Summer Reading

Fourth Grade

Summer is a wonderful time for children to relax and read a good book; I hope the following list proves useful when selecting books for your child. The books listed vary in subject matter and in reading level and not every book will suit your child’s interests or abilities. I encourage you to play an active role in selecting and evaluating the books and in providing support for and encouragement of your child’s reading over the summer and throughout the school year.

Summer is also a wonderful time for parents and children to read books together. Reading aloud to your child creates memories and bonds that last forever and is the single most important factor contributing to a child’s academic success. Furthermore, discussing books and their themes with your child allows a way for you to explore the world and the human condition together and to nurture character development without having to “preach.”

One internet site to use to find book synopses is the Barnes and Noble website. Click the book link on the home page of the site and type the title of a book, which links to a book summary. Usually you need to click “more” to get a full synopsis of the book.

These are the books the fourth graders will probably read in class during the school year. Please do not choose these books for summer reading. I will order books so all students will have the same copy and can refer to the same book pages for analysis during class. Book fees will be billed to parents.

• Number the Stars, Lois Lowry
• Peppermints in the Parlor, Barbara Brooks Wallace
• Dear Mr. Henshaw, Beverly Cleary
• A Free Woman on God's Earth, Jana Laiz, Ann-Elizabeth Barnes
• Maniac Magee, Jerry Spinelli
• Search for Delicious, Natalie Babbitt

Sincerely,

Gini Peterson (4th Grade English teacher)

Classics  (wonderful books to read aloud as a family)

• The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
• Little Men, Louisa May Alcott
• National Velvet, Enid Bagnold
• The Wizard of Oz, Frank L. Baum
• The Incredible Journey, Sheila Burnford
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
• The Black Stallion, Walter Farley
• Anne of Green Gables, L. M. Montgomery
• Tom’s Midnight Garden, Phillippa Pearce
• Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse, Anna Sewell
• The Story of the Treasure Seekers, E. Nesbit
• Robin Hood, Margaret Early
• Peter Pan, James Barrie
• Caddie Woodlawn, Carol Brink
• The Adventures of Pinocchio, Carlo Collodi
• Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe
• Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates, Mary Dodge
• Little House series, Laura Ingalls Wilder
• The Black Stallion series, Walter Farley
• The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
• Rip Van Winkle, Washington Irving
• Just So Stories, Rudyard Kipling
• Lassie Come Home, Eric Knight
• Dr. Dolittle, Hugh Lofting
• The Borrowers, Mary Norton
• Stuart Little, E. B. White (also Charlotte’s Web by the same author)
• Misty of Chincoteague, Marguerite Henry

Realistic Fiction

• Please Write in this Book, Mary Amato
• Ivy + bean, Annie Barrows
• The Penderwicks; A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy, Jeanne Birdsall
• Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Judy Blume
• Allie Finkle’s Rules For Girls: Moving Day, Meg Cabot
• Summer Begins, Elizabeth Doyle Carey
• The School Story, Andrew Clements
• Granny Torrelli Makes Soup, Sharon Creech (also Bloomability by the same author)
• P. S. Longer Letter Later, Paula Danziger
• The Lemonade War, Jacqueline Davies
• Tiger Rising, Kate DiCamillo
• The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School, Candace Fleming
• Mallory vs. Max, Laurie Friedman
• Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little, Peggy Elizabeth Friedman
• Diary of a Would-be Princess: The Journal of Jillian James, 5B, Jessica Green
• Dear Max, Sally Grindley
• The Homework Machine, Dan Gutman
• Just Grace, Charise Mericle Harper
• Ida B. and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World, Katherine Hannigan
• Flush, Carl Hiaasen
• The Year of the Dog, Grace Lin
• Ruby Lu, Brave and True, Lenore Look
• Anastasia Krupnik, Lois Lowry
• When Heaven Fell, Carolyn Marsden
• Welcome to Camden Falls, Ann Martin
• Saffy’s Angel, Hilary McKay
• Secret Letters from 0-10, Susie Hoch Morgenstern
• Shiloh, Phyllis Naylor
• The Wedding Planner’s Daughter, Coleen Murtagh Paratore
• Project Mulberry, Linda Sue Park
• The Higher Power of Lucky, Susan Patron
• Younguncle Comes to Town, Vandana Singh
• Donuthead, Sue Stauffacher
• Julep O’Toole: Confessions of a Middle Child, Trudi Strain Trueit
• A Crooked Kind of Perfect, Linda Urban
• Only Emma, Sally Warner
• Oggie Cooder, Sarah Weeks,
• Love Ruby, Laavender, Deborah Wiles
• Locomotion, Jacqueline Woodson
• Millicent Min, Girl Genius, Lisa Yee
• How Tia Lola Came to Visit/Stay, Julia Alverez
• Bo and Mzzz Mad, Sid Fleischman
• Runaway Radish, Jessie Haas
• Uncle Rain Cloud, Tony Johnston
• Morgy Makes His Move, Maggie Lewis
• The Lost Flower Children, Janet Taylor Lisle
• The Doll People, Ann M. Martin
• The Toothpaste Millionaire, Jean Merrill
• The Boys Start the War, Phyllis Reynold Naylor
• Math Curse, Jon Scieszka
• Love, Ruby Lavender, Deborah Wiles
• A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, Marla Frazee
• Scat, Carl Hiaasen
• Lawn Boy, Gary Paulsen
• The Great Brain and sequels, John D. Fitzgerald

