Summer Fun Reading List

1999

Entering Second / Third Grade

Entering Kindergarten / First Grade | Entering Fourth / Fifth Grade

You can get any of these books free! Take this list to a public library and they will either find the books or order them from another library for you. (*Starred books are new on the list this year.)

This list is a small taste of all the choices there are. It's divided into Poetry, Picture Books, Folktales, Fiction, Factual Books, and Biography. Happy reading!

2-3 Poetry

Beast Feast: Poems and Paintings, Florian*

Surprising and funny poems about animals.

The Beauty of the Beast: Poems of the Animal Kingdom, Prelutsky

Lots of different animal poems by Jack Prelutsky.

Bing Bang Boing, Florian

Entertaining poems and hilarious drawings.

Dinosaur Dinner (with a Slice of Alligator Pie), Lee

Dennis Lee is the Canadian children's favorite funny poet.

If You're Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand, Dakos

Funny poems about life in school.

Something Big Has Been Here, Prelutsky*

Poems with a sense of humor about many different things.

This Land Is Your Land, Guthrie*

Woody Guthrie's famous song about the USA with great pictures.

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2-3 Picture Books

Amazing Grace, Hoffman

Grace is black, but she's determined to be Peter Pan in the play.

Ballot Box Battle, McCully

A girl helps Elizabeth Cady Stanton fight for a woman's right to vote.

Beautiful Warrior: The Legend of the Nun's Kung Fu, McCully*

A Chinese Buddhist nun teaches a girl martial arts to protect herself from a bandit.

I Spy Gold Challenger! : a Book of Picture Riddles, Wick*

Rhyming riddles help the reader find objects hidden in the photographs.

Jumanji, Van Allsburg

Live wild animals burst from an innocent-looking board game.

Just Plain Fancy, Polacco*

Naomi, an Amish girl, is horrified when one of her hen eggs hatches into a fancy bird.

The Keeping Quilt, Polacco*

A homemade quilt passes through four generations of Polacco's immigrant family.

The Library, Stewart*

Elizabeth likes to read so much, she starts her own public library.

The Lorax, Seuss

The Lorax speaks for the trees when the Once-ler cuts them down.

Miss Nelson Is Missing, Allard

Miss Nelson leaves her naughty class with nasty Miss Swamp.

Mrs. Katz and Tush, Polacco

Larnel gives the sorrowing widow Katz a tailless cat named "Tush."

So Far From the Sea, Bunting*

A Japanese-American family visits the grave of their grandfather in a former prison camp.

Swamp Angel, Isaacs

Angelica, a giant, formed the Smoky Mountains when she wrestled a bear.

Tale of a Tail, Bodnar*

When his tail freezes in the lake, Silly Bear manages to get the best of a stingy fox.

Toll-Bridge Troll, Wolff

A boy outsmarts a fearsome troll.

William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Coville

Short version of this well-known magical tale. Wonderful pictures.

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2-3 Folktales

The Empty Pot, Demi

The Emperor of China honors Ping's honesty when he admits that he can't grow a certain flower seed.

Favorite Medieval Tales, Osborne*

Tales of Robin Hood, Beowulf, giants, griffins and others fill this gorgeous picture book.

Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato, De Paola

Lazy Jamie captures a leprechaun who offers him potatoes, not gold.

Man Who Tricked a Ghost, Yep

Chinese tale about a man who plays tricks on a mean ghost.

Ouch! Babbitt (Retold from Grimm)*

The King tries in vain to drown peasant baby Marco who is foretold to marry the princess. Funny.

Papa Gatto, Sanderson

A cat finds the prince a wife by testing two sisters' treatment of his kittens.

A Story, A Story, Haley

Anansi, the spider man, wins stories from the Sky God. African.

The Talking Eggs, San Souci

Blanche obeys the witch and gains riches while her greedy sister loses.

