1. Mirror Mirror. Singer, Marilyn. A collection of short poems which, when reversed, provide new perspectives on the fairy tale characters they feature. RL 4.12010
Summer Reading Suggestions
Grades K-4
BCEMS Library/Media Ctr.
Stephanie McMahan
PreK-8 Library/Media Specialist
The following suggestions are taken from lists of award winning and highly recommended books for Grades K-4. Check out BCEMS Library or the Aldrich Public Library for these books. Suggestions include books that students can read themselves and books that parents can read aloud.
RL = Reading Level
1. Mirror Mirror. Singer, Marilyn. A collection of short poems which, when reversed, provide new perspectives on the fairy tale characters they feature. RL 4.12. Alice the Fairy. Shannon, David. Alice, a very imaginative little girl, practices her trade as a Temporary Fairy, but still has trouble learning the difficult tricks, such as making her clothes put themselves away. RL 2.4
3. The Albertosaurus mystery: Philip Currie's hunt in the Badlands Padma, T. V. Provides an account of fossil hunter Philip Currie's efforts to locate the fossil field of Albertosaurus bones found by Barnum Brown nearly ninety years earlier, and shares what Currie learned from his investigation of how and why the dinosaurs died. RL 4.1
4. Let’s Read with Dora. Inches, Allison.
Contains six illustrated stories for early readers that feature Dora the Explorer, including "Just Like Dora," "I Love my Mami," "Dora and the Rainbow Kite Festival," "The Puppy Twins," and "Dora's Sleepover." RL 1.4
5. Button Up. Schertle, Alice. A collection of poems about clothes and animals wearing them RL 2.1
6. Ocean Hide and Seek. Kramer, Jennifer E. Illustrations and simple rhyming text describe some of the ocean's sea life. RL 2.3
7. Sound off. Mason, Adrienne. While babysitting Lu's sister, Sophie, and her friend, dog detectives Lu and Clancy come up with a plan to tire the girls out, but when their plan backfires and one of the pups disappears, they must work fast to find her. RL 3.1
8. Disney’s the Princess and the Frog. Saxon, Victoria. Tiana's dream of owning her own restaurant is dashed when she kisses a frog who promises to help her, only to be turned into a frog herself, but love finds a way to make everything right. RL 2.1
9. Wolves of the Beyond Series Lone Wolf. Lasky, Kathryn. Abandoned by his pack, a baby wolf with a mysterious mark on his deformed paw survives and embarks on a journey that will change the world of the wolves of the Beyond. RL 4.7
11. My Many Colored Days. Seuss, Dr.
This rhyming story describes each day in terms of a particular color which in turn is associated with specific emotions. RL 4.7
12. Crocodile Safari. Arnosky, Jim. Presents an adventure that teaches readers about the elusive, once endangered North American crocodile, covering their habitat and behavior and how it is being protected, with maps that shows the author's work along the lower Atlantic coastlines. RL 6.6
13. The Scrambled States of America. Keller, Laurie.
The states become bored with their positions on the map and decide to change places for a while. Also includes facts about the states. RL 5.5
14. Word Wizard. Falwell, Cathryn. Using her magical spoon to make new words by changing letters around, Anna embarks on a series of adventures with a lost little boy. RL 2.5
15. Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin. Moss, Lloyd. Ten instruments take their parts one by one in a musical performance. RL 3.5
16. First the Egg. Seeger, Laura Vaccaro. Die-cut pages show the transformations of various animals and objects, such as a seed to a flower, paint to a picture, and a caterpillar to a butterfly. RL 2.0
17. Tale of Two Mice. Brown, Ruth. When Bo and Billy need to leave their cozy mouse home and search the big old house for food and supplies, Bo fearlessly explores every nook and cranny while Billy tries to warn him about the cat he sees. RL 1.7
18. Good Night Vermont. Tougias, Mike. A family says good morning, good afternoon, and good night to the people, animals, and features of Vermont. RL 2.3
19. Imagine a Night. Gonsalves, Rob. Presents a night when imagination takes over and gravity does not work quite as expected. RL 5.5
20. Louise the Adventures of a Chicken. DiCamillo, Kate. Longing for adventure, intrepid Louise leaves her comfortable nest and goes to sea. RL 3.6
21. Adventure Annie Goes to work. Buzzeo, Toni. When she goes to work with her mother on a Saturday, Adventure Girl uses her own special methods to help find a missing report. RL 2.0