Mysteries and Adventure Stories

• Whales on Stilts, M. T. Anderson
• Jack Plank Tells Tales, Natalie Babbitt
• Peter and the Starcatchers, Dave Barry
• Molly Moon’s Incredible Book of Hypnotism, Georgia Byng
• Harriet the Spy, Louse Fitzhugh
• The Whipping Boy, Paul Fleischman
• Bunnicula, Deborah Howe
• From the Mixed-Up Flies of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E. L. Konigsburg
• Olivia Kidney, Ellen Potter
• The Mysterious Matter of I. M. Fine, Diane Stanley
• The Mysterious Benedict Society, Trenton Lee Stewart
• Sammy Keyes series, Wendelin Van Draanen
• The Story of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
• Ernestine and Amanda: Mysteries on Monroe Street, Sandra Belton

Fantasy, Imaginary Journeys, and Legends

• The Frog Princess, E. D. Baker
• The Anybodies, N. E. Bode
• The Sisters Grimm, Book One: The Fairy-tale Detectives, Michael Buckley
• Ruby Holler, Sharon Creech
• James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Kate DiCamillo
• The 7 Professors of the Far North, John Fardell
• The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, Nancy Farmer
• Wise Child, Monica Furlong
• Coraline, Neil Gaiman
• The Princess Academy, Shannon Hale
• The People Could Fly, Virginia Hamilton
• Lugalbanda, Kathy Henderson
• Everything on a Waffle, Peggy Horvath
• Into the Wild, Erin Hunter
• The Secret of Platform 13, Eva Ibbotson
• Howl’s Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones
• The Tale of Emily Windsnap, Liz Kessler
• Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine
• The Borrowers, Mary Norton
• Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Robert C. O’Brien
• The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls, Elise Primavera
• The Daring Adventures of Penhaligon Brush, S. Jones Rogan
• Magyk, Angie Sage
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick
• The Great Good Thing, Roderick Townley
• Wizard at Work, Vivian Vande Velde
• Angus and Sadie, Cynthia Voight
• The Red-Hot Rattoons, Elizabeth Winthrop
• Dealing with Dragons, Patricia Wrede
• Wizard’s Hall, Jane Yolen
• The Mayor of Central Park, Avi
• The BFG, Roald Dahl
• The Forgotten Door, Alexander Key
• Goose Chase, Patrice Kindle

Historical Fiction

• The Secret School, Avi
• Elijah of Buxton, Christopher Paul Curtis
• Rachel’s Journal: The Story of a Pioneer Girl, Marissa Moss
• Ben and Me, Robert Lawson
• White Star: A Dog on the Titanic, Marty Crisp
• Our Only May Amelia, Jennifer Holm
• Snow Treasure, Marie McSwigan
• Sallie Gal and the Wall-a-kee Man, Shelia Moses
• Rodzina, Karen Cushman
• The Green Glass Sea, Ellen Klages
• Riding Freedom, Pam Munoz Ryan
• A Long Way from Chicago, Richard Peck
• All-of-a-Kind Family, Sydney Taylor
• A Jar of Dreams, Yoshiko Uchida
• Daughter of Madrugada, Frances Wood
• See series list for more historical fiction choices