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2-3 Fiction

Reading fiction with 6, 7, and 8 year-olds is above all supposed to be fun. If your child wants to read, fine, but if you do all the reading, that's fine, too! Your child will listen for narrative and be stretched by the new words and experiences. Of course, for kids entering Grade 2, almost all is "Read-Aloud."

The fiction is roughly divided by ease of reading into 1. Beginning Readers, 2. Easy Reading for an entering Third grader, 3. Medium Fiction (medium hard for beginning 3rd grade), 4. Read-Aloud Fiction suitable for the whole family.

1. 2-3 Fiction for Beginning Readers

Go Dog Go, Eastman

Dogs everywhere doing silly things. An all-time favorite.

Hello House, Hayward

Brer Rabbit fools Brer Wolf who is hiding in the rabbits' house.

Hop on Pop, Seuss

Rhyming words depict funny situations.

Itchy Itchy Chicken Pox, Maccarone

Catchy rhymes narrate a boy's bout with the pox.

2. 2-3 Fiction--Easy Reading entering Grade 3

Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping, Parish

Amelia Bedelia gets all mixed up when she goes on a camping trip.

Bony-Legs, Cole

Sasha fools the nasty witch, Bony-Legs (Baba Yaga).

Cam Jansen and the Ghostly Mystery, Adler*

Cam uses her camera-like photographic memory to catch a thief disguised as a ghost. Very short mystery.

Henry and Mudge and Annie's Good Move, Rylant*

When cousin Annie moves in next door, Henry and Mudge help calm her fears.

Horrible Harry and the Drop of Doom, Kline*

Harry and his friends go to an amusement park. Number nine of the Horrible Harry books.

In a Dark, Dark Room, Schwartz

Short ghost stories. Includes the woman who removes her head.

Lucky Baseball Bat, Christopher

Can Marty win without his lost lucky bat?

The Minstrel in the Tower, Skurzynski*

Roger & Alice, seeking help for their ill mother, are captured by bandits. Medieval adventure.

My Brother, Ant, Byars*

Big brother calms Anthony's (Ant's) fears of a monster and of the wolf in the Three Little Pigs.

Nate the Great and the Stolen Base, Sharmat*

Nate the Great searches for a purple plastic octopus that his team uses for second base.

Next Stop, New York City! Giff*

The Polk St. School kids take an exciting tour of NYC. Kid's guidebook and story all in one.

Smasher, King-Smith*

When Mrs. Buzzard (human) wants to banish Smasher the dog, Farmer Buzzard hides him.

Tonight on the Titanic, Osborne*

Jack and Annie are in for an exciting adventure when they wish themselves onto the sinking ship.

Tornado, Byars*

While waiting in the tornado cellar, Pete tells stories of his dog who arrived in a tornado.

Your Mother Was a Neanderthal ("Time Warp Trio" series), Scieszka*

Joe, Sam and Fred land in prehistoric times where graffiti is cave art. Science fiction.

3. 2-3 Fiction--Medium Hard for entering Grade 3

Ace, the Very Important Pig, King-Smith

How does a pig named Ace wind up on television?

Bunnicula: a Rabbit Tale of Mystery, Howe

Harold Dog and Chester Cat try to warn the family about the new vampire rabbit.

Catwings Return, Le Guin*

Two winged cats visit their mother in the city and rescue their baby sister from wreckers.

Junie B. Jones is a Party Animal, Park*

Junie sleeps over at Lucille's nanna's house where things are expensive and breakable.

Russell and Elisa (and others in the series), Hurwitz

Tales of Russell and his younger sister and their apartment neighbors.

Tenth Good Thing about Barney, Viorst

Remembering Barney, a wonderful cat. Good to read after losing a pet.

4. 2-3 Fiction--Read-Aloud

BFG, Dahl

Sophie and the BFG (Big Friendly Giant) head off some bad giants.

Charlotte's Web, White

Fern has two dear friends, Wilbur the Pig and Charlotte the Spider.

Help! I'm a Prisoner in the Library, Clifford

Rose and Jo-Beth, trapped in the old library, hear strange noises.