22. Bright Stanley and the Cave Monster. Buckingham, Matt.
Stanley and his friends are exploring a mysterious cave. It's such fun! But then they see lots of strange shadows....Oh, no! It must be the cave monster. With a bright, shimmery finish throughout, this action-packed adventure has a sparkly surprise ending. RL 2.4
23. Hot Rod Hamster. Lord, Cynthia. A hamster, with the help of a canine junkyard dealer and his mouse assistants, builds a hot rod and drives it in a race against some very large dogs. RL 1.9
24. If You Give a Cat a Cupcake. Numeroff, Laura Joffe.
Describes a series of increasingly far-fetched events that might occur if someone were to give a cupcake to a cat. RL 2.6
25. Day Glo Brothers. Barton, Chris. Illustrations and easy-to-follow text describe how brothers Bob and Joe Switzer invented fluorescent paint and colors; and explains how fluorescence works. RL 5.7
26. Goldie Socks and the three Libearians. Hopkins, Jackie. Goldie Socks, late for school, takes a shortcut through the woods which leads her to the home of the three Libearians, and she just cannot resist going inside and finding a cozy place to read. RL 3.7
27. How do you Wokka-Wokka. Bluemle, Elizabeth. A young boy who likes to "wokka-wokka, shimmy-shake, and shocka-shocka" gathers his neighbors together for a surprise celebration. RL 1.7
28. The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School. Anderson, Laurie Halse. A young girl's talented but untamed tresses do not impress her strict first-grade teacher, who has rules for everything, including hair. RL 2.6
29. Traction Man Meets Turbo. Grey, Mini. Traction Man braves the evil bin things in order to save Scrubbing Brush, who had been thrown away by the little boy's father and replaced with a battery-operated dog. RL 3.4
30. Where Should Turtle Be? Ring, Susan. Little sea turtle was lost, but none of the suggestions from the other creatures helped him, until a helpful crab pointed him in the right direction. RL 3.9
31. How Droofus the Dragon Lost His Head. Peet, Bill. A little dragon gets lost from his family and is found by a farmer boy. In the end the king hires the dragon to participate in the Grand Spring Festival.
RL 4.9
32. Henry the Impatient Heron. Love, Donna. Henry the Heron had so much trouble standing still that he could not catch any food to eat, but one day Henry bumped into the Great Blue Heron, who taught him a valuable lesson. RL 1.8
33. My Name is Yoon. Recorvits, Helen. Disliking her name as written in English, Korean-born Yoon, or "shining wisdom," refers to herself as "cat," "bird," and "cupcake," as a way to feel more comfortable in her new school and new country. RL 3.8
34. Possum Magic. Fox, Mem. Grandma Poss uses bush magic to make Hush invisible, but when Hush wants to see herself again, Grandma can't remember which particular Australian food is needed to reverse the spell. Traveling around the continent in search of an antidote, Grandma and Hush sample Anzac biscuits, mornay, vegemite, and pavlova until the right delicacy is found. RL 4.2
35. Big Anthony. De Paola, Tomie. Big Anthony, well-meaning but inattentive, journeys around Italy causing one problem after another, before meeting Strega Nona. RL 3.5
36. The Runaway Dolls. Martin, Ann M. Best friends Annabelle and Tiffany risk placing all of dollkind in danger when they run away while trying to prevent Tilly from being sent back to London before they can determine if she is Annabelle's long-lost baby sister. RL 4.4
37. Big Rigs. Werther, Scott P. Color photos and simple text introduce big rigs, describing their size, their parts, and the things they haul. RL 2.8
38. Frognapped. Sage, Angie. Barry Wizard's five acrobatic frogs are missing, and Araminta and her best friend Wanda, aided by the spectral Sir Horace, follow the trail to Morris's Water Wonderland, where something fishy is going on. RL 4.6
39. Mrs. Marlowes Mice. Asch, Frank. Widow cat, Mrs. Eleanor Marlowe, takes care of a family of mice, putting herself in jeopardy with the Catland Security officers. RL 4.4
40. One Wolf Howls Cohn, Scotti. The months of the year and the numbers 1 through 12 are used in rhyming text to introduce children to the behavior of wolves in natural settings. RL 1.9
41. Dogzilla. Pilkey, Dave.
A monstrous mutt terrorizes the residents of Mousopolis in this spoof of the Godzilla movies. RL 5.6
