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Choosing Books for Your Child
Choosing Books for Your Child
The best reading life includes both reading together and reading independently!
Read-Aloud Books: These books may be more challenging than what your child can read independently. That is okay! When you read aloud, your child gets to enjoy rich vocabulary, interesting ideas, beautiful language, and stories that help build knowledge and imagination. Talk about the book, make predictions, ask questions, and enjoy the story together.
Independent Reading: These are books your child can read mostly on their own. The "just-right" book will look different for every child. Encourage your child to choose books that are interesting, appropriately challenging, and enjoyable. It is perfectly fine to reread favorite books, read books from a series, or choose nonfiction, graphic novels, poetry, magazines, and other texts.
Most importantly, let your child see you reading, too! Talk about books, visit the library, share favorite authors, and make reading a regular part of your family's day. Even 15–20 minutes of reading each day can make a meaningful difference.
KINDERGARTEN
KINDERGARTEN
Books to Read Aloud Together
The Snowy Day — Ezra Jack Keats
Last Stop on Market Street — Matt de la Peña
The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! — Mo Willems
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! — Mo Willems
Jabari Jumps — Gaia Cornwall
The Most Magnificent Thing — Ashley Spires
We Are Water Protectors — Carole Lindstrom
Alma and How She Got Her Name — Juana Martinez-Neal
The Dot — Peter H. Reynolds
The Day You Begin — Jacqueline Woodson
Creepy Carrots! — Aaron Reynolds
The Rabbit Listened — Cori Doerrfeld
Books to Read Independently
Look for books with repeated patterns, familiar words, supportive illustrations, and decodable text when appropriate.
Biscuit — Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Elephant & Piggie series — Mo Willems
Fly Guy series — Tedd Arnold
Pete the Cat series — James Dean
Piggie and Elephant series — Mo Willems
Little Bear — Else Holmelund Minarik
Frog and Toad series — Arnold Lobel
National Geographic Readers: Pre-Reader series
Step into Reading: Step 1 books
Scholastic Acorn early reader series
FIRST GRADE
FIRST GRADE
Books to Read Aloud Together
The Day You Begin — Jacqueline Woodson
The Word Collector — Peter H. Reynolds
The Most Magnificent Thing — Ashley Spires
The Proudest Blue — Ibtihaj Muhammad & S. K. Ali
We Don't Eat Our Classmates — Ryan T. Higgins
Jabari Jumps — Gaia Cornwall
The Name Jar — Yangsook Choi
Those Shoes — Maribeth Boelts
The Bad Seed — Jory John
After the Fall — Dan Santat
The Paper Bag Princess — Robert Munsch
Enemy Pie — Derek Munson
Books to Read Independently
Elephant & Piggie series — Mo Willems
Fly Guy series — Tedd Arnold
Henry and Mudge series — Cynthia Rylant
Poppleton series — Cynthia Rylant
Mr. Putter & Tabby series — Cynthia Rylant
Ivy + Bean — Annie Barrows
Mercy Watson series — Kate DiCamillo
Princess Truly series — Kelly Greenawalt
Zoey and Sassafras series — Asia Citro
National Geographic Readers series
SECOND GRADE
SECOND GRADE
Books to Read Aloud Together
The One and Only Ivan — Katherine Applegate
The Wild Robot — Peter Brown
Because of Winn-Dixie — Kate DiCamillo
The Chocolate Touch — Patrick Skene Catling
The Hundred Dresses — Eleanor Estes
The Day the Crayons Quit — Drew Daywalt
Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut — Derrick Barnes
The Undefeated — Kwame Alexander
The Great Kapok Tree — Lynne Cherry
The Rough Patch — Brian Lies
The Year We Learned to Fly — Jacqueline Woodson
The Princess in Black — Shannon Hale & Dean Hale
Books to Read Independently
Mercy Watson series — Kate DiCamillo
Nate the Great series — Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
Owl Diaries series — Rebecca Elliott
Dragon Masters series — Tracey West
Princess in Black series — Shannon Hale & Dean Hale
Judy Moody series — Megan McDonald
Ivy + Bean series — Annie Barrows
Magic Tree House series — Mary Pope Osborne
A to Z Mysteries — Ron Roy
The Bad Guys — Aaron Blabey
THIRD GRADE
THIRD GRADE
Books to Read Aloud Together
The Wild Robot — Peter Brown
The One and Only Ivan — Katherine Applegate
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane — Kate DiCamillo
Because of Winn-Dixie — Kate DiCamillo
The Year of Billy Miller — Kevin Henkes
The Last Kids on Earth — Max Brallier
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 — Christopher Paul Curtis
The One and Only Bob — Katherine Applegate
The Bridge Home — Padma Venkatraman
The Best of Iggy — Annie Barrows
Books to Read Independently
The Magic Tree House series — Mary Pope Osborne
A to Z Mysteries — Ron Roy
Zoey and Sassafras — Asia Citro
The Bad Guys — Aaron Blabey
Ivy + Bean — Annie Barrows
Dragon Masters — Tracey West
Judy Moody — Megan McDonald
My Weird School — Dan Gutman
The Last Firehawk — Katrina Charman
Who Would Win? — Jerry Pallotta
A great family goal for Grade 3: Encourage children to read both fiction and nonfiction. This is a wonderful age to help children discover that informational books can be just as exciting as stories.
