Elementary Suggested Summer Reading 2007

Don’t forget: the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library uses the Dewey Decimal System too!

Amazing animals- 593-599.9

Astounding astronomy – 520

Folktale favorites – 398.2

Magical mysteries – 793.8

Precious pets- 636

Grades K-1

Beaumont, Karen.  Move Over Rover.

When a storm comes, Rover expects to have his doghouse all to himself but finds that various other animals, including a skunk, come to join him.

Bernier-Grand, Carmen T.  Cesar: Si, Se Puede!  Yes, We Can!

Born in 1927 in Yuma, Arizona, César Chavez lived the hard-scrabble life of a migrant worker during the depression. He grew to be a charismatic leader and founded the National Farm Workers Association.  In powerful poems and dramatic stylized illustrations, this book pays tribute to his life and legacy.

Brisson, Pat.  Melissa Parkington’s Beautiful, Beautiful Hair.

Known for her lovely hair, Melissa wants to be seen as beautiful for something other than her appearance.

Brown, Monica.  My Name is Celia.

An exuberant picture-book biography of the Cuban-born salsa singer. A singer from an early age, Cruz sang so continually that one of her teachers finally urged her to share her voice with the world. This is a brilliant introduction to a significant woman and her music.
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Hatkoff, Isabella.  Owen and Mzee. 

Illustrated text and full-color photographs tell the true story of the unusual relationship between Owen, a baby hippopotamus orphaned by the 2005 tsunami, and Mzee, a 130-year-old giant tortoise.

  Henkes, Kevin.  Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. 

Lilly loves everything about school, especially her teacher, but when he asks her to wait a while before showing her new purse, she does something for which she is very sorry later.

Mora, Pat.  Dona Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman With a Big Heart.

Doña Flor, a giant lady with a big heart, sets off to protect her neighbors from what they think is a dangerous animal, but soon discovers the tiny secret behind the huge noise.

 Portis, Antoinette.  Not a Box.

To an imaginative bunny, a box is not always just a box.

Potter, Beatrix.  The Tale of Peter Rabbit. 

Children love this classic story of a naughty rabbit and the consequences of disobedience. 

 Reiser, Lynn.  Hardworking Puppies.

One by one, ten energetic puppies find important jobs as dogs who help people in different ways, including by pulling sleds and saving swimmers.

Silverman, Erica.  Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa.

Cocoa the horse herds the cows with Cowgirl Kate, helps her practice her roping skills, and wishes he could wear boots instead of horseshoes.

Thomas, Shelley Moore.  Good Night, Good Knight.

A Good Knight helps three little dragons who are having trouble getting to sleep.

 Willems, Mo.  Your Pal Mo Willems Presents: Leonardo the Terrible Monster.
Losing all hope in his ability to scare people, which is sorely lacking, Leonardo, who is terrible at being a monster, discovers a nervous little boy who seems to be the perfect candidate for him to practice on.

Grades 2-3

Adler, David, A. Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Monster Movie

A fifth-grader uses her photographic memory, her mother, and her friend Eric to find a missing reel of a monster film they go to see.

Adler, David. A.  Joe Louis; America’s fighter.

His life story, including his heavyweight career history. 

Brown, Jeff. Flat Stanley.
A bulletin board falls on a boy and flattens him so that he is four feet tall and only half an inch thick.

 DiCamillo, Kate.  Mercy Watson Goes For a Ride.

Mr. Watson’s usual Saturday drive in his Cadillac with his favorite pig, Mercy, turns into an adventure when an unexpected passenger shows up in the back seat and Mercy finds herself behind the wheel.

 Dooling, Michael.  Young Thomas Edison.  

This well-known author and illustrator depicts this inventor’s early life.

Gravett, Emily. Wolves.
A young rabbit checks out a library book about wolves and learns much more about their behavior than he wanted to know.

Greenburg, J. C.  On the Dog.
When Andrew’s latest invention, the Atom Sucker, goes haywire, Andrew and Judy are shrunk down to microscopic level! Andrew and Judy find themselves lost on their neighbor’s dog, where they encounter everything from colossal fleas to crab-like eyelash mites. Now they have to find their way back to the Atom Sucker and get unshrunk before it’s too late! First book in the Andrew Lost series.

Howard, Ginger. A Basket of Bangles.  

Simply told story depicting the concept of starting a business from the viewpoint of a developing country village.

  LeGuin, Ursula.  Catwings. 
Four young cats with wings leave the city slums in search of a safe place to live, finally meeting two children with kind hands.  There are four titles in the Catwings series, but kids will wish for more.

Look, Lenore.  Ruby Lu, Brave and True. (part of a series)
A funny mischievous eight-year-old Chinese American relates life with her baby brother, parents, grandparents and life in her neighborhood.

McDonald, Megan. Judy Moody Saves the World.
Inspired by environmental studies in school and a humiliating defeat in a Band-Aid design contest, Judy Moody, in her third adventure, revamps her family's recycling efforts and confiscates her classmates' wooden pencils.  Judy Moody is a feisty character that kids will love.

McLimans, Davis.  Gone Wild.

Feast your eyes on these amazing creatures before they disappear.  This stampede of wild animals, from Chinese Alligator to Grevy’s Zebra, are so rare, they're all endangered.  Scales, horns, even insect wings transform the alphabet into animated life. 

 Meadows, Daisy. Goldie the Sunshine Fairy.
The seven Weather Fairies have lost their feathers, making the weather turn wacky.

Osborne, Mary Pope.  Dragon of the Red Dawn.

When Merlin is weighed down by sorrows, Jack and Annie travel back to feudal Japan to learn one of the four secrets of happiness.

Osborne, Mary Pope. Season of the Sandstorms.
Merlin sends Jack and Annie back in time to the Middle East where they meet and learn from a Bedouin tribe.

 Pennypacker, Sara. Clementine.
While sorting through difficulties in her friendship with her neighbor Margaret, eight-year-old Clementine gains several unique hairstyles while also helping her father in his efforts to banish pigeons from the front of their apartment building.

 Prosek, James. A Good Day's Fishing.
A child searches through the hooks, lures, bobbers, and other paraphernalia in his tackle box for the one thing he needs to ensure a good day's fishing.

 Scieszka, Jon.  Summer Reading is Killing Me.

At the beginning of summer vacation Joe, Sam, and Fred find themselves trapped inside their summer reading list, involved in a battle between good and evil characters from well-known children's books.

Stilton, Geronimo. The Curse of the Cheese Pyramid. Geronimo Stilton Series.
Geronimo travels to Egypt to interview Professor Alrat Spitfur and learns the secret of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient Mouse World.

 Wegman, William. Chip Wants a Dog.
Chip really, really wants a dog, but his parents will not allow him to have one, and he does not understand why--the reader will!

Grades 4-5

 Coville, Bruce. My Teacher is an Alien.
When sixth grader Susan catches the substitute teacher peeling off his face, she realizes that he's an alien.

Creech, Sharon.  Heartbeat.
Twelve-year-old Annie ponders the many rhythms of life the year that her mother becomes pregnant, her grandfather begins faltering, and her best friend (and running partner) becomes distant.  Written in free verse, this is a popular title for both girls and boys.

Creech, Sharon. The Wanderer.
Thirteen-year-old Sophie and her cousin Cody record their transatlantic crossing aboard the Wanderer, a forty-five foot sailboat, which, along with uncles and another cousin, is en route to visit their grandfather in England.

 DuPrau, Jeanne.  City of Ember.
In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.

Gordon, Fran, and Fave Tischler.  Dutch Double. 
A mysterious antique button - a family heirloom received as a birthday gift - transports 13-year-old Katie Van Epps back in time to the 17th-century Dutch settlement of Schenectady, New York. The city is her home, but home was never like this! Katie, now Katje the servant, knows that in three days there will be a devastating massacre. Will she be able to return to her own time and escape history, or will she be changed by it?

Grimes, Nikki.  The Road to Paris.
Inconsolable at being separated from her older brother, eight-year-old Paris is apprehensive about her new foster family.  However, just as she learns to trust them, she faces a life-changing decision. 

  Gutman, Dan.  The Homework Machine.   
Four fifth-grade students--a geek, a class clown, a teacher's pet, and a slacker--as well as their teacher and mothers, each relate events surrounding a computer programmed to complete homework assignments.

Hahn, Mary Downing. Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story.
Molly and Michael dislike their spooky new stepsister Heather but realize that they must try to save her when she seems ready to follow a ghost child to her doom.

Hale, Shannon.  The Princess Academy. 
While attending a strict academy for potential princesses with the other girls from her mountain village, fourteen-year-old Miri discovers unexpected talents and connections to her homeland.  This book has both modern and classic story elements to discover.

Jacques, Brian.  Redwall. 
Spend the entire summer reading through the Redwall books!  In the first book, the peaceful life of ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes. Matthias, a young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall's inhabitants destroy the enemy.   

Lewis, C. S.  Magician’s Nephew.

When Digory and Polly try to return the wicked witch Jadis to her own world, the magic gets mixed up and they all land in Narnia where they witness Aslan blessing the animals with human speech.

Lord, Cynthia.  Rules.
Frustrated at life with an autistic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a normal existence but her world is further complicated by a friendship with a young paraplegic.

Murphy, Jim.  An American Plague: the True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793.

 Oppel, Kenneth. Silverwing.
When a newborn bat named Shade but sometimes called "Runt" becomes separated from his colony during migration, he grows in ways that prepare him for even greater journeys.

Park, Linda Sue.  A Single Shard.

Tree-ear, a thirteen-year-old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge in a potters' village, and longs to learn how to throw the delicate celadon ceramics himself.

Rowlings, J. K.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
The last book in the Harry Potter series.

  Ryan, Pam Munoz.  Esperanza Rising.
Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression. 

This page is maintained in accordance with Shenendehowa's web publishing guidelines by Steve Davidson (davistev@shenet.org).   Last updated 6/08/07.