The Summer Reading
Challenge

Suggested Reading List
“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates’ loot on Treasure Island ... and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life.”
•  Walt Disney
Early Readers
(Preschool - Grade 2)

1-2-3 to the Zoo (Carle)
Go Away Big Green Monster (Emberley)
Danny and the Dinosaur (Hoff)
Days with Frog and Toad (Lobel)
Green Eggs and Ham (Dr. Seuss)
What Game Shall We Play? (Hutchins)
Space Case (Marshall)
Little Bear’s Friend (Minarik)
Mummies Made in Egypt (Aliki)
Why a Disguise? (Numeroff)
Piggie Pie (Palatini)
Arthur’s Pen Pal (Hoban)
Teach Us Amelia Bedelia (Parish)
Wizard Next Door (Glassman)
Not in the House, Newton! (Heide)
Amazing Felix (McCully)

Picture Books

The Spider and the Fly (DiTerlizzi)
Hondo & Fabian (McCarty)
Ben’s Trumpet (Isadora)
Blueberries for Sal (McCloskey)
The Carrot Seed (Krauss)
A Chair for My Mother (Williams)
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (Martin)
Corduroy (Freeman)
Curious George (Rey)
Doctor DeSoto (Steig)
Freight Train (Crews)
George and Martha (Marshall)
Goodnight Moon (Brown)
Harold and the Purple Crayon (Johnson)
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (Numeroff)
Ira Sleeps Over (Waber)
Julius (Johnson)

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (Waber)
Madeline (Bemelmans)
Miss Nelson is Missing! (Allard)
Rosie’s Walk (Hutchins)
Ten, Nine, Eight (Bang)
The Mitten (Brett)
There’s a Nightmare in My Closet (Mayer)
Stone Soup (Brown)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Carle)
Where The Wild Things Are (Sendak)
Whistle For Willie (Keats)
Very Busy Spider (Carle)

Caldecott Medal Winning Picture Books (Illustrator)

2008 - The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Selznick)
2007 - Flotsam (Wiesner)
2006 - The Hello, Goodbye Window (Raschka)
2005 - Kitten’s First Full Moon (Henkes)
2004 - The Man Who Walked Between the              Towers (Gerstein)
2003 - My Friend Rabbit (Rohmann)
2002 - The Three Pigs (Wiesner)
2001 - So You Want to Be President? (Small)
2000 - Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (Taback)
1999 - Snowflake Bentley (Azarian)
1998 - Rapunzel (Zelinsky)
1997 - Golem (Wisniewski)
1996 - Officer Buckle and Gloria (Rathmann)
1995 - Smoky Night (Diaz)
1994 - Grandfather’s Journey (Say)
1993 - Mirette on the High Wire (McCully)




Subject Headings (authors & grade levels in parentheses)

Adventure

The Cay (Taylor; 4 - 6)
The Dark Thirty: Southern Tales of the    Supernatural (McKissack; 4 - 6)
Hatchet (Paulsen; 4 - 6)
Shiloh (Naylor; 4 - 6)
Snow Treasure (McSwigan; 3 - 6)
Stone Fox (Gardiner; 3 - 6)
Trouble River (Byars; 3 - 6)

Fantasy & Mystery

Marvin Redpost: A Flying Birthday Cake?
     (Sachar; 3 - 4)
The BFG (Dahl; 4 - 5)
The Book of Three (Alexander; 4 - 5)
The Borrowers (Norton; 4 - 6)
Cricket in Times Square (Selden; 3 - 6)
The Dark is Rising (Cooper; 3 - 6)
The Giver (Lowry; 3 - 6)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
     (Rowling; 3 - 6)
The Indian in the Cupboard (Banks; 4 - 5)
James and the Giant Peach (Dahl; 4 - 5)
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher
     (Coville; 3 - 5)
The Littles (Peterson; 3 - 4)
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
     (O’Brien; 4 - 5)
Phantom Tollbooth (Juster; 3 - 6)
Stuart Little (White; 4 - 5)
Tom’s Midnight Garden (Pearce; 5 - 6)
The Secret Garden (Burnett; 3 - 6)
The Wish Giver (Brittain; 4 - 5)
A Wrinkle in Time (L’Engle; 4 - 6)

Friendship

Afternoon of the Elves (Lisle; 5 - 6)
Babe – The Gallant Pig (King-Smith; 3 - 6)
Best Friend Insurance (Gormley; 3 - 4)
Bridge to Terabithia (Paterson; 5 - 6)
Crow Boy (Yashima; 3 - 5)
Cute is a Four-Letter Word (Pevsner; 4 - 5)
The Cybil War (Byars; 4 - 5)
Dear Mr. Henshaw (Cleary; 4 - 6)
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
     (Lord; 3 - 5)
Law of Gravity (Hurwitz; 4 - 6)
Nothing’s Fair in Fifth Grade
     (DeClements; 4 - 5)
Number the Stars (Lowry; 4 - 6)
On My Honor (Bauer; 4 - 6)
Pickle Puss (Giff; 3 - 4)
The Pinballs (Byars; 4 - 5)
Stay Away From Simon (Carrick; 4 - 6)
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (Blume; 3 - 5)


Humor

Aliens for Breakfast (Etra; 3 - 6)
Anastasia Krupnik (Lowry; 3 - 6)
Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery
     (Howe; 3 - 6)
Chocolate Fever (Smith; 2 - 4)
Fat Men From Space (Pinkwater; 3 - 4)
The Fortune Tellers (Alexander; 2 - 3)
The Goof that Won the Pennant (Kalb; 2 - 3)
Homer Price (McCloskey; 4 - 5)
How to Eat Fried Worms (Rockwell; 4 - 6)
Isabelle Shows Her Stuff (Greene; 4 - 5)
Jelly Belly (Smith; 3 - 4)
Kevin Corbett Eats Flies (Hermes; 4 - 5)
Owls in the Family (Mowat; 3 - 4)
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (Cleary; 3 - 4)
The Ransom of Red Chief (O’Henry; 5 - 6)
Yours Till Niagara Falls, Abby (O’Connor; 4 - 6)

Historical

Behind Rebel Lines: The Incredible Story of Emma Edmonds, Civil War Spy (Reit; 3 - 6)
Bound for Oregon (Van Leeuwen; 3 - 6)
Caddie Woodlawn (Brink; 4 - 6)
The Door in the Wall (de Angeli; 3 - 6)
Johnny Tremain (Forbes; 3 - 6)
Little House in the Big Woods (Wilder; 3 - 6)
Sarah, Plain and Tall (MacLachlan; 3 - 6)
My Sister’s Keeper (Butler; 3 - 6)

Poetry

Dragons, Dragons (Carle)
For Laughing Out Loud: Poems To Tickle Your Funnybone (Prelutsky)
Mice are Nice (Larrick)
Something Big Has Been Here (Prelutsky)

Sports

Me, Mop and the Moondance Kid
    (Myers; 4 - 6)
Baseball Fever (Hurwitz; 3 - 5)
Guinness Sports Record Book (4 - 6)
Hang Tough, Paul Mather (Slote; 4 - 5)
No Arm in Left Field (Christopher; 4 - 6)
S.O.R. Losers (Avi; 4 - 6)
The Meat in the Sandwich (Bach; 3 - 4)
The Trading Game (Slote; 4 - 6)


Special thanks goes to the NYS Education Department’s Division of Library
Development and librarians across the state for their help.

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