in the woods and becomes a whingdindilly.

Polacco, Patricia. Emma Kate. Emma Kate and her best friend share many activities, such as homework and soccer practice, and even have their tonsils out at the same time, all the things best friends do. But there is more to this best friend than meets the eye.

Pennypacker, Sara. The Great Egyptian Grave Rob-bery. Flat Stanley must stop robbers from stealing priceless artifacts in Egypt. (created by Jeff Brown, Flat Stanley’s Worldwide Adventure series.)

Prellar, James. Case of Hermie the Missing Ham-ster. Jigsaw Jones, private eye, and his partner Mila, investigate the disappearance of their friend Wingnut’s hamster. (Jigsaw Jones series.)

Books for the Second Grader

Prelutsky, Jack. The Dragons Are Singing Tonight. A collection of poems about dragons, including “I’m and Amiable Dragon”, “If You Don’t Believe in Drag-ons”, and “A Dragon is in My Computer”.

Ringgold, Faith. Tar Beach. Eight-year-old Cassie dreams of flying above her Harlem home, claiming all she sees for herself and her family. Based on the au-thor’s quilt painting of the same name.

Roy, Ron. The Absent Author. Dink Duncan and his two friends investigate the apparent kidnapping of fa-mous mystery author Wllis Wallace. (A to Z Mysteries series.)

San Souci, Robert D. The Talking Eggs: A Folktale from the American South. The flavor of the American South is captured in this Creole folktale in which kind Blanche, following the instructions of an old woman, gains riches, while her greedy sister makes fun of the old woman is duly rewarded.

Simon, Francesca. Horrid Henry. Horrid Henry causes problems for his brother Perfect Peter.

Steig, William. Brave Irene. Plucky Irene, a dressmak-er’s daughter, braves a fierce snowstorm to deliver a new gown to the duchess in time for the ball.

Steig, William. Doctor De Soto. Dr. De Soto, a mouse dentist, copes with the toothaches of various animals except those tiwh a taste for mice, until the day a fox comes to him in great pain.

Steptoe, John. Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: an African Tale. In this African version of the Cinderella tale, Mufaro’s two beautiful daughters, one bad-tem-pered, on kind and sweet, go before the king, who is choosing a wife.

Stevens, Janet. Great Fuzz Frenzy. When a tennis ball lands in a prairie dog town, residents find that their newfound frenzy for fuzz creates a fiasco.

Thaler, Mike. Teacher’s Pet from the Black Lagoon. The students in Miss Gren’s class let their imaginations run wild as they anticipate a new class pet.

Van Allsburg, Chris. The Polar Express. A magical train ride on Christmas Eve takes a boy to the North Pole to receive a special gift from Santa Claus.

Yolen, Jane. Owl Moon. On a winter night under a full moon, a father and daughter trek into the woods to see the Great Horned Owl.

Zelinsky, Paul O. Rumpelstiltskin. In this beautifully illustrated and award winning version of the classic fairy tale, a strange little man helps the miller’s daugh-ter spin straw into gold for the king on the condition that she will give him her first-born child.

Book Sharing Questions for Reading at Home

When reading with your child, you can select one or two of these questions to use to discuss a book together.

If you were in the story, how would you feel?

How could you change the ending of the story?

If you were the main character, what would you do at the end of the book?

Tell, write, or draw me something you liked or disliked about the book.

How would the story be different if it took place in another setting.

How would you act toward the main charac-ter if he/she was one of your friends?

Did the book make you laugh? Cry? Cheer? Explain why.

How are you like one of the characters?

Is there anything in the book that surprised you? Confused you? Why?

What parts of the book are most believ-able? Why? What parts seem unbelievable? Why?

Can you show me where the author tells you...

Books for the Second Grader

Abbot, Tony. The Hidden Stairs and the Magic Car-pet. Eric and his friends find entry into the world of Droon by using a staircase in Eric’s basement. (Secret of Droon series)

Adler, David. Cam Jansen and the Green School Mystery. On Green Day, Cam and her classmates discuss ways to protect the environment, but when money collected for the school’s new skylights disap-pears, Cam uses her photographic memory to solve the mystery.

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Fight for Life. With the help of her veterinarian grandmother and the other volun-teers at the Wild at Heart Animal Clinic, eleven-year-old Maggie rescues sick puppies from an illegal puppy mill. (Vet Volunteers)

Barrow, Annie. Ivy & Bean. When seven-year-old Bean plays a mean trick on her sister, she finds unexpected support for her antics from Ivy, the new neighbor, who is less boring than Bean first suspected.(Ivy & Bean series)

Blume, Judy. Fudge-a-mania. Pete describes the fam-ily vacation in Maine with the Tubmans, highlighted by the antics of his younger brother Fudge.