42. Plot Chickens. Auch, Mary Jane.
Henrietta the chicken loves to read so much that she decides to write a book herself, but she has trouble finding someone to publish a book written by a chicken, and then, when she publishes it herself and it gets a terrible review in "The Corn Book," Henrietta is devastated. RL 2.9
43. Go eat worms! Stine, R. L. Discovering the creatures of his basement worm farm in unlikely and unwanted places, like his bed, his toothbrush, and his spaghetti, worm-obsessed Todd finds himself grossed out by the very things with which he used to torture his sister. RL 4.5
44. Babushka Baba Yaga. Polacco, Patricia. The villagers are afraid of her, so the legendary Baba Yaga disguises herself as an old woman in order to know the joys of being a grandmother. RL 4.5
45. Rapunzel. McCafferty, Catherine.
An illustrated retelling of the fairy tale in which a beautiful young woman, hidden away in a tower by a powerful witch, wins the heart of a passing prince who falls in love with her singing. RL 4.3
46. Gone with the Wand. Doyle, Bill. In 1925, fourteen-year-old amateur detective G. Codd Fitzmorgan finds himself at a lavish party in a storm-battered island mansion, embroiled in a mystery involving a séance, a missing aviator, and the sale of liquor banned under Prohibition. RL 4.9
47. Diary of a fly. Cronin, Doreen. A young fly discovers, day by day, that there is a lot to learn about being an insect, including the dangers of flyswatters and that heroes come in all shapes and sizes. RL 2.5
48. One frog too many. Mayer, Mercer. A boy's pet frog thinks that the new little frog the boy gets for his birthday is one frog too many. RL 3.9
49. Soccer Superstars. Ronaldo, Christiano. An introduction to famous male soccer players from around the world, including Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, David Beckham, and many others. RL 4.6
50. Penelope Jane: a Fairy's Tale. Cash, Rosanne. Penelope Jane, a spunky fairy whose mischievous behavior causes chaos in the classroom, uses some quick thinking and a song to save the school from a fire. Includes lyrics and music. RL 2.6
51. To Space and Back. Ride, Sally. Describes in text and photographs what it is like to be an astronaut on the space shuttle. Includes a glossary of terms. RL 6.5
52. Gooney Bird is so absurd. Lowry, Lois. Mrs. Pidgeon's second grade class studies poetry and her students write haiku, couplets, free verse, and finally, a tribute to Mrs. Pidgeon's mother organized by the irrepressible Gooney Bird Greene. RL 4.9
53. You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You: Very Short Fairy Tales to Read Together. Hoberman, Mary Ann. Presents short retellings of familiar fairy tales, each told in two voices designed especially for young children and adults to read together. RL 2.9
54. Abe Lincoln Remembers. Turner, Ann Warren. A simple description of the life of Abraham Lincoln, presented from his point of view.
RL 3.5
55. The Sword in the Grotto. Sage, Angie. With the help of the ghost Edmund, Araminta and Wanda survive a trip through a secret tunnel to bring back a present for Sir Horace's birthday. RL 4.3
56. The Dangerous Book for Boys. Iggulden, Conn. A collection of entertainments geared toward boys, containing accounts of famous battles, William Shakespeare quotations, games, and instructions for activities such as building a go-cart, cutting flint heads, making an electromagnet, and folding the "greatest paper airplane in the world." RL 5.9
57. The Magic School Bus in the Time of the Dinosaurs. Cole, Joanna. When Ms. Frizzle takes her class to a dinosaur dig to look for Maiasaura nests, the Magic School Bus turns into a time machine and transports them back into prehistoric times--when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. RL 4.0
58. Amazing Sharks! Thomson, Sarah L. Presents an introduction to sharks, in simple text with illustrations, providing information on their physical characteristics, behavior, and habitat. RL 2.7
59. Nate the Great, San Francisco Detective. Sharmat, Marjorie Weinman. Nate the Great goes to San Francisco to solve a mystery with his cousin, Olivia Sharp, who is also a detective. RL 2.6
60. Silly Street. Foxworthy, Jeff. An illustrated collection of humorous poems about a day at the market on Silly Street by comedian Jeff Foxworthy.. RL 2.7
61. Bethany, the Ballet Fairy. Meadows, Daisy. Jack Frost and his goblins have stolen Bethany the Ballet Fairy's magic ribbon, but if Rachel and Kristy cannot get it back ballets everywhere will never be the same. RL 3.0
62. How Oliver Olson changed the world. Mills, Claudia. Afraid he will always be an outsider like ex-planet Pluto, nine-year-old Oliver finally shows his extremely overprotective parents that he is capable of doing great things without their help while his class is studying the solar system. RL 5.0
63. Jellaby Monster in the city. Soo, Kean. Portia, Jason, and Jellaby continue to search Toronto for clues to his origins, even though Portia cannot bear the thought of losing her new friend, and the trio is shocked when they find another monster just like Jellaby, but not nearly as sweet natured. RL 3.2
64. The Lemonade Club. Polacco, Patricia. After learning that they both have cancer, Marilyn and her teacher, Miss Wichelman, support and encourage each other through their treatments.RL 3.9
