The following are suggestions for summer reading and read-alouds.  In most cases, the titles listed are just a sampling of the many works produced by these authors.  Enjoy exploring more of their books.

You can find these books in the Youth Room under the orange 1 sign. 
They will have orange stickers on the spine. 

Bottner, Barbara  
Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I Don’t)
A first-grade girl who does not like to read stubbornly resists her school librarian’s efforts to convince her to love books until she finds one that might change her mind.

Browne, Anthony         
Little Beauty
When a gorilla who knows sign language tells his keepers that he is lonely, they bring him a very special friend.

Cannon, Janell                        
Pinduli
Pinduli, a young striped hyena, is hurt by the unkind words of Dog, Lion, and Zebra, but her clever trick in return promotes her clan’s survival and spreads harmony throughout the savannah.

Carter, Don                            
Old MacDonald Drives a Tractor
Old MacDonald and his tractor can handle most of the work on the farm, from pulling a plow, to following a combine, to going home at night, in a rhyming tale reminiscent of the children’s song, Old MacDonald Had a Farm.

Child, Lauren                 
I Want to Be Much More Bigger Like You 
Lola is convinced that she is finally tall enough to ride the “Super Dooper Loop the Looper” at the fair. Her older brother Charlie gently tells her that she is still too short, but that there are many good things about being small.

Cohen, Miriam                   
Will I Have a Friend?
Jim’s anxieties on his first day of school are happily forgotten when he makes a new friend.

Christelow, Eileen                  
Five Little Monkeys Play Hide-and-Seek
The five little monkeys try to avoid going to bed by playing hide-and-seek with the babysitter.

Cronin, Doreen                      
Thump, Quack, Moo: A Wacky Adventure   
The annual Corn Maze Festival is coming.  Every day the chickens, cows, and Duck help Farmer Brown–with a few bribes–to create a special Statue of Liberty corn maze, and every night Duck works hard recreating his own surprise.

Cuyler, Margery                     
Princess Bess Gets Dressed
A fashionably dressed princess reveals her favorite clothes at the end of a busy day.

Ehlert,  Lois               
Oodles of Animals
Short, easy to read rhymes reveal what is unique about various animals, from ape to wolf.

Fine, Edith H.
Water, Weed, and Wait
Miss Marigold, the garden lady, visits Pepper Lane Elementary to help them transform a weedy, rocky patch of ground into a garden.

Foster, Kelli C.                        
Get Ready, Get Set, Read series
A series of very early readers that build stories around various letter families.                    

Grey, Mini                              
Traction Man Meets Turbodog
Traction Man, an action figure, teams up with the high-tech but not-so-bright Turbodog to rescue Scrubbing Brush, his missing sidekick, from the terrible underworld of the bin.

Guiberson, Brenda Z.            
Ice Bears
A year in the life of a mother polar bear and her two cubs.

Henkes, Kevin                                   
Birds
Fascinated by the colors, shapes, sounds, and movements of the many different birds she sees through her window, a little girl is happy to discover that she and they have something in common.

Hoban, Tana                           
I Read Signs
Signs and symbols frequently seen along the street challenge children to recognize what they mean.

Hoberman, Mary Ann
You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You series
Using rhyme, rhythm, and repetition, the text of these books invites young children to read along with an adult.

Keller, Laurie                         
Do unto Otters: A Book about Manners
Mr. Rabbit wonders if he will be able to get along with his new neighbors, who are otters, until he is reminded of the golden rule.

Lester, Julius
Sam and the Tigers  
Young Sam outwits a bunch of tigers intent on eating him.

Lin, Grace                              
Ling & Ting
Ling and Ting are identical twins that people think are exactly the same, but time and again they prove to be different.

MacDonald, Ross 
Achoo, Bang, Crash
Letters in the alphabet make their own distinct sounds.

McDonald, Megan
Hen Hears Gossip
When Hen overhears some news on the farm, she runs to tell Duck, who tells another animal, and as the gossip is repeated from one animal to the next, it becomes unrecognizable.

Monroe, Chris   
Monkey with a Tool Belt
Clever monkey Chico Bon Bon builds lots of things with his many tools, and when he is captured by an organ grinder, he uses them to help him escape and get back home.

O’Connor, Jane
Fancy Nancy series
This popular series features a young girl who loves fancy things and has an even fancier vocabulary.

O’Malley, Kevin                    
Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude
Cooperatively writing a fairy tale for school, a girl imagines a beautiful princess whose beloved ponies are being stolen by a giant, and a boy conjures up the muscular biker who will guard the last pony in exchange for gold.

O’Neill, Alexis  
The Recess Queen
Mean Jean is the biggest bully on the school playground until a new girl arrives and challenges Jean’s status as the Recess Queen.

Pallotta, Jerry
Ocean Counting
A number demonstration featuring creatures, ranging from one striped bass to 50 blue sharks.

Pelletier, Andrew  T.              
Amazing Adventures of Bathman
Bathman saves Rubber Ducky from the evil Cap’n Squeegee.

Pinkney, Jerry
The Lion and the Mouse
In this wordless retelling of an Aesop fable, an adventuresome mouse rescues the King of the Jungle, proving that even small creatures are capable of great deeds.

Preller, James 
A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade
A young pirate and his crew embark on a grand adventure when they board the bus for the first day of first grade.