Brown, Jeff. Flat Stanley. Relates the humorous ad-ventures of Stanley, a little boy who wakes up flat (four feet tall, about a foot wide, and half an inch thick) af-ter a bulletin board falls on him during the night. (Flat Stanley series)

Christopher, Matt. The Dog that Called the Pitch. Mike and his dog Harry, the Airedale with ESP, are shocked to discover that the new umpire for Mike’s baseball games can hear their mental conversations.(Matt Christopher Readers series)

Cleary, Beverly. Beezus and Ramona. Four-year-old Ramona has an imagination that makes her a menace to everyone around her, particularly her older sister, Beezus.

Clements, Andrew. Jake Drake, Bully Buster. When a bully moves into his neighborhood, its up to Jake Drake to stop him. (Jake Drake series)

Dadey, Debbie. Dragons Don’t Throw Snowballs.The Bailey School Kids investigate whether a snow sculpture of a dragon has been brought to life. (The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids series)

Dahl, Roald. Fantastic Mr. Fox. Three farmers, each one meaner than the other, try all-out warfare to get rid of the fox and his family.

dePaola, Tomie. 26 Fairmount Avenue. Children’s author-illustrator Tomie De Paola describes his experi-ences at home and in school when he was a boy.

diTerlizzi, Tony. The Field Guide. When the Grace children go to stay at their Great Aunt Lucinda’s worn Victorian house, they discover a field guide to fairies and other creatures and begin to have some unusual experiences. (The Spiderwick Chronicles series)

Fleischman, Sid. The White Elephant. In old Siam, young elephant trainer Run-Run and his old charge, Walking Mountain, must deal with the curse of a sacred white elephant.

Florian, Douglas. Dinothesaurus: Prehistoric Poems and Paintings. Presents illustrated verse about vari-ous carnivorous and herbivorous dinosaurs, including the Iguanodon, Spinosaurus, and long-necked plesio-saurs.

Greenburg, Dan. Great-Grandpa’s in the Litter Box.Zack takes home from the local animal shelter a scruffy tomcat who not only talks but claims to be the rein-carnation of Zack’s Great-Grandpa Julius. (Zack Files series)

Gutman, Dan. Miss Daisy is Crazy! Miss Daisy’s un-usual teaching methods surprise her second grade students, especially reluctant learner A.J. (My Weird School series)

Hicks, Betty. Basketball Bats. Henry and his bas-ketball teammates, the Bats, take on the Tigers, and Henry learns a lesson about working as a team. (Gym Shorts series)

Jenkins, Emily. Toys Go Out: Being the Adventures of a Knowledgeable Stingray, a Tough Little Buf-falo, and Someone Called Plastic. Six stories relate the adventures of three best friends, who happen to be toys. (Toys Go Out series)

Kline, Suzy. Horrible Harry in Room 2B. Doug dis-covers that though being Harry’s best friend in Miss Mackle’s second grade class isn’t always easy, as Harry likes to do horrible things, it is often a lot of fun. (Horrible Harry series)

Books for the Third Grader

Krulik, Nancy. Anyone But Me. Third-grader Katie Carew gains insight into the thinking of the class bully when she is magically transformed into a hamster--an animal the bully fears. (Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo se-ries)

Looke, Lenore. Ruby Lu, Brave and True. “Almost-eight-year-old” Ruby Lu spends time with her baby brother, goes to Chinese school, performs magic tricks and learns to drive, and has adventures with both old and new friends.

Lowry, Lois. Gooney Bird Greene. A most unusual new student who loves to be the center of attention entertains her teacher and fellow second graders by telling absolutely true stories about herself, including how she got her name. (Gooney Bird series)

Marsden, Carolyn. Gold-Threaded Dress. When Oy and her Thai American family move to a new neighbor-hood, her third-grade classmates tease and exclude her because she is different.

McDonald, Megan. Judy Moody. Third grader Judy Moody is in a first day of school bad mood until she gets an assignment to create a collage all about herself and begins creating her masterpiece, the Me collage. (Judy Moody series)

McDonald, Megan. Stink: the Incredible Shrink-ing Kid. The shortest kid in the second grade, James Moody, also known as Stink, learns all about the short-est president of the United States, James Madison, when they celebrate Presidents’ Day at school. (Stink series)

Park, Linda Sue. Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo Po-ems. Presents twenty-six sijo, traditional Korean syl-labic poems, on “inside” and “outside” themes.