65. The Lion's Share. McElligott, Matthew.
Ant is honored to receive an invitation to lion's annual dinner party, but is shocked when the other guests behave rudely and then accuse her of thinking only of herself. RL 4.0
66. The Little Platypus and the Fire Spirit. Koorang, Mundara. The little platypus longs to be a duck with yellow feathers, swimming in the water, and, with the help of a fire spirit, gains the ability to dive, swim, and float. RL 2.6
67. Where should turtle be? Ring, Susan. Little sea turtle was lost, but none of the suggestions from the other creatures helped him, until a helpful crab pointed him in the right direction. RL 3.9
68. Roller Hockey Rumble Peters, Stephanie True. When Bizz and her friends arrange a high-stakes roller hockey game with another team, Bizz is reminded about the importance of friendship. RL 4.5
69. An Awfully Beastly Business: Werewolf Vs. Dragon. Sinden, David. Ulf, a werewolf boy, and his friends, must stop an evil monster hunter after a dragon's mangled body shows up at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Beasts. RL 4.1
70. The Dark, Dark Night. Butler, M. Christina. Frog can't wait to get to his pond after his long winter's sleep; but when he gets there, he sees what he thinks is a scary pond monster. RL 2.9
71. Dakota Dugout. Turner, Ann Warren. A woman describes her experiences living with her husband in a sod house on the Dakota prairie.
RL 3.4
72. Knights of the Lunch Table: The Dragon Players. Cammuso, Frank. Artie King's hopes for easing into life at Camelot Middle School are dashed when he opens mysterious locker filled with useful, wonderful items and is pulled into a do-or-die dodge ball game that pits Artie and his friends against the school's toughest kids. RL 4.5
73. Starlight surprise . Chapman, Linda. Lauren and her magic pony, that turns into a unicorn when she whispers to it, make a surprising discovery one night as they fly over the forest by a scary tree house. RL 4.6
74. Tinkering Tink. Risco, Elle D.
Tinker Bell, having agreed to water Lily's flowers, decides gardening is boring and sets out to make the job better. RL 3.4
75. Through moon and stars and night skies. Turner, Ann Warren. A boy who came from far away to be adopted by an American couple remembers how unfamiliar and frightening some of the things were in his new home before he accepted the love to be found there. RL 1.8
76. Fancy Nancy series. O'Connor, Jane. A young girl who loves fancy things helps her family to be fancy for one special night. RL 2.6
77. The Boy Who Drew Birds. Davies, Jacqueline John James Audubon, living in Pennsylvania far from his home and father in France, continues his obsession with birds, and comes up with the idea of banding the legs of his pewee bird friends to see if they will return in the spring to the nests they abandoned in the fall. RL 4.4
78. Firefighters. Whiting, Sue. After dressing up as fire fighters, building a fire truck out of a cardboard box, and extinguishing imaginary fires on the playground, Mrs. Iverson's students are surprised by the arrival of a real fire engine with real fire fighters on board. RL 1.6
79. London Eye Mystery. Dowd, Siobhan. When Ted and Kat's cousin Salim disappears from the London Eye ferris wheel, the two siblings must work together--Ted with his brain that is "wired differently" and impatient Kat--to try to solve the mystery of what happened to Salim. RL 4.1
80. Octopus Island. Farber, Erica. The Critter Kids become shipwrecked on the mysterious Octopus Island where they encounter the evil Dr. Yes and the giant octopus. RL 4.8
81. The Scream Museum. Zindel, Paul. P.C. Hawke is a teenage sleuth who always seems to be on the case. In this first book in the thrilling P.C. Hawke Mysteries series, P.C. and his friend Mackenzie can't believe that their friend Tom, a custodian, has been accused of murdering a biologist at the Museum of Natural History. As they try to get to the bottom of things --- and hopefully prove their friend innocent --- P.C. and Mackenzie discover a famous stolen necklace and a huge tarantula named Aristotle.. Ages 8-12
82. Ghosthunters and the Muddy Monster of Doom. Funke, Cornelia Caroline Before he can earn his Ghosthunter Diploma, Tom must conquer his fears and face his final exams, which require him to capture a deadly Twelfth Messenger in the town of Bogpool, where Tom encounters a mud-loving minotaur with an army of ghosts under his command. RL 4.8
83. Babymouse: the Musical. Holm, Jennifer L. As tryouts for the school musical begin, Babymouse takes the starring role in several imaginary Broadway productions, which also feature her debonair new classmate, Henry the hedgehog. RL 2.4
84. The A to Z Mysteries Roy, Ron. This series features three smart kids who solve crimes and mysteries. They live in a small town in Connecticut, called Green Lawn. The kids are Dink Duncan, Josh Pinto, and Ruth Rose Hathaway. They are third graders. They have hobbies, but what they love most is a good mystery. Have fun getting to know these three sly sleuths!
