Book Recommendations
- Check out www.guysread.com, a web-based literacy program for boys. Their mission is "to help boys become self-motivated, lifelong readers." Lots of book recommendations for boys here, too!
- Learn more about this year's books on the Mark Twain Nominee list.
- Visit www.lexile.com to match readers to text or search for a lexile level of a particular book.
- Scholastic also has recommended book lists and tips for parents on children's reading, learning, school success, family life, and activities. (If you need to order books, click on the Scholastic Book Clubs link under "Parents" above.)
- Click here for a list of the Newbery Honor and Newbery Medal books from 1922-present.
- Who didn't love the PBS television show "Reading Rainbow"? In my experience, if a book was on that show, it is worth buying or checking out from the library. The following list includes books featured on “Reading Rainbow” between 1983 and 2006. I took the list off of Chapel Hill Public Library's website, so if you click on these links below, that's where it will take you. But I love the list.
Picture Books- Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema
- Miss Nelson is Back by Harry Allard
- Raccoons and Ripe Corn by Jim Arnosky
- The Paper Crane by Molly Bang
- Little Nino’s Pizzeria by Karen Barbour
- The Adventures of Taxi Dog by Debra Barracca
- Opt: An Illusionary Tale by Arline Baum
- Berlioz the Bear by Jan Brett
- Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting
- Brush by Pere Calders
- Hot-Air Henry by Mary Calhoun
- Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
- The Shaman’s Apprentice: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry
- Archibald Frisby by Michael Chesworth
- The Robbery at the Diamond Dog Diner by Eileen Christelow
- Two Old Potatoes and Me by John Coy
- Beegu by Alexis Deacon
- Simon’s Book by Henrik Drescher
- Hotel Animal by Keith DuQuette
- The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy
- The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland
- A Three Hat Day by Laura Geringer
- Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall
- Tight Times by Barbara Hazen
- Owen by Kevin Henkes
- Mr. George Baker by Amy Hest
- The Purple Coat by Amy Hest
- Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
- Mama Don’t Allow by Thacher Hurd
- Perfect the Pig by Susan Jeschke
- Dinosaur Bob and His Adventures with the Family Lazardo by William Joyce
- Best Friends: Story and Pictures by Steven Kellogg
- Silent Lotus by Jeanne M. Lee
- Watch the Stars Come Out by Riki Levinson
- The Runaway Duck by David Lyon
- Come a Tide by George Ella Lyon
- Is This a House for Hermit Crab? by Megan McDonald
- Barn Dance! by Bill Martin, Jr. & John Archambault
- Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin, Jr. & John Archambault
- Sophie and Lou by Petra Mathers
- Martha Speaks by Susan Meddaugh
- Uncle Jed’s Barbershop by Margaree King Mitchell
- Zin! Zin! Zin!: A Violin by Lloyd Moss
- The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash by Trinka Noble
- Meanwhile Back at the Ranch by Trinka Noble
- If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff
- Worksong by Gary Paulsen
- My Life with the Wave by Octavio Paz
- Tooth-Gnasher Superflash by Daniel Pinkwater
- Appelemando’s Dreams by Patricia Polacco
- Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco
- Rechenka’s Eggs by Patricia Polacco
- The Piggy in the Puddle by Charlotte Pomerantz
- How to Make and Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman
- Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold
- Once There Was a Tree by Natalie Romanova
- The Sign Painter’s Dream by Roger Roth
- Unique Monique by Maria Rousaki
- Alistair in Outer Space by Marilyn Sadler
- Alistair’s Time Machine by Marilyn Sadler
- Duncan and Dolores by Barbara Samuels
- The Bicycle Man by Allen Say
- Bea and Mr. Jones by Amy Schwartz
- Math Curse by Jon Scieszka
- Abiyoyo by Pete Seeger
- Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport by Marjorie Sharmat
- Gregory, the Terrible Eater by Mitchell Sharmat
- Imogene’s Antlers by David Small
- Bored—Nothing to Do! by Peter Spier
- The Secret Shortcut by Mark Teague
- Saturday Sancocho by Leyla Torres
- Through Moon and Stars and Night Skies by Ann Turner
- Stay Away from the Junkyard! by Tricia Tusa
- Badger’s Parting Gift by Susan Varley
- June 29, 1999 by David Wiesner
- Galimoto by Karen Williams
- A Chair for My Mother by Vera. B. Williams
- Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe by Vera B. Williams
- Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter
- Visiting Day by Jacqueline Woodson
- Always My Dad by Sharon Wyeth
- Louis the Fish by Arthur Yorinks
- The Wonderful Towers of Watts by Patricia Zelver
- The Furry News by Loreen Leedy
- Feelings by Aliki
- Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message by Jake Swamp
- Borreguita and the Coyote by Verna Aardema
- The Tortoise and the Hare by Janet Stevens
- The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush by Tomie De Paola
- Liang and the Magic Paintbrush by Demi
- Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe
- Rumpelstiltskin by Paul Zelinsky
- Paul Bunyan: A Tall Tale by Steven Kellogg
- Summer by Ron Hirschi
- Lemonade for Sale by Stuart Murphy
- How Much is a Million? by David Schwartz
- Digging Up Dinosaurs by Aliki
- Desert Giant: The World of the Saguaro Cactus by Barbara Bush
- Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones by Ruth Heller
- Sam the Sea Cow by Francine Jacobs
- Germs Make Me Sick! by Melvin Berger
- The Milk Makers by Gail Gibbons
- Snowy Day: Stories and Poems edited by Caroline Feller Bauer
- Sports Pages by Arnold Adoff
- My America: A Poetry Atlas of the US
- My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Hail to Mail by Samuil Marshak
- Sunken Treasure by Gail Gibbons
- Mummies Made in Egypt by Aliki
- The Wall by Eve Bunting
- Three by the Sea by Edward Marshall
- Fox on the Job by James Marshall
- Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie by Peter Roop
- Kate Shelley and the Midnight Express by Margaret K. Wetterer