Summer Reading Suggested Books: Elementary

Grade Book Title Author Reading Interest Lexile F&P Additional Comments
Level level Level
Draw! Ral Coln K-2 GBA 2015-16
PK-2 In this wordless picture book, a boy who is
confined to his room fills his sketch pad with
lions and elephants, then imagines himself on
a safari.
Last Stop on Matthew de la 3.3 PK-2 610 Newbery Winner 2016; Caldecott Honor 2016
PK-2 Market Street Pea A young boy rides the bus across town with his
grandmother and learns to appreciate the
beauty in everyday things.
A Sick Day for Philip C. 3.1 PK-2 760 M Caldecott Award 2011
PK-2 Amos McGee Stead Zookeeper Amos Mcgee, who is adored by all
the animals, gets some unexpected guests
while home sick one day.
Are You Ready to Mo Willems 1.3 PK-2 140 Geisel Award 2009. Elephant & Piggie Series.
K Play Outside? Elephant, who is cautious and pessimistic, and
Piggie, who is optimistic and sometimes
reckless, go outside to play in the sun and
hope that it does not rain.
Biscuit Finds a Alyssa 1.1 K-3 80 F Picture Book. Biscuit Series.
K Friend Capucilli A puppy helps a little duck find its way home to
the pond.
Im My Own Dog David Ezra 2.2 K-2 220 J Picture Book. GBA 2015-16
K-2 Stein A dog feels he does not need an owner until
one day he needs someone to scratch himself
where he cannot reach.
Sam & Dave Dig a Mac Barnett 1.9 K-3 310 L Picture Book. GBA 2015-16
K-2 Hole Sam and Dave are digging a hole and they will
not stop until they find something spectacular.
Great story for anyone who ever tried to dig a
hole to China in their backyard!
All Different Now: Angela 5.5 K-3 830 GBA 2015-16. Picture Book. Historical Fiction
K-3 Juneteenth, the Johnson In 1865, members of a family start their day
as slaves, working in a Texas cotton field, and
First Day of end it celebrating their freedom on what came
Freedom to be known as Juneteenth. Includes timeline,
glossary, and websites for more information.
 We are In a Book! Mo Willems K-3 BR Picture Book; Elephant & Piggie series
K-3 Piggie realizes that she and Gerald the
elephant are in a book and that she can make
the reader say words, but when Gerald comes
to understand the danger of the book ending,
Piggie comes up with a solution to get the
reader to keep reading.
Blizzard John Rocco 2.8 K-3 570 Picture Book. GBA 2015-16.
K-3 After a massive blizzard, a boy becomes a hero
when he manages to walk to the local store
and bring supplies back to his neighborhood
which has been snowed in for days. Based on
the author's childhood experience
Elizabeth, Queen Lynne Cox 4.2 K-3 900 Non-fiction. Picture Book. GBA 2015-16.
K-3 of the Seas Relates the story of an elephant seal named
Elizabeth that was transferred from the Avon
River in Christchurch, New Zealand, to the
ocean, but found her way back to the city.
No, David! David 1.1 K-3 BR Picture Book; Caldecott Honor
K-3 Shannon Recounts the adventures of a little boy who is
always told "no" by members of his family.
Grandfather Arun Gandhi 3.7 K-3 600 Non-fiction. Picture Book. GBA 2015-16
K-3 Gandhi and Bethany Mahatma Gandhi's grandson tells the story of
how his grandfather taught him to turn
Hegedus darkness into light
Henris Scissors Jeanette 3.4 K-3 780 Non-fiction. Picture Book. GBA 2015-16
K-3 Winter Describes how French artist Henri Matisse was
still able to create art after a serious illness
confined him to his bed.
Hi, Koo! A Year of Jon J. Muth 3.0 K-3 NP Poetry. Picture Book. GBA 2015-16
K-3 Seasons Contains twenty-six illustrated haiku poems
about the four seasons.
Breaking News: David 2.8 K-3 400 Picture Book. GBA 2015-16.
K-3 Bear Alert Biedrzycki In this story (told in the form of a television
broadcast), bears emerge from hibernation
demanding to be fed.
Carnivores Aaron 3.4 K-3 Picture Book. GBA 2015-16
K-3 Reynolds (Ill. A lion, a great white shark, and a timber wolf,
all meat-eaters who have been hurt by the
Dan Santat) cruelty of plant-eaters, form a support group
which has limited success until their newest
member, a great horned owl, shares some
advice.
 The Invisible Boy Trudy Ludwig 2.9 K-3 680 Picture Book. GBA 2015-16
K-3 Brian has always felt invisible at school, but
when a new student, Justin, arrives,
everything changes.