Raschka, Chris
Talk to Me about the Alphabet
Illustrations and simple text for each letter of the alphabet demonstrate the sounds made by that letter.

Rau, Dana
Benchmark  Rebus  series    
A series of easy readers with rebuses that explore various subjects from butterflies to police officers.

Saltzberg. Barney                   
Beautiful Oops
Demonstrates the many ways that torn, crinkled, and smudged bits of paper can be transformed into various shapes and images.

Schwartz, David
Where in the Wild?
Animals and their camouflage are expressed in poetry. 

Seuss, Dr.                               
Horton Hears a Who
A city of Whos on a speck of dust are threatened with destruction until the smallest Who of all helps convince Horton’s friends that Whos really exist.

Shields, Carol Diggory          
Martian Rock
A group of Martians looking for life on different planets in the solar system make a surprising discovery just as they are about to give up.

Sierra, Judy                            
Ballyhoo Bay
Mira Bella mobilizes her art students, from grandmothers to children, and crabs to seagulls, to stop a dastardly plan for turning the beach at Ballyhoo Bay into an exclusive resort, and offers an alternative–leave the beach as it is.

Stein, David
Interrupting Chicken
Little Red Chicken wants Papa to read her a bedtime story, but interrupts him almost as soon as he begins each tale.

Stuve-Bodeen, Stephanie
Elizabeti’s Doll
When a young Tanzanian girl gets a new baby brother, she finds a rock, which she names Eva, and makes it her baby doll.

Thong, Roseanne
Red Is a Dragon
A young girl introduces colors though dragons, noodles, incense, and other objects commonly occurring in her Asian culture. 

Various                                   
Flip-a-Word  series
Humorous illustrations and die-cut pages introduce short vowel sounds, consonant blends, and word families in these Flip-a-Word books.

Various                                   
Rookie Readers (Level A and Level B)  series
This series features a variety of titles, fiction and non-fiction.  There is a vocabulary review in each book.

Various                                   
We Both Read  (Level K-1) series
This series features a unique format where adults and children take turns reading.  This allows an emerging reader to both practice reading and listen to fluent reading.

Various                                   
Wonder Books series            
Simple texts that feature the sounds of letters introduce readers to the different sounds made by letters and combinations of letters.  There are books for consonants, long and short vowels, and the consonant blends.

Waddell, Martin                       
It’s Quacking Time
A duckling and all his family happily await the hatching of his parents’ new egg.

Ward, Jennifer                                   
There Was an Old Monkey Who Swallowed a Frog
Set in the jungle, this variation on the traditional, cumulative rhyme looks at the consequences of a monkey’s strange diet.

Willems, Mo
Elephant and Piggie series
Gerald the elephant and Piggie have very silly adventures. 

Winters, Kay
This School Year Will Be the Best
When a teacher asks her students on the first day of school what they wish for in the coming year, the answers range from having a good school picture to receiving a perfect report card.

Woodson, Jacqueline
The Other Side
Two girls, one white and one black, gradually get to know each other as they sit on the fence that divides their town.

Zemach, Kaethe                     
Ms. McCaw Learns to Draw
Dudley Ellington struggles to learn anything at school, but when his very patient teacher Mrs. McGraw is unable to draw a face on the board, he helps her figure out how to do it.

The above list was compiled by Wakefield’s K-4 reading teachers
and the librarians of Lucius Beebe Memorial Library.

 

 

 

Stories for a Safer Wakefield is a month-long community inquiry during May 2010, intended to provoke thought and discussion about violence and its deterrence. Beebe Library invites you to read from a selection of stories that draw awareness to the effects of violence in a community. Stories for a Safer Wakefield features forums and activities to better understand and mitigate violence in our lives. For more information on Stories for a Safer Wakefield: Brochure or Wakefield Alliance Against Violence.

Children and Youth Titles

Picture Books for Preschool~Grade 1

The Bully Blockers Club by Teresa Bateman~ Lotty Raccoon is bullied in school so much that it makes her feel sick. After several failed attempts to deal with the problem, she comes up with an idea that works.

No! by David McPhail~ Repeated only three times, “No!” is the only word spoken in this beautifully illustrated book about a boy who walks to the post office to deliver a letter to his President and witnesses the war raging around him. A good story dealing with bullying.

The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill~ Mean Jean is the biggest bully on the school playground until a new girl arrives and challenges Jean’s status as the Recess Queen.

Chapter Books for Children

Secret Identity by Wendelin Van Draanen~ Fifth-grader Nolan Byrd, tired of being called names by the class bully, has a secret identity- Shredderman!

CRAFT AND BOOK DISCUSSION: Friday, May 28; 4:00-5:30pm for grades 4 and up.

Super Emma by Sally Warner~ Third-grader Emma becomes a reluctant heroine when she defends a friend from the class bully.

CRAFT AND BOOK DISCUSSION: Saturday, May 8; 2:00-3:00pm for grades 2 and up.

Young Adult Novels

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson~ After making a 911 call at a party, popular Melinda finds herself abandoned by her friends and an outcast among her classmates.

TEEN MOVIE AND TRIVIA NIGHT: movie based on the novel starring Kristen Stewart. Tuesday, May 4; 7:00-9:00pm.

Crash by Jerry Spinelli~ Football star John “Crash” Coogan enjoys making touchdowns and rough-housing for fun. Not until his pranks have serious consequences does Crash begin to think of himself and his friend Mike as bullies.