RL 2.2
85. Encyclopedia Brown. Sobol, Donald J. Whenever ten-year-old Leroy (nicknamed "Encyclopedia") Brown's father, Chief of Police of Idaville, had a difficult case, Encyclopedia always managed to solve it at the dinner table. So, he decided to open his own detective agency. A sure-fire recipe--some school-boy wit, a little slapstick, a whodunit, and a puzzle. RL 2.4
86. Cam Jansen series. Adler, David A. Using her photographic memory Cam Jansen joins Eric in solving mysteries RL 5
87. Jigsaw Jones series Preller, James. Jigsaw and Mila investigate when their teacher announces that a writer whose identity is a secret will visit their class. RL 3
88. Amanda Pig. Van Leeuwen, Jean. Tales of Amanda Pig is a collection of gentle, calm stories about how Amanda the pig solves everyday situations, such as resolving a fight with her brother.. RL 2.6
89. Ivy and Bean. Barrows, Annie. Second-graders Ivy and Bean set out to expel the ghost who is living in the girls' bathroom at their school. RL 2.9
90. Pokemon: Secret of the tower, Whitehill, Simcha.
Ash and Dawn anger Spiritomb by freeing a forbidden Pokémon and must find the creature before it is too late. RL 2.9
91. A Molly Mystery: Clues in the Shadows. Ernst, Kathleen. Molly becomes weary and troubled in the spring of 1945 while doing her patriotic duty to help the U.S. win WWII, and when her father returns home safe, he seems slightly changed. RL 4.3
92. Stink: The Incredible Shrinking Kid. McDonald, Megan. The shortest kid in the second grade, James Moody, also known as Stink, learns all about the shortest president of the United States, James Madison, when they celebrate Presidents' Day at school. RL 1.8
93. The Hardy Boys #6, Hyde & Shriek. Lobdell, Scott. A graphic novel in which the Hardy Boys' job of protecting the Ambassador to Osyria's beautiful daughter is complicated by her choice of venue for her sweet sixteen birthday party--a popular New York restaurant with a haunted house theme.
RL 4.7
94. Cabin Creek Mysteries: The Secret of Robber’s Cave. Gregory, Kristiana. Brothers Jeff and David, along with their nine-year-old cousin, Claire, go to the deserted island to find out if the legend of Robber's Cave is true. RL 5.0
95. Percy Jackson & the Olympians Series. Riordan, Rick. Percy, expelled from six schools for being unable to control his temper, learns the truth from his mother that his father is the Greek god Poseidon, and is sent to Camp Half Blood where he is befriended by a satyr and the demigod daughter of Athena who join him in a journey to the Underworld to retrieve Zeus's lightning bolt and prevent a catastrophic war.
RL 4.9
96. The three Investigators Series: The Mystery of the Silver Spider. Arthur, Robert. Three young detectives travel abroad to solve a mystery involving a silver spider and a political plot that endangers the life of a young prince. RL 5.1
97. Scooby Do Series-Chill Out Scooby-Doo. Orr, Wendy. While vacationing in Paris, the Mystery, Inc. Gang is called upon to rescue Scooby-Doo and Shaggy from a yeti in the Himalayas. RL 5.0
98. The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary. Kinney, Jeff. Jeff Kinney offers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" movie, with photographs, script pages, storyboard sketches, costume designs, and original art offering an inside look at the film adaptation. RL 6.6
99. National Geographic Kids Almanac 2010. Contains facts, photographs, and maps that provide young readers with information on a variety of topics, including animals, cultures, famous landmarks, and more. RL 5.9
100. Phil of the Future: The Great Fake-out. Alfonsi, Alice. Phil is worried that his friends will find out that he is actually from the future when the class goes on a field trip to Pickford Tomato Ranch. RL 5.6