Little Melba and Katheryn 3.7 K-3 720 Picture Book. Biography. GBA 2015-16
K-3 Her Big Trombone Russell-Brow A biography of African American musician
Melba Doretta Liston, a virtuoso musician who
n played the trombone and composed and
arranged music for many of the great jazz
musicians of the twentieth century. Includes
afterword, discography, and sources
How do Dinosaurs Jane Yolen 1.6 K-3 210 I Picture Book. ALA Notable Childrens Book. Part
1 Say Good Night? of a series.
Parent and child ponder the different ways a
dinosaur can say goodnight, from slamming his
tail and pouting to giving a big hug and kiss.
If You Give A Laura 1.8 K-3 660 K Picture Book; GBA Winner
1 Mouse A Cookie Numeroff Relating the cycle of requests a mouse is likely
to make after you give him a cookie takes the
reader through a young boy's day.
Frog and Toad are Arnold Lobel 2.4 K-3 400 K Picture Book; I Can Read series
1 Friends Five tales recounting the adventures of two
best friends - Frog and Toad.
Pout-Pout Fish Deborah 2.1 K-3 NP Picture Book. Series.
1 Diesen The pout-pout fish believes he only knows how
to frown, even though many of his friends
suggest ways to change his expression, until
one day a fish comes along that shows him
otherwise.
Stellas Starliner Rosemary 2.9 K-3 530 J Picture Book. GBA 2015-16
1-2 Wells Stella, a little fox, loves living in a tiny silver
Starliner trailer with her mother and father and
she has everything she needs, but the taunting
words of a group of mean weasels hurt her
feelings until her Starliner is moved to a new
place and she makes some new friends.
The Day the Drew Daywalt 2.3 K-3 730 Picture Book.
2 Crayons Quit When Duncan arrives at school one morning,
he finds a stack of letters, one from each of his
crayons, complaining about how he uses them.
 Mercy Watson to Kate 2.7 K-3 450 K Mercy Watson series. Early Chapter Book.
2 the Rescue DiCamillo After Mercy the pig snuggles to sleep with the
Watsons, all three awaken with the bed
teetering on the edge of a big hole in the floor.
My Teacher is a Peter Brown 1.7 K-3 310 J Picture Book. GBA 2015-16
2 Monster! (No, I am Bobby thinks his teacher, Ms. Kirby, is horrible,
but when he sees her outside of school and they
Not.) spend a day in the park together, he discovers
she might not be so bad after all.
Ivy + Bean Annie Barrows 3.2 K-3 510 M Chapter book; Ivy+Bean Series (Bk 1)
2-3 Bean wasn't interested in making friends with
Ivy, the new girl across the street, until she
plays a trick on her sister and needs a place to
hide out.
The Right Word: Jen Bryant 4.2 K-3 590 Picture Book. Biography. GBA 2015-16
2-3 Roget and His A picture book biography of Peter Mark Roget,
the creator of Roget's Thesaurus, one of the
Thesaurus most widely used reference books ever
published.
Separate is Never Duncan 3.2 K-3 870 Non-fiction Picture Book. GBA 2015-16
2-3 Equal Tonatiuh Years before the landmark U.S. Supreme Court
ruling Brown v. Board of Education, Sylvia
Mendez, an eight-year-old girl of Mexican and
Puerto Rican heritage, played an instrumental
role in Mendez v. Westminster, the landmark
desegregation case of 1946 in California.
Sophies Squash Pat Zietlow 2.8 K-3 550 Picture Book. GBA 2015-16
2-3 Miller When Sophie chooses a squash at the farmers'
market, her parents see a dinner dish. But
Sophie sees a friend. Warm, humorous story.
Sparky! Jenny Offill 2.2 K-3 520 Picture Book. GBA 2015-16
2-3 When a young girl researches the perfect pet
and receives a sloth in Express Mail, things dont
turn out quite the way she expected.
The Tree Lady: H. Joseph 4.5 K-3 760 Biography. Picture Book. GBA 2015-16
2-4 The True Story of Hopkins An illustrated look at the life of Kate Sessions,
who planted a nursery in San Diego, California,
how One Woman after making a deal with the city.
Changed a City
Forever
 Coach Hyatt is a Dan Gutman 3.6 3-6 530 O Chapter Book. My Weird School Daze series.
3 Riot Comedy/Adventure
A.J. believes his new peewee football coach is
crazy after she demands the team does
push-ups in the mud and tells them to lift up a
car, but when she wants to put girls on the
team, A.J. thinks the coach is going too far.
Because of Kate 3.9 3-6 610 R Newbery Honor; Realistic Fiction
3 Winn-Dixie DiCamillo 10-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first
summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all
the good things that happen to her because of
her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie.
