A Collection of Recommended Books for Children Grades 1-3
GRADE 1
Agee, Jon – Milo’s Hat Trick
Bruchac, Joseph – How Chipmunk got his Stripes : A Tale of Bragging and Teasing
Choi, Yangsook – The Name Jar
Eastman, P. D. (Philip D.) – Are you my Mother?
Jenkins, Emily – Five Creatures
Johnson, Crockett – Harold and the Purple Crayon
Kellogg, Steven – A Penguin Pup for Pinkerton
Kimmel, Eric A – Anansi and the Magic Stick
LeSieg, Theo. – Ten Apples up on Top!
Long, Melinda – When Papa Snores
Look, Lenore – Henry’s First-Moon Birthday
Mayer, Mercer – There’s an Alligator Under my Bed (both my son and daughter loved this one 🙂
McCloskey, Robert – Make way for Ducklings
Middleton, Charlotte – Tabitha’s Terrifically Tough Tooth
Pattou, Edith – Mrs. Spitzer’s Garden
Piper, Watty – The Little Engine that Could
Rey, Margret – The Complete Adventures of Curious George
Rylant, Cynthia – The Great Gracie Chase : Stop that Dog!
Shaw, Nancy (Nancy E.) – Sheep in a Jeep
Showers, Paul – The Listening Walk
Smith, Charles R., Jr – Loki & Alex : The Adventures of a Dog and his Best Friend
Stevens, Janet – And the dish Ran Away with the Spoon
Stewart, Sarah – The Journey
Suen, Anastasia – Hamster Chase
Watt, Melanie – Leon the Chameleon
Wick, Walter – Walter Wick’s Optical Tricks
Winthrop, Elizabeth – Dumpy La Rue
Wood, Audrey – The Napping House
Wood, Audrey – Quick as a Cricket
Recommended authors for Grade 1
Eric Carl ; P. D. Eastman; Dr. Seuss; Kevin Henkes; Laura Joffe Numeroff; Rosemary Wells
Recommended Series for Grade 1
Capucilli, Alyssa Satin – Biscuit
Gantos, Jack – Rotten Ralph
Lobel, Arnold – Frog and Toad All Year
Minarik, Else Holmelund – Little Bear. Pictures by Maurice Sendak (A family favorite!)
Rey, H. A. (Hans Augusto) – Curious George
Rylant, Cynthia – Henry and Mudge
GRADE 2
Allard, Harry – Miss Nelson is Back
Allard, Harry – Miss Nelson is Missing!
Arnold, Tedd – No More Water in the Tub!
Arnold, Tedd – The Signmaker’s Assistant
Bercaw, Edna Coe – Halmoni’s Day
Brown, Jeff – Flat Stanley
Cannon, Janell – Stellaluna
Creech, Sharon – Fishing in the Air
Ehlert, Lois – Waiting for Wings
Finchler, Judy – Miss Malarkey Doesn’t Live in Room 10
Guarino, Deborah – Is Your Mama a llama?
Hale, Bruce – The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse
Kvasnosky, Laura McGee – Zelda and Ivy
Leedy, Loreen – Mapping Penny’s World
Lester, Helen – Tacky the Penguin
Markle, Sandra – Outside and Inside Dinosaurs
Palatini, Margie – The Web Files
Prelutsky, Jack – It’s Raining Pigs & Noodles : Poems
Seeger, Pete – Abiyoyo
Silverstein, Shel – The Giving Tree
Simont, Marc – The Stray Dog : From a True Story by Reiko Sassa
Wood, Audrey – King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub
Recommended series for Grade 2
Barrows, Annie – Ivy + Bean
Danziger, Paula – Amber Brown is not a Crayon
Gantos, Jack – Rotten Ralph
Hoban, Russell – Bedtime for Frances
Lobel, Arnold – Frog and Toad are Friends
McDonald, Megan – Judy Moody ( A funny series! 🙂 )
Meadows, Daisy – The Rainbow Magic Collection. Volume 1 , Books 1-4
Meddaugh, Susan – Martha Speaks
Minarik, Else Holmelund – Little Bear. Pictures by Maurice Sendak
Osborne, Mary Pope – Dinosaurs Before Dark
Parish, Peggy – Amelia Bedelia
Park, Barbara – Junie B. Jones and the stupid Smelly Bus
Preller, James – The Case of Hermie the Missing Hamster
Rylant, Cynthia – Henry and Mudge
Sharmat, Marjorie Weinman – Nate the Great
Zion, Gene – Harry, the Dirty Dog
Grade 3
Allard, Harry – Miss Nelson is Missing!
Artell, Mike – Petite Rouge : a Cajun Red Riding Hood
Barrett, Judi – Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Blume, Judy – Freckle Juice
Cameron, Ann – The Stories Julian Tells
Cherry, Lynne – The Great Kapok Tree : A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest
Cole, Joanna – Bony-legs
Dahl, Roald – Fantastic Mr. Fox
Ernst, Lisa Campbell – Little Red Riding Hood : A Newfangled Prairie Tale
Etra, Jonathan – Aliens for Breakfast
Ferris, Jeri – Go Free or Die : A Story about Harriet Tubman
Ferris, Jeri – What are you Figuring Now?
