Book Lists

Beginning Readers

Annie and Snowball and the Dress-up Birthday. Cynthia Rylant.
Annie’s planning a very special birthday party and Henry and Mudge are invited!

Animals Under Our Feet. Sindy McKay.
Are you walking on top of someone’s house?

Dodsworth in New York. Tim Egan.
Dodsworth is planning a trip around the world—will a crazy duck ruin his plans?

Duck & Company. Kathy Caple.
Every day is fun at Duck and Rat’s bookstore!

Goose and Duck. Jean Craighead George.
Finding an egg in the grass leads to a summer of adventure!

Little Rat Makes Music. Monika Bang-Campbell.
Little rat can’t wait to play the violin like a real musician, but she hates to practice!

Pedro’s Burro. Alyssa Satin Capucilli.
Will Pedro and his dad find just the right burro to buy at the market?

The Moon is La Luna: Silly Rhymes in English and Spanish. Jay M. Harris.
The moon is la luna. The sun is el sol. To say “Spanish” in Spanish, you say español!

Today I Will Fly! Mo Willems.
Piggie is certain he’ll be able to fly—Elephant isn’t so sure!

Wiggle and Waggle. Caroline Arnold.
Wiggle and Waggle work hard, but find plenty of time for singing and fun!

Folk and Fairy Tales

Beowulf: A Hero’s Tale Retold. James Rumford.
Can Beowulf defeat the ogre Grendel?

D’Aulaires’ Book of Trolls. Edgar and Ingri D’Aulaire.
All kinds of trolls populate these stories!

Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella. Paul Fleischman.
Cinderella stories from around the world are woven together in this tale.

How Chipmunk Got His Stripes. Joseph Bruchac and James Bruchac.
Bragging bear and teasing chipmunk both learn something in this Native American folktale.

Little Red Riding Hood. Jerry Pinkney.
Beautiful, detailed illustrations accompany this retelling of a favorite story.

Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale. Carmen Agra Deedy.
Martina finds an unusual way to choose just the right husband.

Pretty Salma: A Little Red Riding Hood Story from Africa. Niki Daly.
Pretty Salma is warned not to talk to strangers. But does she listen?

Priceless Gifts: A Folktale from Italy. Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss.
Is a chest of jewels or a kitten the most valuable gift?

Tomie dePaola’s Front Porch Tales & North Country Whoppers. Tomie dePaola.
Vermont and ‘New Hampsha’ are the settings for amusing short stories and cartoons.

The Ugly Duckling. Hans Christian Anderson; retold by Stephen Mitchell.
Anderson’s familiar story comes to life with richly realistic illustrations.

Long Chapter Books

Danny the Champion of the World. Roald Dahl.
Danny will stop at nothing to uncover his father’s big secret.

Elijah of Buxton. Christopher Paul Curtis.
Elijah, born in the free black town of Buxton, risks capture by slave traders.

Emi and the Rhino Scientist (Scientists in the Field). Mary Kay Carson.
Learn how zoologist Terri Roth works to save the Sumatran rhinoceros.

Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat. Lynne Jonell.
Emmy feels invisible —until the class pet rat starts talking to her.

Escaping the Giant Wave. Peg Kehret.
What does it take for a regular kid to be a hero?

How to Steal a Dog. Barbara O’Connor.
Georgina would never steal a dog… unless she had to.

The Mysterious Benedict Society. Trenton Lee Stewart.
Four children are selected for a dangerous mission to save the world.

Ranger’s Apprentice, Book Four: The Battle for Skandia. John Flanagan.
Will’s kingdom of Skandia joins forces with rival kingdom Araluen to defeat the enemy.

The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls. Elise Primavera.
They are enemies until a witch shows up looking for a certain pair of shoes.

The True Meaning of Smekday. Adam Rex.
A girl, a cat, and an alien named J-Lo. Laugh out loud!

Picture Books

Bebé Goes Shopping. Susan Middleton Elya.
Bebé and Mamá have exciting adventures (in both Spanish and English) at the supermarket.

I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean. Kevin Sherry.
A giant squid brags just once too often.

The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County. Janice N. Harrington.
This farm girl can’t resist chasing those chickens…until she makes a discovery.

First the Egg. Laura Vaccaro Seeger.
…then the chicken…then the egg…and much more.

Fred Stays with Me. Nancy Coffelt.
A young girl and her dog teach her parents an important lesson about their divorce.

Grumpy Bird. Jeremy Tankard.
How does a blue, grumpy bird lose the blues?

I’d Really Like to Eat a Child. Sylviane Donnio.
Young Achilles, the crocodile, gets his come-uppance from a little girl.

Knuffle Bunny, Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity. Mo Willems.
There is only one Knuffle Bunny…or is there?

The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster: A Tale of Picky Eating. A.W. Flaherty.
A little girl who is a picky eater contributes to the worm’s transformation into a lake monster.

When Dinosaurs Came with Everything. Elise Broach.
Which dinosaur will you be lucky enough to receive with your pizza?

Short Chapter Books

Ballerina Dreams: A True Story. Lauren Thompson.
With some help, the dancing dreams of five little girls come true.

The Boxcar Children. Gertrude Chandler Warner.
The adventure begins when four runaways move into an abandoned boxcar.

Cuckoo Feathers. Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.
When two pigeons take up residence on an apartment windowsill, chaos ensues.

Living Color. Steve Jenkins.
Find answers to your questions about what color really means to animals.

Maybelle in the Soup. Katie Speck.
A cockroach stirs up trouble when she wants to dine from a dish.

Nikki and Deja. Karen English.
Best friends are forever – or so they thought.

Owly. Andy Runton.
This graphic novel tells the woodland adventures of a friendly owl.

Robot Dreams. Sara Varon.
Dog really wants a friend and takes matters into his own hands.

The World According to Humphrey. Betty Birney.
The class hamster has a lot to say about the world!

Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs: The Space Mission Adventure. Sharon Draper.
Ziggy and his friends take their mystery-solving club to Space Camp!