Pennypacker, Sara. Clementine. While sorting through difficulties in her friendship with her neighbor Margaret, eight-year-old Clementine gains several unique hair-styles while also helping her father in his efforts to ban-ish pigeons from the front of their apartment building.

Roy, Ron. The Absent Author. Dink Duncan and his two friends investigate the apparent kidnapping of fa-mous mystery author Wallis Wallace. (A to Z Mysteries series)

Sachar, Louis. Marvin Redpost: Kidnapped at Birth? Red-haired Marvin is convinced that the reason he looks different from the rest of his family is that he is really the lost prince of Shampoon. (Marvin Redpost series)

Silverstein, Shel. Runny Babbit: a Billy Sook. A group of animals speak a topsy-turvy language of rhyme. Fea-tures stories and illustrations about Runny Babbit and his friends Toe Jurtle, Skertie Gunk, Rirty Dat, Dungry Hog, and Snerry Jake.

Smith, Lane. John, Paul, George, and Ben. A humor-ous look at five of our country’s founding fathers.

St. George, Judith. So You Want to be President? A colorful picture book that features a young, science-minded boy who goes to the beach to collect and ex-amine anything floating that has been washed ashore and discovers an underwater camera that contains a collection of unusual pictures.

Stilton, Geronimo. The Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye. When Geronimo Stilton’s sister Thea discovers an old map, they begin a secret hunt for treasure on a faraway island. (Geronimo Stilton series)

White. E.B. Charlotte’s Web. Wilbur, the pig, is deso-late when he discovers that he is destined to be the farmer’s Christmas dinner until his spider friend, Char-lotte, decides to help him.

Wiesner, David. Flotsam. A colorful picture book that features a young, science-minded boy who goes to the beach to collect and examine anything floating that has been washed ashore and discovers an underwater camera that contains a collection of unusual pictures.

“Today a reader...Tomorrow a leader.”

~ W. Fusselman

Books for the Third Grader

Atwater, Richard. Mr. Popper’s Penguins. This is a fa-vorite story about a man who leaves his job as a house painter to train a vaudeville troupe of penguins.

Avi. Poppy. Poppy, a young deer mouse, lives near a large corn field with her family in a land ruled by Mr. Ocax, the owl. (Tales from the Dimwood Forest se-ries)

Baglio, Ben. Labrador on the Lawn. While staying at her parent’s vacation house in the Lake District, Mandy and James find a Labrador on the lawn, but he has no identification and no way of finding the owner. (Animal Ark series)

Birney, Betty G. The World According to Humphrey. Humphrey, pet hamster at Longfellow School, learns that he has an important role to play in helping his classmates and teacher. (According to Humphrey se-ries)

Blume, Judy. Double Fudge. Peter’s younger brother’s obsession with money and the discovery of his cousins Flora and Fauna make for embarrassing moments for Peter.

Bunting, Eve. Nasty, Stinky Sneakers. Colin needs to find his missing sneakers in time to enter the Stinkiest Sneakers in the World contest.

Cabot, Meg. Moving Day. Nine-year-old Allie Finkle has rules for everything and is even writing her own rule book, but her world is turned upside-down when she learns that her family is moving across town, which will mean a new house, school, best friend, and plenty of new rules. (Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls series)

Catling, Patrick. The Chocolate Touch. Everything this boy touches to his lips turns into chocolate with very funny and disastrous results.

Cleary, Beverly. Ramona’s World. Enjoy the adven-tures of nine-year-old Ramona as she experiences fourth grade and finds a new best friend, Daisy.

Clements, Andrew. Frindle. When he decides to turn his fifth-grade teacher’s love of the dictionary around on her, clever Nick Allen invents a new word and be-gins a chain of events that quickly moves beyond his control.

Codell, Esme Raji. Sahara Special. Struggling with school and her feelings since her father left, Sahara gets a fresh start with a new and unique teacher who supports her writing talents and the individuality of each of her classmates.

Coerr, Eleanor. Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Hospitalized with the dreaded bomb disease, leukemia, a child in Hiroshima races against time to fold one thousand paper cranes to verify the legend that by doing so a sick person will become healthy.

Coville, Bruce. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher. Small for his age but artistically talented, twelve-year old Jeremy Thatcher unknowingly buys a dragon’s egg.

Creech, Sharon. Love That Dog. A young student, who comes to love poetry through a personal under-standing of what different famous poems mean to him, surprises himself by writing his own inspired poem.

Dahl, Roald. The BFG. Sophie is kidnapped by the BFG (big friendly giant) and taken to Giantland, where the other giants eat children.

Davies, Nicola. Extreme Animals: The Toughest Creatures on Earth. Describes the physical charac-teristics and biological processes that enable particular animals to survive in extremely hot and cold climates.