Mouse and the Motorcycle, Cleary

A boy shares his toy motorcycle with Ralph, a real mouse.

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, MacDonald

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle uses humor and magic to teach the neighbor children.

Ramona the Brave, Cleary*

Six-year old Ramona struggles with a difficult teacher while her mother takes a new job.

Winnie the Pooh, Milne

Read the original story, not the Disney version, to truly know Pooh and his friends.

Wizard of Oz, Baum

Dorothy's adventures with the lion, the scarecrow, and the tin woodman in Oz.

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2-3 Factual Books

Bridges are to Cross, Sturges*

Luminous three-dimensional cut paper images of famous bridges span these pages.

Finding the Titanic, Ballard

The "unsinkable" ship that sank and was discovered decades later.

Flying Machine (Eyewitness Books), Nahum*

Great photos trace the history of flight from balloons to jets.

Going on a Whale Watch, McMillan

Two six year-olds watch many kinds of whales.

The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip, Cole*

Ms. Frizzle's class tours through the town's electric wires to see electricity generated & used.

Magic Secrets, Wyler

Easy magic tricks. An I Can Read book.

Paper Airplane Book, Simon

Fun with paper for a rainy summer day.

Postcards from Pluto: a Tour of the Solar System, Leedy

Dr. Quasar gives some children a tour of all the planets.

Rosie, A Visiting Dog's Story, Calmenson

A working dog visits shut-ins and patients in hospitals.

The Trojan Horse: How the Greeks Won the War, Little*

The 1100 BC legend: how a wooden horse fooled the soldiers of Troy.

Tut's Mummy, Lost...and Found, Donnelly

The Egyptian pharaoh and his treasure found after 3,000 years.

What on Earth is a Quokka? Tesar

Color photos reveal the life of a very small kangaroo in Australia.

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2-3 Biography

Black Whiteness, Burleigh*

Admiral Byrd nearly dies when he spends a winter alone in the Antarctic in 1934.

Boss of the Plains: The Hat that Won the West, Carlson*

John Stetson, hatmaker, went west 150 years ago to invent the big-brim cowboy hat still worn today.

Columbus Day, Liestman

Accurate account of Columbus's first voyage; good for young listeners.

Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra, Pinkney*

This biography reads like a musical score as it recounts the life of the famous jazz composer and pianist.

Finding Providence: the Story of Roger Williams, Avi*

After the Puritans force him to leave Massachusetts, Roger Williams founds Providence, RI.

Joan of Arc, Stanley*

Joan, a 15th century peasant, led the French army to victory over the English.

Kate Shelley and the Midnight Express, Wetterrer

True tale of Kate who ran through a storm to warn a train of danger.

Librarian Who Measured the Earth, Lasky

Story of Eratosthenes who correctly figured earth's size in 300 BC.

Snowflake Bentley, Martin*

100 years ago in Vermont, farmer and scientist Wilson Bentley pioneered the art of photographing snowflakes.

Teammates, Golenbock

How Jackie Robinson became the first black major league player.

Trapped by the Ice: Shackleton's Amazing Antarctic Adventure, McCurdy

How Ernest Shackleton and his crew braved ice flows, wild animals, and storms.

Will You Sign Here, John Hancock? Fritz*

The first signer of the Declaration of Independence dared to challenge the King of England.

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This summer reading list was compiled by Joan Kimball, elementary school librarian, and formatted for the Web by Dale Copps, founder and webmaster of All Together Now. The list represents many children's authors, incorporates many types of books, and appeals to many interests. We hope it will provide fun summer reading for the whole family.

Copyright 1999 by Joan Kimball. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright forbids any commercial use of this list, but teachers and librarians may copy it as a whole for their own students at no charge, as long as they include all the above notes of authorship and copyright.

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Document Notes

Title: Summer Reading List 1999 (2-3)
Compiler: Joan Kimball
Design: Dale Copps
Date Created: May 9, 1997
Last Updated: April 27, 1999