Grades K-6

Most of these recommended literature selections are available for checkout through your child's school library or you may purchase them through local bookstores. These selections are also featured in the reading and language arts curriculum.

Kindergarten:

• Animal Orchestra, by Scott Gustafson's

• Bea and Mr. Jones, by Amy Schwartz

• Billy and the Big New School, by Catherine & Laurence Anholt

• Commotion in the Ocean, by Giles Andreae

• Feel the Wind, by Arthur Dorros

• Fish Faces, by Norbiri Wu

• Footprints and Shadows, by Anne Wescott Dodd

• Friends, by Helme Heine

• George & Martha - One Fine Day, by James Marshall

• Happy Birthday America, by Marsha Wilson Chall

• Helping Out, by George Ancona

• I Have a Friend, by Keiko Narahashi

• In the Ocean, by Claire Henley

• JoJo's Flying Side Kick, by Brian Pinkney

• Leo the Late Bloomer, by Robert Knaus

• Liang and the Magic Paintbrush, by Demi

• May I Bring A Friend?, by Beni Montresor

• Millicent and the Wind, by Robert Munsch

• Mouse View - What the Class Pet Saw, by Bruce McMillan

• Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers, by Karen WinnickCan I Help?, by Marilyn Janovitz

• My Friends, by Taro Gomi

• My Shadow, by Susan Winter

• Night, America, by Michael Montgomery

• Oceans, by Kristin Ward

• One Windy Wednesday, by The Giggle Club

• Paul Bunyan, by Steven Kellog

• Shadows are About, by Ann Whitford Baul

• Stone Soup, by Heather Forest

• Sun Up, Sun Down, by Gail Gibbons

• Tacky the Penguin, by Helen Lester

• The 100th Day of School, by Angela Shelf Medearis

• The Carrot Seed, by Ruth Krauss

• The Flag We Love, by Pam Munoz Ryan

• The Great Trash Bash, by Loreen Leedy

• The Kissing Hand, by Audrey Penn

• The Pledge of Allegiance, by Scholastic

• The Seashore Book, by Charlotte Zolotow

• The Sun, the Wind and the Rain, by Lisa Westberg Peters

• The Wind Blew, by Pat Hutchins

• This Land is Your Land, by Woody Guthrie

• Tippy Bear Hunts For Honey, by Coby Hol

• Vera's First Day of School, by Vera Rosenberry

• What Makes Day and Night, by Franklyn M. Branley

• What Makes the Wind?, by Laurence Santrey

• Will You Be My Friend?, by Nancy Tafuri

• Yo! Yes?, by Chris Raschka

• You'll Soon Grow Into Them Titch, by Pat Hutchins

First Grade:

• A Weed is a Seed, by Ferida Wolff

• Armadillos Sleep in Dugouts: And Other Places Animals Live, by Pam Munoz Ryan

• Around the Pond: Who's Been Here?, by Lindsay Barrett George

• Biggest, Strongest, Fastest, by Steve Jenkins

• Captain Jonathan Sails the Sea, by Wolfgang Slawski

• Coming Home: From the Life of Langston Hughes, by Floyd Cooper

• Don't Fidget a Feather, by Erica Silverman

• Fly Away Home, by Eve Bunting

• Geoffrey Groundhog Predicts the Weather, by Bruce Koscielniak

• Grandfather's Journey, by Allen Say

• Hattie and the Fox, by Mem Fox

• Hey, Little Ant, by Phillip and Hannah Hoose

• I Fly, by Anne Rockwell

• Inch by Inch, by Leo Lionni

• It's So Nice to Have a Wolf Around the House, by Harry Allard

• Jack's Tale, by Ellen Stoll Walsh

• Jalpeno Hal, by Jo Harper

• Johnny Appleseed, by Patricia Demuth

• Just a Little Bit, by Ann Tompert

• Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie, by Peter and Connie Roop

• Little Toot, by Hardie Gramatky

• Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, by Virginia Lee Burton

• Mop's Treasure Hunt, by Martine Schaap

• Mr. Gumpy's Outing, by John Burningham

• Mrs. Armitage on Wheels, by Quentin Blake

• OH!, by Kevin Henkes

• Old Henry, by Joan W. Blos

• One Lucky Girl, by George Ella Lyon

• Piggies, by Audrey Wood

• Round Trip, by Ann Jonas

• School Bus, by Donald Crews

• Sleep, Little One, Sleep, by Marion Dane Bauer

• Snip, Snip..Snow! by Nancy Poydar

• Splash! Splash! Animal Baths, by April Pulley Sayne

• Stella Luiella's Runaway Book, by Lisa Campbell Ernst

• The Bears on Hemlock Mountain, by Alice Dalgliesh

• The Best Way To Play, by Bill Cosby

• The Field Beyond the Outfield, by Marge Teague

• The Little Red Ant and the Great Big Crumb: A Mexican Fable, retold by Shirley Climo