DiCamillo, Kate. Because of Winn-Dixie. Ten-year-old Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her dog, Winn-Dixie.

Fleming, Candace. The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School. An unlikely teacher takes over the disorderly fourth-grade class of Aesop Ele-mentary School with surprising results.

Florian, Douglas. Comet, Stars, the Moon and Mars: Poems and Paintings. A collection of twenty whim-sical poems about comets, the stars, moon, and the planets.

Funke, Cornelia. Igraine the Brave. The daughter of two magicians, twelve-year-old Igraine wants noth-ing more than to be a knight; and when their castle is attacked by a treacherous neighbor bent on stealing their singing magic books, Igraine has an opportunity to demonstrate her bravery.

Books for the Fourth Grader

Gifford, Peggy Elizabeth. Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little. With summer coming to an end, about-to-be-fourth-grader Moxy Maxwell does a hun-dred different things to avoid reading her assigned summer reading book.

Giovanni, Nikki. Rosa. This book presents an illustrat-ed account of Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, and the subsequent bus boycott by the black community.

Gutman, Dan. Shoeless Joe and Me. Joe Stoshack travels back to 1919, where he meets Shoeless Joe Jackson and tries to prevent the fixing of the World Se-ries. (Baseball Card Adventure series)

Hale, Bruce. The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse. When hired by a fellow fourth-grader to find her miss-ing brother, Chet Gecko uncovers a plot involving a Gila monster’s revenge upon the school football team. (Chet Gecko mystery series)

Howe, Deborah. Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mys-tery. Harold the Dog discovers the new pet rabbit is really a vampire.

Jenkins, Steve. Living Color. Looks at a wide range of colorful animals, describing how their feathers, scales, shells, and skin help them survive, warn predators, sig-nal friends, attract a mate, or hide from their enemies.

Korman, Gordon. The Abuction. Aiden teams up with the FBI to track down his sister Meg who was kid-napped while they were walking home from school.. (Kidnapped series)

Lensey, Namioka. Yang the Youngest and His Ter-rible Ear. Everyone in the Yang family is a talented musician except for nine-year-old Yang who prefers baseball.

Levine, Gail Carson. Ella Enchanted. In this Cinder-ella story, a fairy puts a spell on Ella which causes her to always be obedient.

Lin, Grace. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Minli, an adventurous girl from a poor village, buys a magical goldfish, and then joins a dragon who cannot fly on a quest to find the Old Man of the Moon in hopes of bringing life to Fruitless Mountain and freshness to Jade River.

Moss, Marisa. Amelia’s Bully Survival Guide. Amelia has her first day of fifth grade. Her journal talks about the kids in her class, her teacher, and how she survives the bullies at school and at space camp.

Naylor, Phyllis. Shiloh. What should Marty Preston do when he finds a beagle that has been mistreated by its owner?

Nobleman, Marc Tyler. Boys of Steel: the creators of Superman. Explores the lives and achievements of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the men responsible for the creation of Superman.

O’Connor, Barbara. How to Steal a Dog. Living in the family car in their small North Carolina town after their father leaves them virtually penniless, Georgina, des-perate to improve their situation and unwilling to accept her overworked mother’s calls for patience, persuades her younger brother to help her in an elaborate scheme to get money by stealing a dog and then claiming the reward that the owners are bound to offer.

Park, Linda Sue. The Firekeeper’s Son. In eigh-teenth-century Korea, after Sang-hee’s father injures his ankle, Sang-hee attempts to take over the task of lighting the evening fire which signals to the palace that all is well.

Prelutsky, Jack. Scranimals: Poems. A series of po-ems leads readers through a land where vegetables, flowers, and animals are scrambled together.

Riordan, Rick. The Maze of Bones. Amy and Dan, members of the powerful Cahill family, try to uncover the thirty-nine clues which will reveal the secrets of their lineage and find out what really happened to their parents. (39 Clues series)

Rockwell, Thomas. How to Eat Fried Worms. For fifty dollars, Billy takes the bet of eating fifteen worms – one a day. His friends and family help him create various ways to cook them.

Rodda, Emily. Rowan of Rin. Rowan realizes that he possesses a trait that is unique among the local villag-ers. This trait causes him to depart on an adventure that is life-changing.

Books for the Fourth Grader

Rodda, Emily. The Forests of Silence. The evil Shad-ow Lord is planning to take over the land of Deltora and enslave all its people. In order to stop him 16-year old Lief and former palace guard Barda must find all seven stones from the magic belt of Deltora. (Deltora Quest series)

Rosen, Michael J. Balls! Presents an overview of sports balls, in simple text with illustrations, providing information on their history, science, and how they are used in each sport.

Sachar, Louis. Sideways Stories from Wayside School. Humorous episodes from the classroom on the thirtieth floor of Wayside School, which was ac-cidentally built sideways with one classroom on each story.

Scieszka, Jon. Knights of the Kitchen Table. A magical book places three friends in medieval England where they defeat a dragon, knight, and giant. (The Time Warp Trio series)

Selznick, Brian. The Invention of Hugo Cabret. When twelve-year-old Hugo, an orphan living and re-pairing clocks within the walls of a Paris train station in 1931, meets a mysterious toyseller and his goddaugh-ter, his undercover life and his biggest secret are jeop-ardized.

Spinelli, Jerry. Eggs. Mourning the loss of his mother, nine-year-old David forms an unlikely friendship with independent, quirky thirteen-year-old Primrose, as the two help each other deal with what is missing in their lives.

Winkler, Henry. Help! Somebody Get Me Out of Fourth Grade. Fearing that he may be failing fourth grade, Hank enlists the help of his friends, and even his annoying younger sister, in an effort to prevent his parents from attending a parent-teacher conference. (Hank Zipzer series)

Woodson, Jacqueline. Show Way. Describes quilts which once served as maps for freedom-seeking slaves, and illustrates how the tradition has been passed on from mother to daughter.

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Fever, 1793. Sixteen-year-old Matilda Cook, separated from her sick mother, learns about perseverance and self-reliance when she is forced to cope with the horrors of the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793.

AVI. Seer of Shadows. Photographer Horace Car-petine is commissioned to do a portrait for society ma-tron Mrs. Frederick Von Macht; however, the photos evoke both the image and the ghost of the Von Macht’s dead daughter, Eleanora, who has returned to seek vengence on those who killed her.

Babbitt, Natalie. Tuck Everlasting. The Tuck family is confronted with an agonizing situation when they dis-cover that a ten-year-old girl and a malicious stranger now share their secret about a spring whose water pre-vents one from ever growing any older.

Bauer, Marion Dane. On My Honor. When his best friend drowns while they are both swimming in a treacherous river that they had promised never to go near, Joel is devastated and terrified at having to tell both sets of parents the terrible consequences of their disobedience.

Bloor, Edward. Tangerine. Twelve-year-old Paul, who lives in the shadow of his football hero brother Erik, fights for the right to play soccer despite his near blind-ness and slowly begins to remember the incident that damaged his eyesight.

Clements, Andrew. A Week in the Woods. Mark’s sur-vival skills and his ability to relate to a teacher who seems out to get him are tested during the fifth grade’s annual camping trip in the woods.

Cleary, Beverly. Dear Mr. Henshaw. In his letters to his favorite author, ten-year-old Leigh reveals his prob-lems in coping with his parents’ divorce, being the new boy in school, and generally finding his own place in the world.

Creech, Sharon. Ruby Holler. Thirteen-year-old frater-nal twins Dallas and Florida have grown up in a terrible orphanage, but their lives change forever when an ec-centric but sweet older couple invites them each on an adventure, beginning in an almost magical place called Ruby Holler.

Books for the Fourth Grader Books for the Fifth Grader

Curtis, Christopher Paul. Elijah of Buxton. Eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Bux-ton, Canada--a haven for slaves fleeing the American South in 1859--uses his wits and skills to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family’s freedom.

Dahl, Roald. Danny, the Champion of the World. This is the exciting and tender story of a motherless boy and his father and their great adventure together.

DiCamillo, Kate. The Tale of Despereaux: being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread. This is a story about the adventures of Despereaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual tal-ents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin.

D’Lacey, Chris. The Fire Within. College student Da-vid Rain rents a room in an unusual boardinghouse full of clay dragons, not realizing that they, along with some lively squirrels, will help jumpstart his writing career.

Funke, Cornelia Caroline. Dragon Rider. After learn-ing that humans are headed toward his hidden home, Firedrake, a silver dragon, is joined by a brownie and an orphan boy in a quest to find the legendary valley known as the Rim of Heaven, encountering friendly and unfriendly creatures along the way, and struggling to evade the relentless pursuit of an old enemy.

Gantos, Jack. Joey Pigza Loses Control. Joey, who is still taking medication to keep him from getting too wired, goes to spend the summer with the hard-drink-ing father he has never known and tries to help the baseball team he coaches win the championship.

Gardiner, John. Stone Fox. Willie hopes to pay the back taxes on his grandfather’s farm with the winnings from a dog sled race he enters.