I Survived the Lauren Tarshis 4.0 3-6 590 Q Part of a series. Chapter Book. Historical Fiction.
3 Sinking of the Excited to board the Titanic with his aunt and
little sister, George begins to explore the ship's
Titanic, 1912 first class storage cabin when the ship collides
with an iceberg and begins to sink.
The Vine Basket Josanne 3-6 740 Z GBA 2015-16; Realistic Fiction
3-8 LaValley Life has been hard for 14-year-old Mehrigul, a
member of the Uyghur tribal group scorned by
the Chinese communist regime, so when an
American offers to buy all the baskets she can
make in three weeks, Mehrigul strives for a
better future for herself and her family despite
her father's opposition. (Also on Middle School
list)
The One and Only Katherine 4.0 3-6 570 Fantasy (Animal) Fiction; Newbery Medal
3-8 Ivan Applegate When Ivan, a gorilla who has lived for years in a
down-and-out circus-themed mall, meets Ruby,
a baby elephant that has been added to the
mall, he decides that he must find her a better
life. (Based on true events)
Because of Mr. Rob Buyea 4.1 3-6 560 Realistic Fiction
4 Terupt Seven fifth-graders at Snow Hill School in
Connecticut relate how their lives are changed
for the better by "rookie teacher" Mr. Terupt.
The Sisters Michael 5.2 4-6 840 U Mystery/Detective Fiction; Fantasy Fiction;
4 Grimm: The Buckley Sisters Grimm series (Bk 1)
Orphans Sabrina and Daphne Grimm are sent to
Fairy-Tale live with an eccentric grandmother that they
Detectives have always believed to be dead.
Athena the Brain Joan Holb 4.3 3-6 710 Goddess Girls series (Bk 1). Chapter Book.
4 Fantasy Fiction
 Athena learns that she is a goddess when she is
summoned to Mount Olympus by her father,
Zeus, and she must quickly adjust to her new
status, make friends with the other godboys and
goddessgirls, and catch up with all the studies
she missed while attending mortal school.
The Invention of Brian Selznick 5.6 3-6 820 W Chapter/Picture Book; Caldecott Medal
4-6 Hugo Cabret When 12-year-old Hugo, an orphan living and
repairing clocks within the walls of a Paris train
station in 1931, meets a mysterious toyseller
and his goddaughter, his undercover life and his
biggest secret are jeopardized
Granny Torrelli Sharon Creech 4.2 3-7 750 R Realistic Fiction
4-6 Makes Soup With the help of her wise old grandmother,
12-year-old Rosie manages to work out some
problems in her relationship with her best friend,
Bailey, the boy next door.
The Fourteenth Jennifer L. 4.4 3-6 550 GBA 2015-16; Science Fiction
4-6 Goldfish Holm Ellie's scientist grandfather has discovered a
way to reverse aging, and consequently has
turned into a teenager--which makes for
complicated relationships when he moves in with
Ellie and her mother, his daughter.
Half A Chance Cynthia Lord 4.3 3-6 690 GBA 2015-16; Realistic Fiction
4-6 Lucy, with her mother and her photographer
father, has just moved to a small rural
community in New Hampshire, and with her new
friend Nate she plans to spend the summer
taking photos for a contest, but pictures
sometimes reveal more than people are willing
to see.
Inside Out & Back Thanhha Lai 4.9 5-8 800 U Newbery Honor 2012; Historical Fiction
4-7 Again Through a series of poems, a young girl
chronicles the life-changing year of 1975, when
she, her mother, and her brothers leave
Vietnam and resettle in Alabama.
 Treasure Hunters James 5.3 3-6 750 T Part of a series. Chapter Book. Action/Adventure
5 Patterson and Following clues left by their missing father,
twelve-year-old twins Bickford and Rebecca Kidd
Chris sail from the Caribbean to New York City with
Brabenstein their siblings to finish the dangerous quest of
their world-famous treasure-hunting parents.
Warriors: Into the Erin Hunter 5.1 5-8 790 U Warriors Series. Fantasy Fiction.
5 Wild Four clans of cats in the woods, who used to get
along, are now disagreeing about hunting rights
and the Thunderclan adopts an orange tomcat
into their group as an apprentice
How to Train Your Cressida 6.6 3-6 990 Fantasy/Humorous Fiction; Book 1 of a series.
5 Dragon Cowell Chronicles the adventures and misadventures of
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third as he tries
to pass the important initiation test of his Viking
clan, the Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans, by
catching and training a dragon.
