Books to Put in Children’s Hands for the Summer
In this "Reading Today" article, David Richardson and Susan Dove say that giving students access
to good books is key to reducing the loss in reading proficiency that happens every summer
(particularly for low-SES children). According to Richard Allington, by the time struggling readers
reach middle school, the accumulated summer loss amounts to a two-year handicap in reading
achievement. Richardson and Dove recommend the following recently published books:
- " Mercy Watson" by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen (Candlewick), ages 7 and up;
adventures of a lovable, clueless pet pig;
- "Secrets of Dripping Fang" by Dan Greenburg, illustrated by Scott Fisher (Harcourt), ages 8 and
up; giant ants and other odd creatures in the swamps of Cincinnati;
- "The Sisters Grimm" by Michael Buckley (Amulet) ages 9 and up; mystery and madness in a
hidden town where fairy tale characters have gone to live;
- "Clementine" by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Marla Frazee (Hyperion), ages 8 and up; an
inquisitive, mischievous third grader with a knack for trouble;
- "Sluggers" (formerly Barnstormers) by Loren Long and Phil Bildner (Simon & Schuster) ages 10
and up; baseball tales about great teams and stadiums of the past;
- "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney (Amulet), ages 9 and up; unique, humorous world of
middle-school student Greg Heffley;
- "Traces!" By Malcolm Rose (Kingfisher), ages 12 and up; teenage forensic scientist Luke Harding
hunts dangerous criminals in a future world;
- "Pendragon" by D.J. MacHale (Simon & Schuster), ages 10 and up; a reluctant hero, Bobby
Pendragon, must save the world, and it’s not the world he thought it was;
- "Stinky" by Eleanor Davis (Little Lit Library), ages 6-8; a graphic novel about a monster trying
to get rid of a boy who builds a tree house in his swamp;
- "Garmann’s Summer" by Stian Hole (Eerdman’s), ages 5-10; a picture book about a boy
nervously anticipating school;
- "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins, 2008), ages 11 and up; a spooky story
about a boy raised in a graveyard after his family is murdered; (2009 Newbery Award-winner)
“Stave Off Summer Reading Doldrums” by David Richardson and Susan Dove in Reading Today,
April/May 2009 (Vol. 26, #5, p. 18), no e-link
excerpted from © Copyright 2009 Marshall Memo LLC
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LEVELED BOOKS FOR SUMMER READING
(Most are available at the Southborough Public Library)
EXTENDING (GRADES 2-3)
Angel Child, Dragon Child (Surat)
The Adventures of Ali Baba Bernstein (Hurwitz)
All About Sam (Lowry)
Amber Brown series (Danziger)
Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days (Manes)
Buddy: The First Seeing Eye Dog (Moore)
Cam Jansen series (Adler)
Catwings (LeGuin)
Chalkbox Kid (Bulla)
Clementine (Pennypacker)
Diamond Champs (Christopher)
Dinosaur Named Sue (Robinson)
Freckle Juice (Blume)
Gooseberry Park (Rylant)
Herbie Jones and the Class Gift (Kline)
Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest (Jenkins)
How To Be Cool in Third Grade (Duffey)
Invisible in the Third Grade (Cuyler)
Judy Moody and Stink series (McDonald)
Littles series (Peterson)
Marvin Redpost series (Sachar)
Meg Mackintosh and the Case of the Curious Whale Watch (Landon)
School’s Out (Hurwitz)
Song of the Water Boatman (Sidman)
Stories Julian Tells (Cameron)
Summer Reading Is Killing Me (Scieszka)
Teammates (Golenbock)
Wild Willie and King Kyle (Joose)
INTERMEDIATE (GRADES 4-8)
All-Of-A-Kind Family (Taylor)
Anastasia Krupnik (Lowry)
Angel Spreads Her Wings (Delton)
Babe: The Gallant Pig (King-Smith)
Beany Goes To Camp (Wojcieshowski)
Castle in the Attic (Winthrop)
Chocolate Fever (Smith)
Faraway Summer (Hurwitz)
Frindle (Clements)
Gone Away Lake (Enright)
Granny Torrelli Makes Soup (Creech)
The Homework Machine (Gutman)
Homer Price (McCloskey)
Honus and Me (Gutman)
Lily’s Crossing (Giff)
Lost on a Mountain in Maine (Fendler)
Mummies Made in Egypt (Aliki)
The Mystery of Mr. Nice (Hale)
Poppy (Avi)
Rowan of Rin (Rodda)
Secret School (Avi)
Soccer Scoop (Christopher)
Soup (Peck)
The Summer I Shrank My Grandmother (Woodruff)
The Summer of Riley (Bunting)
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (Blume)
The Trouble With Tuck (Taylor)
The Whipping Boy (Fleischman)
Whittington (Armstrong)