George, Jean. My Side of the Mountain. A young boy relates his adventures during the year he spends liv-ing alone in the Catskill Mountains including his strug-gle for survival, his dependence on nature, his animal friends, and his ultimate realization that he needs hu-man companionship.

Giff, Patricia Reilly. Lily’s Crossing. During a summer spent at Rockaway Beach in 1944, Lily’s friendship with a young Hungarian refugee causes her to see the war and her own world differently.

Hahn, Mary Downing. Deep and Dark and Dangerous: A Ghost Story. When thirteen-year-old Ali spends the summer with her aunt and cousin at the family’s vaca-tion home, she stumbles upon a secret that her mother and aunt have been hiding for over thirty years. Hunter, Erin. Warriors: Into the Wild. Rusty, a bored house kitten, is apprenticed by the ThunderClan and must struggle to fit in when the group of feral cats is threatened by the enemy ShadowClan. (Warriors se-ries.)

Ibbotson, Eva. The Secret of Platform 13. Odge Grib-ble, a young hag, accompanies an old wizard, a gentle fey, and a giant ogre on their mission through a magical tunnel from their Island to London to rescue their King and Queen’s son who had been stolen as an infant.

Jonell, Lynne. Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat. When Emmy discovers that she and her formerly loving parents are being drugged by their evil nanny with rodent potions that can change people in frighten-ing ways, she and some new friends must try every-thing possible to return things to normal.

Konigsburg, E. L. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Claudia Kincaid is an eleven-year-old who decides to run away from home with her little brother and moves into the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Lewis, C. S. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.In the series, The Chronicles of Narnia, all the tales deal with the struggle between good and evil. Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy go through the back of a wardrobe and meet the lion, Aslan. They join up with Aslan and fight at his side to the bitter end. (Chronicles of Narnia series.)

Little, Jean. From Anna. When the family moves from Germany to Canada in the 1930s, a nine-year-old girl discovers the reason for her awkwardness and appar-ent inability to do anything right.

Lord, Cynthia. Rules. Frustrated at life with an autis-tic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a nor-mal existence but her world is further complicated by a friendship with a young paraplegic.

Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars. In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annema-rie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.

Books for the Fifth Grader

Lupica, Mike. Heat. Pitching prodigy Michael Arroyo is on the run from social services after being banned from playing Little League baseball because rival coaches doubt he is only twelve years old and he has no par-ents to offer them proof.

McAllister, Margaret. Urchin of the Riding Stars. A group of animals, led by an orphaned squirrel, learns about friendship and loyalty when they band togeth-er to defend their island kingdom against evil forces. (Mistmantle Chronicles Series)

Nimmo, Jenny. Midnight for Charlie Bone. Charlie Bone’s life with his widowed mother and two grand-mothers undergoes a dramatic change when he dis-covers that he can hear people in photographs talking. (Charlie Bone Series)

O’Brien, Robert C. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. With nowhere else to turn, a field mouse asks the clev-er escaped lab rats living under the rosebush to help save her son, who lies in the path of the farmer’s trac-tor, too ill to be moved.

O’Dell, Scott. Island of the Blue Dolphins. Records the courage and self-reliance of an Indian girl who lived alone for eighteen years on an isolated island off the California coast when her tribe emigrated and she was left behind.

Paolini, Christopher. Eragon. In Alagalesia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters.

Paterson, Katherine. Bridge to Terabithia. The life of a ten-year-old boy in rural Virginia expands when he becomes friends with a newcomer who meets an un-timely death trying to reach their secret hideaway,Terabithia, during a storm.

Peck, Richard. A Year Down Yonder. During the re-cession of 1937, fifteen-year-old Mary Alice is sent to live with her feisty, larger-than-life grandmother in ru-ral Illinois and comes to a better understanding of this fearsome woman.

Ryan, Pam Munoz. Esperanza Rising. Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression.

Sachar, Louis. Holes. As further evidence of his fami-ly’s bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a dis-tant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correc-tional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.

Smith, Jeff. Bone 1: Out from Boneville. The Bone cousins are run out of their home and become separat-ed in the wild, but better fortune begins when the they reunite at a farmstead in a deep forested valley, where one meets a young girl. Graphic Novel. (Bone series.)

Smith, Robert Kimmel. Chocolate Fever. From eating too much chocolate, Henry breaks out in brown bumps that help him foil some hijackers and teach him a valu-able lesson about self-indulgence.

Smith, Roland. Peak. A fourteen-year-old boy attempts to be the youngest person to reach the top of Mount Everest.

Spinelli, Jerry. Maniac Magee. After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee’s life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries.