• The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge, by Hildegarde H. Swift and Lyndard

• The Storm, written & illustrated by Kathy Henderson

• Thundercake, by Patricia Polacco

• Truck, by Donald Crews

• What's Under My Bed?, by James Stevenson

• Wheel Away, by Dayle Ann Dods

Second Grade:

• A Boy Wants a Dinosaur, by Haiwyn Oram

• A Dinosaur Named After Me, by Bernard Most

• Anansi Does the Impossible, by Verna Aardema

• Arnie and the Skateboard Gang, by Nancy Carlson

• Aunt Isabel Makes Trouble, by Kate Duke

• Author: A true Story, by Helen Lester

• Badger's Bad Mood, by Hiawyn Oram

• Big Old Bones, by Carol Carrick

• Brave Horace, by Holly Keller

• Cantsee: The Cat Who Was The Color of the Carpet, by Gretchen Schields

• Crafty Chameleon, by Mweyne Hidathi

• Digging Up Dinosaurs, by Aliki

• Dinosaur for a Day, by Jim Murphy

• Dinosaur Hunters, by Kate McMullan

• Disbuises and Surprises, by Claire Llewellyn

• Fabulous Flying Fandinis, by Ingrid Snyder

• Faraway Drums, by Virginia Kroll

• Father's Rubber Shoes, by Yumi Heo

• Fly Away Home, by Eve Bunting

• Frida Maria: A Story of the Old Southwest, by Deborah Nourse Lattimore

• Gabriella's Song, by Candace Fleming

• Grandmother and the Runaway Shadow, by Liz Rozenberg

• How to Hide a Crocodile, by Ruth Heller

• I Know a Lady, by Charlotte Zolotow

• If At First You Do Not See, by Ruth Brown

• Keepers, by Jeri Hanel Watts

• Leah's Pony, by Elizabeth Friedrich

• Mama Provi and the Pot of Rice, by Sylvia Rosa-Cacanove

• More Than Anything Else, by Marie Bradby

• Red Bird, by Barbara Mitchell

• Sarah's Story, by Bill Harley

• Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp, by Carol Shields

• Shy Charles, by Rosemary Wells

• The American Wei, by Marion Hess Pomeranc

• The Gardener, by Sarah Stewart

• Time Train, by Paul Fleischman

• Tonio's Cat, by Mary Calhoun

• Too Much Talk, by Angela Shelf Medearis

• What Zeesise Saw on Delancy Street, by Else Okon Rael

Third Grade:

• A Kid's Guide to Money: Earning It, Saving It, Spending It, Growing It, Sharing It, by Steve Otfinoski

• A Million Fish…More or Less, by Patricia McKissack

• A Spoon for Every Bits, by Joe Hayes

• Aldo Ice Cream, by Johanna Hurwitz

• Arctic Memories, by Normee Ekoomiak

• Backyard Safaris: 52 Year-Round Science Adventures, by Phyllis S. Busch

• Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare, by Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema

• Captain Snap and the Children of Vinegar Lane, by Roni Schotter

• Cherries and Cherry Pits, by Vera B. Williams

• City Green, by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan

• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, by Judi Barrett

• Country Fair, by Elisha Cooper

• County Fair, by Raymond Bial

• Daydreamers, by Eloise Greenfield

• Down to Earth, by Michael J. Rosen

• Farmer Boy, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

• Gathering the Sun: An Alphabet in English and Spanish, by Alma Flor Ada

• Grassroots, by Carl Sandburg

• Hoofbeats, by Cynthia McFarland

• If You Had a Million, by David M. Schwartz

• Little House on the prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

• My First American Friend, by Sarunna Jin

• My Teacher's Secret Life, by Stephen Krensky

• Nature in your Backyard: Simple Activities for Childern, by Susan S. Lang

• Norman Rockwell: Storyteller with a Brush, by Beverly Gherman

• Officer Buckle and Gloria, by Peggy Rathmann

• On Call Back Mountain, by Eve Bunting

• One Grain of Rice, by Demi

• Patrick's Dinosaurs, by Carol Carrick

• Rosie and Michael, by Judith Viorst

• Seven Blind Mice, by Ed Young

• Something is Growing, by Walter Lyon Krudop

• Sugaring, by Jessie Haas

• Sunflowers for Tina, by Anne Norris Baldwin

• The City Kid's Field Guide, by Ethan Herberman

• The Dancing Man, by Ruther Lercher

• The Empty Lot, by Dale H. Fife

• The Fiddler of Northern Lights, by Natalie Kinsey

• The Gardener, by Sarah Stewart

• The Gold Coin, by Alma Flor Ada

• The Money Tree, by Sarah Stewart

• The Stories Julian Tells, by Ann Cameron

• The Tin Heart, by Karen Ackerman

• The Treasure Bird, by Peni R. Griffin

• Tornado, by Betsy Byars

• Treasure Nap, by Juanita Havill

• Why the Sky is Far Away, by Mary-Joan Gerson

Fourth Grade:

• Amelia Earhart: Flying for Adventure, by Mary Dodson Wade

• Children of the Wild West, by Russel Freedman

• Follow the Drinking Gourd, by Jeanette Winter

• Frindle, by Andrew Clements

• Homer Price, by Robert McCloskey

• Incident at Hawk's Hill, by Allan W. Eckert

• Knee-Knock Rise, by Natalie Babbitt

• North American Indian Survival Skills, by Karen Liptak

• Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, by Eleanor Coerr

• The Dream Jar, by Bonnie Pryor

• The History News: Medicine, by Phil Gates

• The Kid's Guide to Money: Earning It, Saving It, Spending It, Growing It, Sharing It, by Steve Offinoski

• The New American: Colonial Times 1620-1689, by Betsy Maestro

• The Outdoor Adventure Handbook, by Hugh McManners

• Utterly Yours, Booker Jones, by Betsy Duffery

• What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?, by Jean Fritz

• Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo, by Llata Filipic

Fifth Grade:

• A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle

• Black Cowboy, Wild Horses, by Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney

• Brendan the Navigator: A History Mystery about the Discovery of America, by Jean Fritz

• Call Me Francis Tucket, by Gary Paulsen

• Dear Levi: Letters from the Overland Trail, by Elvira Woodruff

• Earth Keepers, by Joan Anderson and George Ancona

• Flood: Wrestling the Mississippi, by Patricia Lauber

• Immigrant Kids, by Russell Freedman

• Janice Vancleave's Astronomy for Every Kid: 101 Easy Experiments That Really Work, by Janice Vancleave

• Moon of Two Dark Horses, by Sally M. Keehn

• My Daniel, by Pam Conrad

• Our Journey from Tibet, by Laurie Dolphin

• Philip Hall Likes Me. I Reckon Maybe, by Bette Greene

• Phoebe the Spy, by Judith Berry Griffin

• Pueblo Storyteller, by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith

• Racing The Sun, by Paul Pitts

• The Amazing Life of Ben Franklin, by James Cross Giblin

• The Great Race, by David Bouchard

• The Heavenly Zoo: Legends and Tales of the Stars, by Alison Lurie

• The Incredible Journey, by Sheila Burnfold

• The Minstrel in the Tower, by Gloria Skurzynski

• The True Adventures of Grizzly Adams, by Robert McClung

Sixth Grade:

• A Place in the Sun, by Jill Rubalcaba

• Becoming Felix, by Nancy Hope Wilson

• Canyon Winter, by Walter Morey

• Cecelia and the Blue Mountain Boy, by Ellen Harvey Showell

• Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine

• Gold and Silver, Silver and Gold, by Alvin Schwartz

• Mandela: From the Life of the South African Statesman, by Floyd Cooper

• Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse

• Rubber-Band Banjos and a Java Jive Bass, by Alex Sabbeth

• Running Out of Time, by Margaret Peterson Haddix

• Sing for Your Father, Su Phan, by Stella Pevsner and Fay Tang

• Song of the Trees, by Mildred D. Taylor

• The Ancient Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde, by Caroline Arnold

• The Cricket's Cage, retold by Stefan Czernecki

• The Earth is Painted Green: A Garden of Poems About Our Planet, edited by Barbara Brenner

• The Girl-Son, by Anne E. Neuberger

• The King's Equal, by Katherine Patterson

• The Moon and I, by Betsy Byars

• The Story of the Incredible Orchestra, by Bruce Koscielniak

• Wolf Stalker, by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson