Ain't THAT the truth! Well, here it is Peeps - my first annual summer reading list for KIDS!!! I'm SO excited about this post and I've been doing quite a bit of research for it. As my friends Phineus and Ferb sing: "There's 104 days of Summer Vacation 'till school comes along just to end it...so the annual problem of our generation is finding a good way to spend it..."And as we all know - in Busy Momma's house, one of the ways we spend our summer vacation is by reading. We all read our own books for about an hour every day and then we read a few novels aloud in the evenings. Over the past several years, I've had quite a few parents ask me for some suggestions for some really great books for their little guys and gals to read over the summer holiday. So, I've put a few lists together and I've arranged them by age and/or grade level. The lists are by no means exhaustive. I have only listed books that I have read or that my guys have read and enjoyed. Feel free to add to the lists!
1. THE ULTIMATE BABY BOOK BASKET
I love to give books as gifts. I think giving a big basket of classic books as a baby gift or a baby shower gift is just too perfect for words. Whenever I do this - I include the following 10 classic books that I believe every well read baby HAS to have on his or her book shelf:
- Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown
- Pat the Bunny - Dorothy Kunhardt
- Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak
- The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstein
- The Little Engine that Could - Watty Pipen
- Oh The Places You'll Go! - Dr. Seuss
- Corduroy - Don Freeman
- Are You my Mother? - P.D. Eastman
- Cars and Trucks and Things That Go - Richard Scary
- What do People Do All Day? - Richard Scary
I could probably write for days about picture books that I love. Picture books are so great for so many reasons. They are quick to read - the artwork is BEAUTIFUL in so many of them, kids love to hear them read over and over again and they remember them. Last night we were talking about our favorite picture books and Jack - who is my reluctant reader -started rattling off titles: Snowmen at Night, Aunti Claus, Whose Baby Am I..... So I have come up with a list of some of my absolute favorites. If you haven't read these aloud to your kids - try to pick one or two of them up at the library this summer. I bet you'll love them as much as we do.
- A Bad Case of the Stripes - David Shannon
- The Kissing Hand - Audrey Penn
- Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School - Mark Teague
- The Mitten - Jan Brett
- The Lorax - Dr. Seuss
- Madeline - Ludwig Bemelmans
- Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale - Mo Williams
- Diary of a Worm - Doreen Cronin
- Goodnight Gorilla - Peggy Rathman
- Strega Nona - Tomie de Paola
- Sylvester and the Magic Pebble - William Steig
- Chrysanthemum - Kevin Henkes
- Owl Moon - Jane Yolen
- Thank You Mr. Faulkner - Patricia Pollaco
Chapter Books and Series by Grade Level
Book leveling is a tricky business. There are several different formulas and ways to level books. Lexile levels only look at number of words per sentence and level of vocabulary. While that's part of the formula- it's not the whole picture. You must take your child's interests, age, maturity and background experience into account when you help him or her select books to read independently. I like to use the "five finger rule" when I help kids pick books to read on their own. I have them open the book to any page and try to read it. If there are 5 or more words on that page that they can't read on their own - the book is probably too hard for them to read by themselves. If they REALLY want to read it - that's fine. Just be prepared to make that book a shared read or a read aloud. It's really important that kids have books to read independently. They need to build their independent reading muscles with texts that are at their "just right reading levels" not so hard that their are spending all of their brain power on decoding the words. If they are - then they are not comprehending the story - and that's no good. But we also don't want them reading something so easy that it's not requiring them to stretch those muscles a bit to make them stronger. I like the website http://www.scholastic.com/ to help me figure out what books are appropriate for my guys. They give a grade level range for almost all titles you will ever come across. That is how I came up with many of the leveling suggestions I am about to make.
Grades 2-3
Junie B. Jones - Barbara Parks
I am a HUGE Junie B. fan. She is absolutely hysterical. If you haven't read the "Yulky Blucky Fruitcake" - make it a must read. You will laugh at the toilet scene - that's all I'm saying...
The Magic Tree House - Mary Pope Osbourne
Great books for boys. Lots of action and adventure rooted in historical events. My daughter LOVED the ones that took place in and around Camelot. I would definitely say these are more along the lines of end of second grade-beginning of third grade readabilty.
My Weird School - Dan Gutman
This is a whole series - and it is really funny. We just finished reading "Mr. Harrison is an Embarrassment". These are great for second and third graders - especially boys. Lots of humor - much at the expense of the girls in the class. Also there are a lot of illustrations - it is almost like a graphic novel - but not quite.
Flat Stanley - Jeff Brown
3rd Grade
Mr. Popper's Penguins - Richard Attwater
Encyclopedia Brown - Donald Sobol
Ramona the Great - Beverly Cleary
Ribsy - Beverly Cleary
Ivy and Bean - Annie Barrows
Geronimo Stilton - Geronimo Stilton
Bad Kitty - Nick Bruel
Grades 3-5
Sarah, Plain and Tall - Patricia MacLachlan
James and The Giant Peach - Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Chocoalte Factory - Roald Dahl
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing - Judy Blume
Freckle Juice - Judy Blume
Fudge - Judy Blume
Frindle - Andrew Clements
Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney
Charlotte's Web - E B White
Because of Winn Dixie - Kate Di Camillo
Shiloh - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Harry Potter series - J K Rowling
5th grade and up
Some of these titles are considered YA and deal with sensitive subjects. I LOVED Out of the Dust however, I would definitely suggest that YOU read it before your 11 year old reads it to be sure that he or she can handle it. The mother dies in a fire that the main character is responsible for. That being said - it's a great book.
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - C. S. Lewis (The readability on this one is listed as 6th grade. I'm not sure I agree with that. I think it's easier than that.)
The City of Ember - Jeanne DuPrau
Number the Stars - Lois Lowry
The Giver - Lois Lowry
Hatchet - Gary Paulsen
The Hunger Games trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - Robert O'Brien
Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson
Esperanza Rising - Pam Munoz Ryan
Tuck Everlasting - Natalie Babbit
Out of the Dust - Karen Hesse
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
What We Are Reading This Summer:
Read Alouds:
The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster
It's the 50th anniversarry of this classic and we've NEVER read it.
From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - E. L. Konigsburg
This was one of my favorite stories growing up - about a brother and a sister who run away from home and live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art for part of one summer! I hope my guys don't get any ideas...
The Cricket in Times Square - George Selden
I've never read this one!
Bella:
Bella wants to read The Wind in the Willows and I'd like her to read The Penderwicks. I'm sure she will have some sort of required reading list going into middle school, so we will see what happens!
Jack:
Jack is on a Flat Stanley kick right now. I am going to try to introduce Encyclopedia Brown because he liked Nate the Great so much. He really has to be bribed to read...so we will see how it goes
So there you have it. Hopefully you'll find something on the list to wet their whistle this summer. My next post will be my summer reading list for grown ups!!!!
Awesome! Thanks!
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