Spinelli, Jerry. Wringer. As Palmer comes of age, he must either accept the violence of being a wringer at his town’s annual Pigeon Day or find the courage to oppose it.

Stewart, David. You Wouldn’t Want to be an Egyp-tian Mummy!: Disgusting Things You’d Rather Not Know. This is a light-hearted approach to the process of mummification in ancient Egypt. (non-fiction)

Stewart, Trenton Lee. The Mysterious Benedict So-ciety. After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for a secret mission that re-quires them to go undercover. (Series)

VanDraanen, Wendelin. Sammy Keyes and the Sis-ters of Mercy. Sammy continues to make life with her grandmother interesting as she tries to discover who is stealing from St. Mary’s church, befriends a homeless girl, and plays in a softball tournament against a bitter rival. (Sammy Keyes series)

Wright, Betty R. The Dollhouse Murders. A dollhouse filled with a ghostly light in the middle of the night and dolls that have moved from where she last left them, lead Amy and her sister to unravel the mystery sur-rounding grisly murders that took place years ago.

Books for the Fifth Grader

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Chains. After being sold to a cruel couple in New York City, a slave named Isabel spies for the rebels during the Revolutionary War.

Balliett, Blue. Chasing Vermeer. When seemingly un-related and strange events start happening and a pre-cious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year olds Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an in-ternational art scandal.

Barry, Dave. Peter and the Starcatchers. Peter, an orphan boy, and his friend Molly fight off thieves and pirates in order to keep the secret safe away from the diabolical Black Stache and his evil associate Mister Grin.

Birdsall, Jeanne. The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interest-ing Boy. While vacationing with their widowed father in the Berkshire Mountains, four lovable sisters, ages four through twelve, share adventures with a local boy, much to the dismay of his snobbish mother.

Bridges, Ruby. Through My Eyes. Ruby Bridges re-counts the story of her involvement, as a six-year-old, in the integration of her school in New Orleans in 1960.

Choldenko, Gennifer. Al Capone Does My Shirts. A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards’ families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister.

Colfer, Eoin. Artemis Fowl. When a twelve-year-old evil genius tries to restore his fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll.

Collins, Suzanne. Gregor the Overlander. When eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving humans, bats, rats, cockroach-es, and spiders while on a quest foretold by ancient prophecy.

Cooper, Susan. The Grey King. Will Stanton, visiting in Wales, is swept into a desperate quest to find the golden harp and to awaken the ancient Sleepers to help stop the Dark from rising.

Creech, Sharon. Walk Two Moons. After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother’s route. Along the way, Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left.

Curtis, Christipher Paul. Bud, Not Buddy. By Curtis, Christopher Paul. Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father—the renowned band leader, H.E.Calloway of Grand Rapids.

Dahl, Roald. Boy: tales of childhood. Presents hu-morous anecdotes from the author’s childhood, includ-ing his summer vacations in Norway and life at an Eng-lish boarding school.

DuPrau, Jeanne. The City of Ember. In the city of Em-ber, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to new places in her decay-ing but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.

Funke, Cornelia. Inkheart. Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father Mo, a bookbinder, can “read” fic-tional characters to life when an evil ruler named Capri-corn, freed from the novel “Inkheart” years earlier, tries to force Mo to release an immortal monster from the story.

Gaiman, Neil. The Graveyard Book. The orphan Bod, short for Nobody, is taken in by some inhabitants of a cemetary as a child of eighteen months and raised lov-ingly and carefully to the age of eighteen years by the community of ghosts and otherworldly creatures.

Giff, Patricia Reilly. Pictures of Hollis Woods. A trou-blesome twelve-year-old orphan, staying with an elder-ly artist who needs her, remembers the only other time she was happy in a foster home, with a family that truly seemed to care about her.

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Among the Hidden. In a future where the Population Police enforce the law lim-iting a family to only two children, Luke has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family’s farm, until another “third” convinces him that the government is wrong.

Hiaasen, Carl. Hoot. Roy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in another boy’s attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a pro-posed construction site.

Books for the Sixth Grader

Jacques, Brian. Redwall. When the peaceful life of an-cient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes, Matthias, a young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall’s inhabitants destroy the enemy.

Kadohata, Cynthia. Kira-Kira. Chronicles the close friendship between two Japanese-American sisters growing up in rural Georgia during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the despair when one sister becomes terminally ill.

Korman, Gordon. Swindle. After unscrupulous collec-tor S. Wendell Palamino cons him out of a valuable baseball card, sixth-grader Griffin Bing puts together a band of misfits to break into Palomino’s heavily guard-ed store and steal the card back, planning to use the money to finance his father’s failing inven-tion, the Smart Pick fruit picker.