Biography, Autobiography, and Nonfiction

• Ameila Earhart: Young Air Pioneer, Jane Moore Howe (and other biographies in this series)
• Duel of the Ironclads, Patrick O’Brien
• Wired, Anastasia Suen
• Abigail Adams, Alexandra Wallner
• Mary on Horseback, Rosemary Wells
• Selavi, That Is Life, A Haitian Story of Hope, Youme Landowne
• And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?, Jean Fritz
• The Inuit Thought of It: Amazing Arctic Innovations, David MacDonald
• Keep Your Eye on the Kid: The Early Years of Buster Keaton, Catherine Brighton
• Earth Matters, David de Rothschild
• When the Wolves Returned, Dorothy H. Patent
• The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary, Candace Fleming
• Boycott Blues: How Rosa Parks Inspired a Nation, Andrea Pinkney
• Let It Begin Here! April 19, 1775, The Day the American Revolution Began, Don Brown
• Lincoln Shot: A President’s Life Remembered, Barry Denenberg
• Cosmic, Giles Sparrow
• A Knight’s City, Philip Steele
• Cryptomania! Teleporting into Greek and Latin with Cryptokids, Edith Hope
• When They Were Young, Robert Coles
• Flying Free: America’s First Black Aviators, Philip S. Hart
• Sing, Nightingale Sing! A Book and CD for Discovering Birds of the World, Francoise de Guibert
• Every Human Has Rights: A Photographic Declaration for Kids, National Geographic
• A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, Jen Bryant
• Me and Uncle Romie: A Story Inspired by the Life and Art of Romare Bearden, Claire Hatfield
• George Washington Crosses the Delaware: Would You Risk the Revolution?, Elaine Landau
• Lincoln and Douglass: An American Friendship, Nikki Giovanni
• One Beetle Too Many: The Extraordinary Adventures of Charles Darwin, Kathy Lasky
• A Boy Named Beckoning: The True Story of Dr. Carlos Montezuma, Native American Hero, Gina Capaldi
• Dirt on their Skirts: The Story of The Young Women Who Won the World Championships, Doreen Rappaport
• Eyewitness Books—Presidents, First Ladies, Vote etc.
• A Wicked History: King George III, Philip Brooks
• A Wicked History: Ghengis Khan, Goldberg and Otzkowitz
• Charles Drew: Doctor Who Got the World Pumped Up to Donate Blood, Mike Venezia
• The Great Wall: From Beginning to End, Michael Yamashita
• 11 Planets: A New View of the Solar System, David Aguilar
• The American Story, Jennifer Armstrong
• The Other Mozart, Hugh Brewster
• Just For Elephants, Carol Buckley
• It Can’t Be Done, Nelly Bly!: A Reporter’s Race Around the World, Nancy Butcher
• Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, Eleanor Coerr
• Women Daredevils, Julie Cummins
• Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery, Russell Freedman
• My Life with Chimpanzees, Jane Goodall
• Marley: A Dog Like No Other, John Grogan
• Knut, Isabella Hatof
• We Were There Too!: Young People in U.S. History, Phillip M. Hoose
• Mistakes That Worked, Charlotte Foltz Jones
• One Thousand Tracings: Healing the Wounds of World War II, Lita Judge
• The Cod’s Tale, Mark Kurlansky
• Footwork, Roxanne Orgill
• Pirateology, Dugald A. Steer
• Girls Think of Everything, Catherine Thimmesh
• To Dance, Siena Cherson Siegel
• Anne Elizabeth’s Diary: A Young Artist’s True Story, Anne Elizabeth Rector

Poetry

• All the Small Poems and Fourteen More, Natalie Babbitt
• Insectopedia, Douglas Florian
• Through the Paper Doorway, Dean Koontz
• The Complete Nonsense of Edward Lear, Edward Lear
• Come with Me: Poems for a Journey, Naomi Shihab Nye
• Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (Poems), Linda Sue Park
• The New Oxford Book of Children’s Verse, Neil Philip
• The New Kid on the Block, Jack Prelutsky
• The Random House Book of Poetry for Children, Jack Prelutsky, ed.
• Hey, You! Poems to Skyscrapers, Mosquitoes, and other Fun Things, Paul B. Janeczko
• Bronzeville Boys and Girls, Gwendolyn Brooks
• Good Sports: Rhymes about Running, Jack Prelutsky
• A Children’s Anthology of Poetry, Elizabeth H. Sword
• Animal Poems, Valerie Worth
• Love to Langston, Tony Medina
• Heroes and She-roes: Poems of Amazing and Everyday Heroes, Patrick Lewis
• My People, Langston Hughes

Sports Stories

• The Bat Boy and his Violin, Gavin Curtis
• Throwing Smoke, Bruce Brooks
• Teammates, Peter Golenbock
• Moon Runner, Carolyn Marsden
• Amazing Women Athletes, Jill Bryant
• Dirt on their Skirts: The Story of the Young Women Who Won the World Championship, Doreen Rappaport and Lyndall Callan
• The Finnish Line, Linda Gerber
• Fleet Footed Florence, Marilyn Sachs
• In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, Bette Bao Lord

Sports Authors for Young People

• Tiki and Ronde Barber
• Matt Christopher
• Scott Corbett
• Barthe de Clements
• Thomas Dygard
• Dan Gutman
• Dean highes
• Mike Lupica
• Walter Dean Myers
• Alfred Slote
• Gary Soto
• Rich Wallace
• Len Berman
• Loren Long and Phil Bildner
• Gabrielle Charbonnet
• Sharon Dennis Wyeth

Series Books (Finding a series a child enjoys can move a reluctant reader into a reading habit. Some of these are series that parents or even grandparents may have read!)

• The Jigsaw Jones Mysteries
• The Zack Files Mysteries
• The Magic Tree House
• The Secrets of Droon
• Capital Mysteries
• Henry Huggins
• Wayside School
• A Series of Unfortunate Events
• Encyclopedia Brown
• Nancy Drew mystery series
• Hardy Boy mystery series
• The Great Brain
• Encyclopedia Brown
• Gregor the Overlander
• Asimov Science Fiction
• The Diary of a Wimpy Kid
• The 39 Clues
• My Weird School
• The Keys to the Kingdom
• The Adventures of Benjamin Bartholomew Pivv
• Journal of a Cardboard Genius
• American Girl series
• American Diaries
• Cherry Ames
• Camp Fire Girls
• Penny Parrish
• Babysitter’s Club
• Trixie Belden
• Judy Moody
• Animal Adventures (Little House chapter books)
• Treasury of Great Dog (or Cat or Horse) Stories