4TH GRADE
4TH GRADE
Books to Read Aloud Together
The One and Only Ivan — Katherine Applegate
The Wild Robot — Peter Brown
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 — Christopher Paul Curtis
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane — Kate DiCamillo
Out of My Mind — Sharon M. Draper
The Last Cuentista — Donna Barba Higuera
El Deafo — Cece Bell
The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza — Mac Barnet
Books to Read Independently
Percy Jackson and the Olympians — Rick Riordan
Amari and the Night Brothers — B. B. Alston
The Wild Robot — Peter Brown
Wings of Fire — Tui T. Sutherland
The One and Only series — Katherine Applegate
Wayside School series — Louis Sachar
Because of Winn-Dixie — Kate DiCamillo
Frindle — Andrew Clements
The City of Ember — Jeanne DuPrau
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street — Karina Yan Glaser
Who Was? biography series
FIFTH GRADE
FIFTH GRADE
Books to Read Aloud Together
A Long Walk to Water — Linda Sue Park
New Kid — Jerry Craft
Ghost — Jason Reynolds
Echo — Pam Muñoz Ryan
The Bridge Home — Padma Venkatraman
The Last Cuentista — Donna Barba Higuera
Brown Girl Dreaming — Jacqueline Woodson
The Wild Robot — Peter Brown
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Young Readers Edition) — William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer
Books to Read Independently
Percy Jackson and the Olympians — Rick Riordan
Amari and the Night Brothers — B. B. Alston
Refugee — Alan Gratz
Wonder — R. J. Palacio
The Mysterious Benedict Society — Trenton Lee Stewart
City Spies — James Ponti
The Wild Robot — Peter Brown
Ghost — Jason Reynolds
The Last Kids on Earth — Max Brallier
I Survived series — Lauren Tarshis
Who Was? and What Was? series
SIXTH GRADE
SIXTH GRADE
Books to Read Aloud Together
The Crossover — Kwame Alexander
Ghost — Jason Reynolds
A Long Walk to Water — Linda Sue Park
Restart — Gordon Korman
New Kid — Jerry Craft
The Giver — Lois Lowry
Brown Girl Dreaming — Jacqueline Woodson
The House on Mango Street — Sandra Cisneros
Refugee — Alan Gratz
The Outsiders — S. E. Hinton
The First Rule of Punk — Celia C. Pérez
The Benefits of Being an Octopus — Ann Braden
Books to Read Independently
The Hunger Games — Suzanne Collins
Percy Jackson and the Olympians — Rick Riordan
Amari and the Night Brothers — B. B. Alston
City Spies — James Ponti
The Mysterious Benedict Society — Trenton Lee Stewart
Ghost — Jason Reynolds
Long Way Down — Jason Reynolds
A Wrinkle in Time — Madeleine L'Engle
The War That Saved My Life — Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Refugee — Alan Gratz
The Lightning Thief — Rick Riordan
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise — Dan Gemeinhart
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