Bird Lake Moon Kevin Henkes 4.9 5-8 740 GBA 2010-11; Realistic Fiction
5-7 12-year-old Mitch, spending the summer with
his grandparents at Bird Lake after his parents'
separation, becomes friends with ten-year-old
Spencer, who has returned with his family to the
lake where his little brother drowned years
earlier, and as the boys spend time together and
their friendship grows, each of them begins to
heal. (Grief, Friendship, Divorce)
When You Reach Rebecca Stead 5.6 5-7 750 W Newbery Winner 2010; Historical/Science Fiction
5-7 Me As her mother prepares to be a contestant on
the 1980s television game show, "The $20,000
Pyramid," a 12-year-old New York City girl tries
to make sense of a series of mysterious notes
received from an anonymous source that seems
to defy the laws of time and space.
The Girl Who Victoria 6.0 3-6 920 Science Fiction
5-7 Could Fly Forester Piper McCloud's ability to fly sets her apart from
the other kids, so her mother sends her to an
exclusive school for children with exceptional
abilities, but even there she does not fit in with
the other students.
 Loot: How to Steal Jude Watson 4.2 5-8 560 GBA 2015-16; Action/Adventure
5-7 a Fortune When Alfie McQuinn, the notorious jewel thief, is
killed on a job, his last words to his son, March,
are to "find jewels" and this instruction leads
him to Jules, the twin sister he never knew he
had--and the perfect partner to carry on the
family business.
The Mark of the Jaleigh 5.6 5-8 820 GBA 2015-16; Fantasy Fiction
5-7 Dragonfly Johnson Since her father's death in a factory in the
Dragonfly territories, thirteen-year-old Piper has
eked out a living as a scrapper in Merrow
Kingdom, but the arrival of a mysterious girl
sends her on a dangerous journey to distant
lands.
A Snicker of Magic Natalie Lloyd 4.0 3-6 680 GBA 2015-16; Fantasy Fiction
5-7 The Pickles are new to Midnight Gulch,
Tennessee, a town which legend says was once
magic--but Felicity is convinced the magic is still
there, and with the help of her new friend Jonah
the Beedle she hopes to bring the magic back.
Crispin: The Cross Avi 5.3 5-8 780 W Newbery Winner 2003; Historical Fiction
5-7 of Lead Falsely accused of theft and murder, an
orphaned peasant boy in fourteenth-century
England flees his village and meets a
larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous
secret.
The Magic Thief Sarah Prineas 4.5 5-8 680 GBA 2010-11; Fantasy Fiction; Series
5-7 (Book 1) Conn's life is forever changed when he tries to
pick the pocket of the wizard Nevery and instead
gets a strong jolt of magic, but, instead of
punishing the boy, Nevery takes Conn under his
wing, teaches him magic, and enlists his help in
finding the person responsible for stealing the
city's dwindling magic supply.
Prairie Evers: A Ellen Airgood 5.2 6-8 790 GBA 2015-16; Realistic Fiction
5-8 Novel 10-year-old Prairie is happy being
home-schooled and raising her flock of chickens,
so transferring to regular school is a big change,
but fortunately she meets a wonderful friend.
 The Hero Revealed William 5.6 5-8 890 GBA 2007-08; Fantasy Fiction/Humorous Fiction
5-8 (Extraordinary Boniface Ordinary Boy, the only resident of Superopolis
without a superpower, uncovers and foils a
Adventures of sinister plot to destroy the town. For older fans
Ordinary Boy) of Captain Underpants. Mild bathroom humor
5-8 The Puzzling Eric Berlin 4.2 3-6 670 GBA 2009-10; Mystery, Realistic Fiction
Winston Breen loves solving puzzles; and when
World of Winston his sister uncovers a twenty-five-year-old
Breen scavenger hunt--which leads to a ring worth
thousands of dollars--he and his family jump at
the opportunity to solve it.
5-8 The Entertainer Sid Fleischman 4.2 4-9 610 GBA 2009-10; Supernatural, Historical Fiction
The puppet of a struggling American
and the Dybbuk ventriloquist in post-World War II Europe is
possessed by the mischievous spirit of a young
Jewish boy killed in the Holocaust. Includes
author's note which details the murder of
over a million children by the Nazis during
the 1930s and 1940s which may be
disturbing to sensitive readers.
5-Adult Harry Potter and J. K. Rowling 5.3 5-8 880 V Fantasy Fiction; Book 1 of the series.
Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt
the Sorcerers and uncle, a young boy with a great destiny
Stone proves his worth while attending Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

GBA = Georgia Book Awards

Newbery Award: annual award for the best in childrens literature
Newbery Honor: nominated for Newbery Award and cited for excellence when
another title was chosen as the winner