Summer Reading List

ENTERING FIRST GRADE

 A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever -  Marla Frazee  When James and Eamon go to a week of Nature Camp and stay at Eamon's grandparents' house, it turns out that their free time spent staying inside, eating waffles, and playing video games is way more interesting than nature.  Caldecott Honor Book

Froggy Goes to Camp - Jonathan London   Froggy packs a lot into one week: hikes and archery lessons, K.P. and food fights, scary stories and funny songs around the campfire. But only Froggy could also manage to lose his trunks during swim class and overturn his kayak with the camp director in it. Lovable, bumbling Froggy will keep his many fans laughing with his latest antics.

Henry Hikes to Fitchburg - D. B. Johnson  While his friend works hard to earn the train fare to Fitchburg, a bear, modeled on a young Henry Thoreau, walks the thirty miles through woods and fields, enjoying nature and the time to think great thoughts.

Max Found Two Sticks - Brian Pinkney  On a day when Max doesn't feel like talking to anyone, a strong breeze shakes two heavy twigs to the ground in front of his brownstone home. Picking them up, the young African-American boy begins to beat out a rhythm that imitates the sound of pigeons startled into flight.

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus - Mo Willems  On the title page the bus driver

addresses the reader directly. He says that he has to be gone for a while and asks if the

reader can watch things, but not to let the pigeon drive the bus. Caldecott Honor Book

What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? - Robin Page and Steve Jenkins Children will learn that lizards can completely break off their tail as a defense and that it will grow back. And, they'll find out that crickets' ears are on their knees. Most fish have two eyes, but some have four, the better to see above and below the water at the same time. Caldecott Honor Book.

Henry Hikes to Fitchburg - D. B. Johnson While his friend works hard to earn the train fare to Fitchburg, a bear, modeled on a young Henry Thoreau, walks the thirty miles through woods and fields, enjoying nature and the time to think great thoughts.

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever - Marla Frazee When James and Eamon go to a week of Nature Camp and stay at Eamon's grandparents' house, it turns out that their free time spent staying inside, eating waffles, and playing video games is way more interesting than nature. Caldecott Honor Book

 

FIRST GRADE ENTERING SECOND GRADE

 

Amanda Bean's Amazing Dream - Cindy Neuschwander  The advantages of multiplication are introduced in a simple story about an African-American girl who loves to count things, both in and out of school, but is unsure how multiplication will speed up the process. After counting the tiles on the kitchen counter and the books on the library shelves, she falls asleep and begins to dream of a calm bike ride in the country.

Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra - Andrea Davis Pinkney  A brief recounting of the career of this jazz musician and composer who, along with his orchestra, created music that was beyond category.  Caldecott Medal Book

Grandfather's Journey - Allen Say Say explores familiar themes of cultural connection

and disconnection. He focuses on his mother Masako, or May, as she prefers to be called,

who, after graduating from high school in California, unwillingly moves with her parents

to their native Japan. Caldecott Medal Book

Henry And Mudge First Book -  Cynthia Rylant Henry, feeling lonely on a street without any other children, finds companionship and love in a big dognamed Mudge..

Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride - Marjorie Priceman   The first "manned" hot-air balloon is about to take off! But what are those noises coming from the basket?  Caldecott Medal Book

How I Learned Geography - Uri Shulevitz  Having fled from war in their troubled homeland, a boy and his family are living in poverty in a strange country. Food is scarce, so when the boy’s father brings home a map instead of bread for supper, at first the boy is furious. But when the map is hung on the wall, it floods their cheerless room with color. Caldecott

Honor Book

Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity - Mo Willems  Trixie can't wait to bring her one-of-a-kind Knuffle Bunny to school and show him off to everyone. But when she gets there, she sees something awful: Sonja has the same bunny. Suddenly, Knuffle Bunny doesn't seem so one-of-a-kind anymore. Chaos ensues until the bunnies are taken away by Ms. Greengrove.  Caldecott Medal Book

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers - Mordicai Gerstein As this story opens,

French funambulist Philippe Petit is dancing across a tightrope tied between two trees to

the delight of the passersby in Lower Manhattan. Gerstein places him in the middle of a

balancing act, framed by the two unfinished WorldTradeCenter towers when the idea

hits: "He looked not at the towers, but at the space between them and thought what a

wonderful place to stretch a rope." Caldecott Medal Book

Measuring Penny - Loreen Leedy  Lisa has a homework assignment to measure something in as many ways as she can, using standard and nonstandard units. "Use your imagination!" is the last instruction the teacher gives the students. Lisa chooses her Boston terrier and the fun begins.

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom - Carole Boston Weatherford  Led by her faith, Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery in the mid-19th century, then returns, first to free her family, and then 18 more times to help other slaves escape by way of the Underground Railroad to freedom.  Caldecott Honor Book