Summer Reading

Dear Friends,

I have collaborated with my colleagues on the Anderson vertical team to create the summer reading list included in this post. The books mentioned below are merely suggestions and the list is certainly not comprehensive. In most cases, the titles listed have been published within the last ten years and should be available through local libraries and bookstores. I have also included a list of additional resources that might be of use to you and your child as you browse for further titles. Also, be sure to look for additional links on the right side column of this blog and the "Book Lists" tab at the top of the page. Come back and check to see if new ones are added and feel free to let me know if you have a favorite that I have missed! You may already know about Tumble Book Library and Capstone Interactive Library. These websites have a great selection of interactive electronic books. Austin ISD pays for the TumbleBooks subscription and I have ordered over 200 interactive, electronic books for the Doss Owls to use on the Capstone Library. Your child should know the usernames and passwords, but feel free to contact me should you need them. You can email me at bonnie.lang@austinisd.org.

I highly recommend the Texas Bluebonnet Nominees for students in third through fifth grade. This list is compiled by the Texas librarians so you know it's going to be good! Though it is unlikely that all twenty titles will work for every intermediate level student, there should be something for everyone. For our primary readers in kindergarten through second grade, I suggest looking at the Texas 2x2 Book List and the Mockingbird Books. As always, it is recommended that parents preview all titles in order to ensure that the material is suitable.

There are many great summer reading programs all over town. I encourage you to participate in one or all of these programs. Go ahead and "double dip"- fill out booklists for APL, BookPeople, Barnes & Noble, Half Price Books, HEB, Pottery Barn, and Chuck E. Cheese's! These links will take you to the pages where you can find out about the different programs and download the reading logs. I hope that you have fun reading... set a goal and win some prizes!

It has been a fantastic year!!! I wish you a happy summer filled with lots of time to read!!!

Sincerely,
Bonnie Lang
Doss Elementary Library
Information Learning Specialist


Additional Resources:



ü  GuysRead



Summer Before Kindergarten:

ü  Brown, Peter. Mr. Tiger Goes Wild. (Fiction)
ü  Castellucci, Cecil. Odd Duck. (Fiction)
ü  Colato Lainez, Rene. Senor Pancho had a Rancho. (Fiction)
ü  Falwell, Cathryn. Rainbow Stew. (Nonfiction)
ü  Gall, Chris. Awesome Dawson. (Fiction)
ü  Himmelman, John. Noisy Bug Sing-Along. (Nonfiction)
ü  Jenkins, Emily. Water in the Park. (Nonfiction)
ü  Klausmeier, Jesse. Open This Little Book. (Fiction)
ü  Vaccaro Seeger, Laura. Bully. (Fiction)
ü  Viva, Frank. A Long Way Away. (Nonfiction)
ü  Wheeler, Lisa. Dino-Wrestling. (Fiction)
o   Dino-Soccer
o   Dino-Baseball
o   Dino-Football
ü  Wiesner, David. Mr. Wuffles. (Fiction)
ü  Willems, Mo. That is Not a Good Idea! (Fiction)
ü  Zietlow Miller, Pat. Sophie’s Squash. (Fiction)

Summer Before First Grade:

ü  Bailey, Linda. Stanley’s Party. (Fiction-Series)
o   Stanley’s Wild Ride
o   Stanley at Sea
o   Stanley’s Beauty Contest
o   Stanley’s Little Sister
ü  Barnett, Mac. Chloe and the Lion.  (Fiction)
ü  Barnett, Mac. Guess Again.  (Nonfiction-Poetry)
ü  Davies, Matt. Ben Rides On. (Fiction)
ü  George, Kallie. Spark. (Fiction)
ü  Gerstein, Mordicai. You Can’t Have too Many Friends. (Fiction)
ü  Howe, James. Houndsley and Catina. (Fiction-Series)
o   Houndsley and Catina and the Birthday Surprise
o   Houndsley and Catina and the Quiet Time
o   Houndsley and Catina: Pink and Plunk
ü  Kaplan, Michael. Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake. (Fiction-Series)
o   Betty Bunny Wants Everything
o   Betty Bunny Didn’t Do It
o   Betty Bunny Wants a Goal
ü  Ludwig, Trudy. The Invisible Boy.  (Fiction)
ü  Offill, Jenny. Sparky.  (Fiction)
ü  Rabe, Tish. My, Oh My-a Butterfly. (Nonfiction-Series)                                          
   (The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library)
o   There’s No Place Like Space
o   Would You Rather Be a Pollywog
o   Is a Camel a Mammal
o   Inside Your Outside

Summer Before Second Grade:

ü  Angleberger, Tom. Crankee Doodle. (Fiction)
ü  Broach, Elise. The Miniature World of Marvin and James. (Fiction)
ü  Bruel, Nick. Bad Kitty Drawn to Trouble. (Fiction-Series)
o   Bad Kitty vs. Uncle Murray
o   Happy Birthday Bad Kitty
o   Bad Kitty Gets a Bath
ü  Bunting, Eve. The Cart That Carried Martin.(Nonfiction)
ü  Griffiths, Andy. The 26-Story Treehouse. (Fiction-Series)
o   The 13-Story Treehouse
ü  Haas, Jessie. Bramble and Maggie: Give and Take. (Fiction)
ü  Kirby, Stan. Captain Awesome and the Ultimate Spelling Bee. (Fiction-Series)
o   Captain Awesome to the Rescue!
o   Captain Awesome vs. the Nacho Cheese Man
o   Captain Awesome, Soccer Star
ü  Ludwig, Trudy. The Invisible Boy. (Fiction)
ü  Martin, Jacqueline Briggs. Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table.          (Nonfiction)
ü  Montijo, Rhode. The Gumazing Gum Girl! (Fiction)
ü  Shubert, Leda. Monsieur Marceau. (Biography)

Summer Before Third Grade:

ü  Floca, Brian. Locomotive. (Nonfiction)
ü  Gauthier, Gail. A Girl, a Boy, and a Monster Cat. (Fiction-Series)
o   A Girl, a Boy and Three Robbers.
ü  Goodman, Susan E. It’s a Dog’s Life: How Man’s Best Friend Sees, Hears, and Smells the World. (Nonfiction)
ü  Hale, Bruce. Prince of Underwhere. (Fiction-Series)
o   Pirates of Underwhere
o   Flyboy of Underwhere
o   Fat Cat of Underwhere
ü  Klise, Kate. 43 Old Cemetery Road: Dying to Meet You.  (Fiction-Series)
o   Over My Dead Body
o   Till Death do us Bark
o   The Phantom of the Post Office
o   Hollywood, Dead Ahead
ü  Labatt, Mary. A Sam and Friends Mystery: Dracula Madness. (Nonfiction-Graphic Novel-Series)
o   Lake Monster Mix-Up
o   Mummy Mayhem
o   Witches’ Brew
ü  Orr, Wendy. Rainbow Street Shelter: Stolen! A Pony Called Pebbles. (Fiction-Series)
o   Abandoned! A Lion Called Kitty
o   Missing! A Cat Called Buster
ü  Pastis, Stephan. Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made. (Fiction)
o   Timmy Failure: Now Look What You’ve Done
ü  Vernick, Audrey. Brothers at Bat.  (Nonfiction)
ü  Worth, Valerie. Pug and Other Animal Poems. (Nonfiction-Poetry)

Summer Before Fourth Grade:
  • ü  Berne, Jennifer. On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein. (Nonfiction-Biography)
  • ü  Birdsall, Jeanne. The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a        Very Interesting Boy. (Fiction-Series)
  • o   The Penderwicks on Gardam Street
  • o   The Penderwicks at Point Mouette
  • ü  Buyea, Rob. Because of Mr. Terupt. (Fiction)
  • ü  Curtis, Christopher Paul. Bud, Not Buddy. (Fiction)
  • ü  Draper, Sharon M. Out of My Mind. (Fiction)
  • ü  Grabenstein, Chris. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library. (Fiction)
  • ü  Henkes, Kevin. The Year of Billy Miller. (Fiction)
  • ü  Jenkins, Steve. The Animal Book: A Collection of the Fastest, Fiercest, Toughest, Cleverest, Shyest-- and most Surprising--- Animals of Earth. (Nonfiction)
  • ü  Peck, Richard. The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail. (Fiction)
  • ü  Pope, Paul & Hilary Sycamore. Battling Boy. (Fiction)
  • ü  Rose, Deborah Lee. Jimmy the Joey: The True Story of an Amazing Koala Rescue (Nonfiction)
  • ü  Wissinger, Tamera Will. Gone Fishing: A Novel in Verse. (Fiction)

Summer Before Fifth Grade:

ü  Abbott, Toney. Copernicus Legacy:  The Forbidden Stone.  (Fiction)
ü  Appelt, Kathi. The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp.  (Fiction)
ü  Auxier, Jonathan.The Gardner. (Fiction)
ü  Bishop, Nic. Butterflies and Moths. (Nonfiction)
o   Chameleons
o   Frogs
o   Lizards
o   Snakes
o   Spiders
ü  Gifford, Clive. Think Again!  False Facts Attacked and Myths Busted.   (Nonfiction)
ü  Hale, Nathan. Donner Dinner Party.  (Nonfiction)
ü  Larson, Kirby. Duke.   (Fiction)
ü  Montgomery, Sy. Saving the Ghost of the Mountain:  An Expedition Among Snow Leopards in Mongolia.  (Nonfiction)
ü  Rosenstock, Barb. Thomas Jefferson Builds A Library.  (Nonfiction)
ü  Sloan, Holly Goldberg. Counting by Sevens.  (Fiction)
ü  Sovern, Megan Jean. The Meaning of Maggie.  (Fiction)

ü  Trumbone, Cindy. Parrots Over Puerto Rico.   (Nonfiction)