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The Importance of Summer
Reading
Ready or not, the end of the school year and the start of summer vacation are just around the corner. No doubt you are astounded at the amount of content your child has covered in just one year’s time, but with summer break looming, you are probably eager to have your children extend their learning over the upcoming months. Summer reading is an easy, inexpensive, and enjoyable way for families to do just that! If books are chosen well and a few simple fluency-building techniques are used, reading comprehension and retention can continue to improve. Similarly, vocabulary development and content knowledge, which are critical for reading comprehension, can also be furthered through effective summer reading. Book Choices
Categories: a. Fiction or non-fiction books that are at or slightly above your child’s reading level are suggested for comprehension building. A great place to start is the Classical School reading list. Often children want to revisit old favorites that they have previously read or books that are new to them from the list, but which are now below their reading level. Because of the high quality of these works of literature, these books should be included as an addition to the more challenging selections on their summer reading list. Use the reading list as a gauge for reading level, or speak with your child’s teacher. b. Content-based books are non-fiction books written about an area of history, math, science, music, or art that has sparked your child’s interest. Some of the books will be above your child’s reading level, but can make wonderful books to read aloud. c. “Dessert Books” are often contemporary books that children enjoy reading and can be generally read without much effort or assistance. These books typically lack challenging vocabulary and often use relatively simple grammatical writing structures. They are called “dessert books” because they are a small treat with minimal nourishment. They are fun to read, but do little to develop our children’s growing minds. It is easy for children to select summer reading from this category to the exclusion of the first two categories. Fluency Improving Techniques
Parroting
Repeated Reading
Reading Aloud
Importance of Background
Knowledge
With this in mind, choosing books from the first two categories discussed above for your child’s summer reading is as important as any fluency exercises you may do with your child this summer. When reading aloud to your child, choose books that are above their reading level and contain complex vocabulary and rich content. This opens a world to our children that is not yet accessible to them through their own reading. The new information and vocabulary learned becomes part of their background knowledge, and background knowledge, along with a wide vocabulary, has been shown to be the best indicator of a student’s future reading success. Have a wonderful, safe summer.
Happy reading!
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READING LISTS
Kindergarten
- 2nd Grade
Aesop: fables, all
Ahlberg, Janet and Allan:
The Jolly Postman
Andersen, Hans Christian:
fairy tales, all
Ardizzone, Edward:
all Tim books
Awdry, The Rev. W:
Thomas the Tank Engine Series
Bemelmans, Ludwig:
Madeline series, all
Bennet, William:
The Children’s Book
of Virtues
The Children’s Book
of Heroes
The Children’s Book
of America
Our Country’s Founders
The Moral Compass
Beskow, Elsa:
Pele’s New Suit
Children of the Forest
Bianco, Margery Williams:
The Velveteen Rabbit: Or How Toys Become Real
Bond, Michael: A Bear
Called Paddington
Brink, Carol Ryrie:
Caddie Woodlawn
Burgess, Gelett: Goops
series
Burgess, Thorton:
The Burgess Animal Book for Children
Burnett, Frances Hodgson:
Racketty-Packetty House
Burton, Virginia Lee:
Katy and the Big Snow
Mike Mulligan and
His Steam Shovel
The Little House
Carrick, Donald: Harald
series
Carroll, Lewis:
The Walrus and the
Carpenter
The Hunting of the
Snark
Dahl, Roald: James
and the Giant Peach
Dalgliesh, Alice:
The Story of Sarah Noble
D’Aulaires, Ingri and Edgar:
Book of Greek Myths
De Brunhoff, Jean:
Babar series
dePaola, Tomie: all
Flack, Marjorie and Kurt
Wiese: The Story About Ping
Fleischman, Paul:
Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices
Garis, Howard R.:
Uncle Wiggly Bedtime Stories
Gerrard, Roy: all
Grahame, Kenneth:
The Reluctant Dragon
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm:
Grimm’s Fairy Tales
Gruelle, Johnny: Raggedy
Ann and Raggedy Andy Stories
Hakim, Joy: A History
of US (individual volume or set of 10)
Harris, Joel Chandler:
The Classic Tales
of Brer Rabbit
The Complete Tales of Uncle
Remus
Hawthorne, Nathaniel:
Wonder Book series
Tanglewood Tales
Heller, Ruth: all
Herriot, James:
Blossom Comes Home
Only One Woof
The Market Square
Dog
Hoban, Russell: Francis
series
Hodges, Margaret:
All, retellings
Hyman, Trina Shart:
All, retelling
Keats, Ezra Jack:
The Snowy Day
Kipling, Rudyard:
Just So Stories
Riki-Tiki-Tavi
Lang, Andrew: The
Fairy Books, all colors
Lester, Julius: folk
tale retellings, all
Lear, Edward: Book
of Nonsense
Lewis, C. S.: Chronicles
of Narnia
Lobel, Arnold: Frog
and Toad Books
Lofting, Hugh: The
Story of Doctor Doolittle
MacDonald, Betty:
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
MacDonald, George:
Christmas Stories
The Golden Key
The Light Princess
The Lost Princess
McCloskey, Robert:
Blueberries for Sal
Make Way for Ducklings
Milne, A.A.:
Winnie the Pooh
House at Pooh Corner (Pooh
Original Edition)
When We Were Very Young
(Pooh Original Edition)
Now We Are Six (Pooh
Original Edition)
Minarik, Elsa: Little
Bear series
Moore, Clement Clarke:
Night Before Christmas
Mulock. Miss: The
Little Lame Prince
Nesbit, Edith: Beautiful
Stories from Shakespeare
Norton, Mary:
Bedknob and Broomstick
The Borrowers
Osborne, Mary Pope:
American Tall Tales
Perrault, Charles:
Perrault’s Fairy Tales
Piper, Watty: Little
Engine That Could
Potter, Beatrix: all
Rey, H.A.: Curious
George
Richardson, Frederick:
Mother Goose: The Classic Volland Edition
San Souci, Robert:
all
Sendak, Maurice: Where
the Wild Things Are
Silverstein, Shel:
all, verse
Steig, Wiliam:
Brave Irenek
The Magic Pebble
Yellow and Pin
Stevenson, Robert Louis:
Children’s Garden of Verses
Suess, Dr.: all
White, M. et. al.:
Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child’s Book of Poems
Wilde, Oscar:
Complete Fairy Tales
of Oscar Wilde
The Selfish Giant
Wilder, Laura Ingalls:
Little House series
Wood, Audry: all
Zelinskuy, Paul O.:
all, retellings
Zion, Gene: Harry
series
3rd
Grade - 4th Grade
Ahlberg, Janet and Allan:
The Bear Nobody Wanted
Alexander, Lloyd:
all
Andersen, Hans Christian:
all
Banks, Lynne Reid:
Indian in the Cupboard series
Baum, L. Frank: Wizard
of Oz series (14 book original collection)
Bennet, William:
The Children’s Book
of Virtues
The Children’s Book
of Heroes
The Children’s Book
of America
Our Country’s Founders
The Moral Compass
Bloom, Harold: Stories
and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children of All Ages
Boston, Lucy: Greene
Knowe series
Brooks, Walter: all
Buck, Pearl S.: The
Big Wave
Burnett, Frances Hodgson:
A Little Princess
Burnford, Shiela:
The Incredible Journey
Carroll, Lewis: Through
the Looking Glass
Cooper, Susan: all
Dahl, Roald: all
DeAngeli, Marguerite:
The Door in the Wall
De la Mare, Walter:
The Lord Fish
DeJong, Meindert:
all
Estes, Eleanor: all
Fleming, Ian: Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang
Gannett, Ruth Stiles:
My Father’s Dragon series
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm:
Grimm’s Fairy Tales
George, Jean Craighead:
My Side of the Mountain
On the Far side of
the Mountain
Julie of the Wolves
Gipson, Fred
Old Yeller
Savage Sam
Haggard, H. Rider:
King Solomon’s Mines
Hakim, Joy: A History
of US (individual or full set of 10)
Hale, Lucretia: The
Peterkin Papers
Hamilton, Edith: Mythology
Helprin, Mark
A City in Winter
The Veil of Snows
Henry, Marguerite:
Misty of Chincoteague
Henty, G.A.: The Cat
of Bubastes
Hillyer, V.M.: A Child’s
History of the World
Jaques, Brian: all
Jansson, Tove: all
Juster, Norton:
Phantom Tollbooth
Kingsley, Charles:
The Water-Babies
Kipling, Rudyard:
Just So Stories
Riki-Tiki-Tavi
Kjelgaard, Jim: all
Knight, Eric: Lassie
series
Lamb, Charles and Mary:
Tales of Shakespeare
Lang, Andrew:
Arabian Nights
The Fairy Books, all
colors
L’Engle, Madeleine:
all
Lawson, Robert:
The Great Wheel
Rabbit Hill
Ben and Me
Lenski, Lois:
Judy’s Journey
Strawberry Girl
Indian Captive
We Live in the Country
Lewis, C.S.: Chronicles
of Narnia
Lofting, Hugh:
The Story of Doctor
Doolittle
The Voyages of Doctor
Doolittle
MacDonald, George:
The Golden Key
The Light Princess
At the Back of the
North Wind
Montgomery, L.M.:
all
Morey, Walt:
Year of the Black
Pony
Gentle Ben
Kavik the Wolf Dog
Scrub Dog of Alaska
Nesbit, E.:
Melisande
The Deliverers of
Their Country
Long Ago when I was
Young
Five Children and
It
Norton, Mary: The
Borrowers series
O’Brien, Robert:
Mrs. Frisby and the
Rats of NIMH
The Secret of NIHM
Ollivant, Alfred:
Bob Son of Battle
Pyle, Howard: The
Story of King Arthur and His Knights
Rawlings, Kinnan:
The Yearling
Rawls, Wilson:
Summer of the Monkeys
Salten, Felix: Bambi
Selden, George:
The Old Meadow
Tucker’s Countryside
Seredy, Kate: all
Spyri, Johanna: Heidi
Stevenson, Robert Louis:
The Black Arrow
Kidnapped
Stieg, William: all
Sutcliff, Rosemary:
Black Ships Before Troy
Travers. P.L.: Mary
Poppins series
Verne, Jules:
The Adventures of the Rat
Family
Journey to the Center of
the Earth
Wiggin, Kate Douglas:
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Willard, Nancy: A
Visit to William Blake’s Inn
White, E.B.: The Trumpet
of the Swan
Wilde, Oscar: Stories
for Children
Wilder, Laura Ingalls:
all
Winthrop, Elizabeth:
The Castle in the Attic
Wyss, Johann: The
Swiss Family Robinson
5th
- 6th
Adams, Richard: Watership
Down
Alcott, Louis May:
An Old-Fashioned Girl
Rose in Bloom
Eight Cousins
Jo’s Boys
Little Men
Armstrong, William:
Sounder
Austen, Jane: Northanger
Abbey
Avi: The True Confessions
of Charlotte Doyle
Ballantyne, R.M.:
The Coral Island
Baum, Frank: Wizard
of Oz series (14 book original collection)
Bennet, William:
The Children’s Book
of Virtues
The Children’s Book
of Heroes
The Children’s Book
of America
Our Country’s Founders
The Moral Compass
Blackmore, R.D.: Lorna
Doone
Bloom, Harold: Stories
and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children of All Ages
Blos, Joan: A Gathering
of Days
Bronte, Charlotte:
Jane Eyre
Bronte, Emily: Wuthering
Heights
Bunyan, John: Pilgrim’s
Progress as retold by James Reeves
Burnford, Sheila:
The Incredible Journey
Carroll, Lewis: Through
the Looking Glass
Chesterton, G.K.:
The Man Who Was Thursday
Colum, Padriac:
The Golden Fleece
Nordic Gods &
Heroes
The Trojan War and
the Adventures of Odysseus
Coolidge, Susan:
What Katy Did
What Katy Did Next
What Katy Did at School
Cooper, Susan: all
Dahl, Roald: all
Dickens, Charles:
Oliver Twist
David Copperfield
Dodge, Mary Mapes:
Hans Brinker’s Silver Skates
Doyle, Arthur Conan: all
Dumas, Alexandre:
The Three Musketeers
Eliot, George: Silas
Marner
Ende, Michael: The
Never Ending Story
Forester, C.S.: Hornblower
series
Gipson, Fred: Old
Yeller
Goldman, William:
The Princess Bride
Grahame, Kenneth:
Wind in the Willows
Hakim, Joy: A History
of US (individual volume or set of 10)
Henty, G.A.: all
Hope, Anthony: Prisoner
of Zenda
Hunt, Irene: Across
Five Aprils
Kingsley, Charles:
The Water-Babies
Westward Ho
Kipling, Rudyard:
all
Knight, Eric: Lassie
series
L’Engle, Madeleine:
all
Lewis, C.S.: Narnia
series
London, Jack: White
Fang
MacDonald, George:
all
Melville, Herman:
Moby Dick
Mitchell, Margaret:
Gone with the Wind
Montgomery, L.M.:
Anne of Green Gables series
Nesbit, Edith: all
Orczy, Baroness Emmuska:
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Peck, Robert Newton:
A Day No Pigs Would Die
Pyle, Howard:
Men of Iron
Otto of the Silver
Hand
Ransome, Arthur: all
Rawlings, Marjorie:
The Yearling
Rawls, Wilson: Where
the Red Fern Grows
Scott, Sir Walter:
Ivanhoe
Shakespeare, William:
The Complete Works
Sidney, Margaret:
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew
Spyri, Johanna: Heidi
Tolkien, J.R.R.: Lord
of the Ring
Twain, Mark: A Connecticut
Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
Verne, Jules: all
Voltaire: Candide
Wells, H.G.: The Time Machine
White, T.H.:
The Sword in the Stone
The Once and Future
King
Whitman, Walt: Leaves
of Grass
Wiggin, Kate Douglas:
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Wilde, Oscar: The
Happy Prince and Other Stories
Wilder, Laura Ingalls:
all
Wyss, Johann: The
Swiss Family Robinson
7th
-8th
Asimov, Isaac: all
Adams, Richard: Watership
Down
Alcott, Louisa May:
all
Aldrich, Beth: A Lantern
in Her Hand
Austen, Jane: Emma
Blackmore, R.D.: Lorne
Doone
Bloom, Harold:
The Best Poems of the English
Language: From Chaucer Through Frost
Stories and Poems for Extremely
Intelligent Children of All Ages
Bradbury, Ray: Fahrenheit
451
Buck, Pearl S.: House
of Earth Trilogy
Bunyan, John: Pilgrim’s
Progress as retold by James Reeves
Cather, Willa:
Song of the Lark
My Antonia
O Pioneers!
Chaucer, Geoffrey:
The Canterbury Tales
Chekov, Anton: Anton
Chekov’s Short Stories (Norton’s Critical Edition)
Christie, Agatha:
And Then There Were None
Collins, Wilkie:
The Moonstone
The Woman in White
Conrad, Joseph:
Heart of Darkness
Nostromo
The Secret Agent
Crane, Stephan: The
Red Badge of courage
Darwin, Charles: Origin
of The Species
DeFoe, William:
Robinson Crusoe
Dickens, Charles:
Great Expectatons
Dumas, Alexandre:
Three Musketeers
Count of Monte Cristo
Man in the Iron Mask
Eliot, George: Silas
Marner
Franklin, Benjamin:
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Gilbreth, Frank:
Cheaper By the Dozen
With Bells on Their
Toes
Golding, William:
Lord of the Flies
Goldman, William:
Princess Bride
Hugo, Voctor: Les
Miserables
Kipling, Rudyard:
Kim
The Man Who Would
Be King
Laroux, Gaston: Phantom
of the Opera
Lee, Harper: To Kill
a Mockingbird
Machiavelli, Niccolo:
The Prince
Melville, Herman:
Moby Dick
Montgomery, L.M.:
Anne of Green Gables series
Emily series
Tolkien, J.R.R.: all
Twain, Mark: Huckleberry
Finn
Nordhoff, Charles:
The Mutiny on the Bounty
Orczy, Baroness Emmuska:
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Shakespeare, William:
The Complete Works
Shelley, Mary: Frankenstien
Sinclair, Upton: The
Jungle
Stoker, Bram: Dracula
Stone, Irving: The
Agony and the Ecstasy
Stowe, Harriet Beecher:
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Turgenev, Ivan: Fathers
and Sons
Virgil: The Aeniad
Voltaire: Candide
Wells, H.G.: all
Whitman, Walt: Leaves
of Grass
Wilde, Oscar: The
Picture of Dorian Gray
Wyss, Johann: The
Swiss Family Robinson