Ferris, Jeri – Walking the Road to Freedom : A Story about Sojourner Truth
Fleming, Denise – Where Once there was a Wood
Frasier, Debra – Miss Alaineus : A Vocabulary Disaster
George, Jean Craighead – Look to the North : A Wolf Pup Diary
Giff, Patricia Reilly – Oh Boy, Boston!
Hopkins, Lee Bennett – Sports! Sports! Sports! : A Poetry Collection
Kline, Suzy – Horrible Harry and the Dungeon
Krull, Kathleen – Wilma Unlimited : How Wilma Rudolph became the World’s Fastest Woman
MacLachlan, Patricia – Sarah, Plain and Tall
McGill, Alice – Molly Bannaky
Polacco, Patricia – The Keeping Quilt
Polacco, Patricia – The Bee Tree
Robinson, Barbara – The Best School Year Ever
Rockwell, Thomas – How to Eat Fried Worms
Rodowsky, Colby F – Not my Dog
Seattle, Chief – Brother Eagle, Sister Sky : A Message from Chief Seattle
White, E. B. (Elwyn Brooks) – Charlotte’s wWb
Yolen, Jane – Letting Swift River Go
Recommended series for Grade 3
Adler, David A – Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds
Dadey, Debbie – Monsters don’t Scuba Dive
Danziger, Paula – Amber Brown is not a Crayon
Landon, Lucinda – Meg Mackintosh and the Case of the Missing Babe Ruth Baseball : A Solve-it-Yourself Mystery
Osborne, Mary Pope – Dinosaurs before Dark
Peterson, John Lawrence – The Littles
Preller, James – The Case of Hermie the Missing Hamster
Roy, Ron – The Absent Author
Sachar, Louis – Marvin Redpost : Kidnapped at Birth?
Sharmat, Marjorie Weinman – Nate the Great
Sobol, Donald J. – Encyclopedia Brown- Boy Detective
Warner, Gertrude Chandler – The Boxcar Children
Recommended authors for Grade 3
Matt Christopher, Beverly Cleary, Barbara Cooney, Robert McCloskey, Patricia McKissack, Allen Say, Jon Scieszka, William Steig, and Chris Van Allsburg.
GRADE 4
Barasch, Lynne – Radio Rescue
Blume, Judy – Fudge-a-Mania
Coville, Bruce – My Teacher is an Alien
Dahl, Roald – James and the Giant Peach
Erickson, John R. – The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog
Howe, Deborah – Bunnicula : A Rabbit Tale of Mystery
Lowry, Lois – Anastasia Krupnik
MacLachlan, Patricia – Caleb’s Story
O’Brien, Patrick – The Hindenburg
O’Brien, Robert C – Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Richler, Mordecai – Jacob Two-Two meets the Hooded Fang
Sachar, Louis – Sideways Stories from Wayside School
St. George, Judith – So you want to be President?
Tang, Greg – The Grapes of Math : Mind Stretching Math Riddles
Thayer, Ernest Lawrence – Casey at the Bat
Recommended Series for Grade 4
Abbott, Tony – The Hidden Stairs and the Magic Carpet
Gutman, Dan – Jim & Me : A Baseball Card Adventure
Gutman, Dan – My Weird School Daze!
Osborne, Mary Pope – Dinosaurs before Dark
Scieszka, Jon – Knights of the Kitchen Table
Snicket, Lemony – The Bad Beginning
Wilder, Laura Ingalls – Little House on the Prairie
Grade 5
■Avi – Never Mind! : A Twin Novel
Berlin, Eric – The Puzzling World of Winston Breen
Birdsall, Jeanne – The Penderwicks : A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy
Bosch, Pseudonymous – The Name of this Book is Secret
Broach, Elise – Masterpiece
Clements, Andrew – No Talking
Codell, Esme Raji – Vive la Paris
Davies, Nicola – Extreme Animals : The Toughest Creatures on Earth
Erdrich, Louise – The Birchbark House
Fleischman, Sid – Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini
Going, K. L. (Kelly L.) – The Liberation of Gabriel King
Gutman, Dan – The Kid who ran for President
Haven, Paul – Two Hot Dogs with Everything
Ibbotson, Eva – The Haunting of Granite Falls
Janeczko, Paul B – A Kick in the Head: an Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms
Juster, Norton – The Phantom Tollbooth
Lange, Karen E – 1607 : A New Look at Jamestown
Lowry, Lois – The Willoughbys
Mercado, Nancy E. – Tripping over the Lunch Lady : and other school stories
Park, Linda Sue – Project Mulberry : A Novel
Yue, Guo – Little Leap Forward : A Boy in Beijing