Law, Ingrid. Savvy. Recounts the adventures of Mibs Beaumont, whose 13th has revealed her “savvy”, a magical power unique to each member of her family--just as her father is injured in a terrible accident

Martin, Ann M. A Dog’s Life : the Autobiography of a Stray. Squirrel, a stray puppy, tells her life story, from her nurturing mother and brother to making her own way in the world, facing busy highways, changing sea-sons, and humans both gentle and brutal.

McCaughrean, Geraldine. Greek Gods and Goddess-es. A collection of fifteen retellings of Greek myths.

Montgomery, Sy. Kakopo Rescue: Saving the World’s Strangest Parrot. Provides an introduction to the kakapo, a flightless bird found on Codfish Island off the coast of New Zealand, and looks at how the country’s National Kakapo Recovery Team is working to save the kakapos, whose population numbers less than one hundred.

Park, Linda Sue. A Single Shard. Tree-ear, a thirteen-year-old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge near a potters’ village, and longs to learn how to throw the delicate celadon ceramics himself.

Paterson, Katherine. The Same Stuff as Stars.When Angel’s self-absorbed mother leaves her and her younger brother with their poor great-grandmother, the eleven-year-old girl worries not only about her mother and brother, her imprisoned father, the frail old woman, but also about a mysterious man who begins sharing with her the wonder of the stars.Paulsen, Gary. Hatchet. After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old Brian spends fifty four days in the wilderness, learning to survive with only the aid of a hatchet given him by his mother, and learning also to survive his par-ents’ divorce.

Rex, Adam. The True Meaning of Smekday. Twelve-year-old Gratuity “Tip” Tucci is left to fend for herself after Earth is colonized by aliens and her mother is ab-ducted, and must try to stop another alien invasion with only the help of a cat named Pig and an alien named J. Lo.

Riordon, Rick. The Red Pyramid. Brilliant Egyptolo-gist Dr. Julius Kane accidentally unleashes the Egyp-tian god Set, who banishes the doctor to oblivion and forces his two children to embark on a dangerous jour-ney, bringing them closer to the truth about their family and its links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

Ryan, Pam Munoz. Becoming Naomi Leon. When Naomi’s absent mother resurfaces to claim her, Naomi runs away to Mexico with her great-grandmother and younger brother in search of her father.

Scieszka, Jon. Knucklehead. Presents a memoir of what it was like to grow up in the 1950s and other al-most true stories by American children’s author Jon Scieszka.

Spinelli, Jerry. Milkweed : a novel. A street child, known to himself only as Stopthief, finds community when he is taken in by a band of orphans in Warsaw ghetto which helps him weather the horrors of the Nazi regime.

Spinelli, Jerry. Stargirl. Stargirl, a teen who animates quiet Mica High with her colorful personality, suddenly finds herself shunned for her refusal to conform.

Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980s television game show, “The $20,000 Pyramid,” a twelve-year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from an anonymous source that seems to defy the laws of time and space.

“Read in order to live .”

~ Gustave Flaubert

Books for the Sixth Grader

Taylor, Mildred D. The Gold Cadillac. Two black girls living in the North are proud of their family’s beautiful new Cadillac until they take it on a visit to the South and encounter racial prejudice for the first time.

Tolan, Stephanie S. Surviving the Applewhites. Jake, a budding juvenile delinquent, is sent for Home schooling to the arty and eccentric Applewhite family’s Creative Academy, where he discovers talents and in-terests he never knew he had.

Vanderpool, Clare. Moon Over Manifest. Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker is the daughter of a drifter who, in the summer of 1936, sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas, where he grew up, and where she hopes to find out some things about his past.

Watkins, Yoko Kawashima. So Far from the Bamboo Grove. A fictionalized autobiography in which eleven-year-old Yoko escapes from Korea to Japan with her mother and sister at the end of World War II.

Winters, Kay. Voices of Ancient Egypt. Individual craftsmen, artists, and laborers describe the work that they do in Egypt during the time of the Old Kingdom, and the historical note places them in context.

Wood, Maryrose. The Mysterious Howling. Fifteen-year-old Miss Penelope Lumley, a recent graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, is hired as governess to three young children who have been raised by wolves and must teach them to behave in a civilized manner quickly in preparation for a Christ-mas ball.

Yolen, Jane. Dragon’s Boy. Young Arthur meets a dragon and comes to accept him as a friend and men-tor.

Books I’ve Read

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“The book to read is not the one

which thinks for you, but the one which

makes you think .”

~ James McCosh

Books for the Sixth Grader