Wakefield Public Schools
2009 Suggested Summer ReadingFor Students Entering Grade 1
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.

Books can be found in the Youth Room on the Lower Level.  Books for students entering Grade 1 are shelved under the 1&2 sign and have orange labels on the spines.

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, but her older brother Charlie gently tells her that she is still too short, but that there are many good things about being small.

Chorao, Kay Number One, Number Fun
Acrobatic circus animals perform their routines, each group countable by their distinctive costumes, props, and activities.

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.

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.

Foster, Kelli Dwight and the Trilobite (Get Ready, Get Set, Read series)
Dwight and his mother Mrs. Knight go hunting for trilobites.

Grey, Mini Traction Man meets Turbo Dog
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.

Grossman, Bill My Little Sister Ate One Hare
Little sister has no problem eating one hare, two snakes, and three ants, but when she gets to ten peas, she throws up quite a mess.

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

Hamsa, Bobbie Dirty Larry (Rookie Reader series, Level A and Level B)
No matter what he does, Larry always gets dirty–except in the shower.

Harper, Charise Mericle The Little Book of Not So
Presents a series of comparisons, such as “Big,” “Not so Big” and “Tasty,” “Not so Tasty” on successive pages.

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 whatthey mean.

Hoberman, Mary Ann You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You
Using rhyme, rhythm and repetition, the scary text invites young children to read along with an adult. Together the adult’s text and the child’s responsive text create stories with a scary theme.

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.

Kitamura, Satoshi Stone Age Boy
One day a boy falls down a hole, and an amazing thing happens – when he wakes, he’s in a camp full of people wearing animal skins!

MacDonald, Ross Bad Baby
Superhero Jack finds his life turned upside down by the arrival of a very big, and very naughty, baby sister.

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.

Mortensen, Denise Dowling Wake Up Engines
Rhyming verses describe the sights and sounds of morning traffic as cars, trucks, and airplanes rev up their engines and go!

Noyed, Robert Cute! (Wonder Books series)
Simple text about babies and repetition of the letter “u” help readers learn how to use the “long u” sound.

O’Connor, Jane Fancy Nancy series
A young girl who loves fancy things helps her family to be fancy for one special night.

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.

Opie, Iona My Very First Mother Goose
A collection of more than sixty nursery rhymes including Hey Diddle, Diddle, Pat-a-Cake, Little Jack Horner, and Pussycat, Pussycat.

Pallotta, Jerry Ocean Counting
A number demonstration featuring creatures, 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.

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 Meachen Firefighter (Benchmark Rebus series)
One in a series of easy readers with rebuses that explore various subjects from butterflies to police men.

Ross, Dev Frank and the Giant (We Both Read series, Level K-1)
Frank, an adventurous little frog, is playing with his friends, when suddenly his ball flies off and bounces into the house of a giant. Frank’s friends are too scared to help him get his ball back, so he sneaks into the huge house all by himself. Little Frank hopes he can find his ball before the big giant comes back.

Saltzberg. Barney Cornelius P. Mud, Are You Ready for Baby?
Cornelius has a new baby brother.

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.

Sierra, Judy Ballyhoo Bay
Mira Bella mobilizes her art students, from grandmothers to children, 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.

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.

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

Willems, Mo Watch Me Throw the Ball (Elephant and Piggie series)
Gerald the elephant tries to tell Piggie that ball-throwing is serious business, but Piggie just wants to have fun.

Wood, Audrey When the Root Children Wake Up
The Root Children, who have been sleeping all winter, awake to become Blossom Children and experience the new life, the color, and the joys of spring.

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 from the Lucius Beebe Memorial Library.

Categories: Beginning Reader, Children's Booklists, For Kindergarten & 1st Grade, Picture Books
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