Reading list for entering 5th grade

READ-ALOUD LIST
These book have been recommended by top national reading and
writing experts. Recent award-winners have been included.
J BIO FRA Adler, David A. B. Franklin, Printer.
J FIC Babbitt, Natalie. Jack Plank Tells Tales.
Barnwell, Ysaye M. No Mirrors in My Nana’s House.
Bateman, Robert and Rick Archbold. Safari.
Bierman, Carol. Journey to Ellis Island: How My Father Came to America.
Carson, Ben. Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story.
J579.8 CER Cerullo, Mary. Sea Soup: Phytoplankton.
J578.77 CON Conlan, K.E. Under the Ice.
Conrad, Pam. Stonewords: A Ghost Story.
Cooper, Floyd. Coming Home: From the Life of Langston Hughes.
Coy, John. Strong to the Hoop.
J P Feiffer, Jules. Meanwhile.
Harness, Cheryl. Rabble Rousers: 20 Women Who Made a Difference.
Hehner, Barbara. Ice Age Mammoth: Will This Ancient Giant Come Back to Life?
J FIC Lewis, C.S. The Horse and His Boy.
J FIC Lewis, C.S. The Last Battle.
J FIC Lewis, C. S. Prince Caspian.
J FIC Lewis, C. S. The Magician’s Nephew.
J FIC Lewis, C.S. The Silver Chair.
J FIC Lewis, C. S. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Lewis, J. Patrick. BoshBlobBerBosh: Runcible Poems for Edward Lear.
J FIC MacLachlan, Patricia. Arthur for the Very First Time.
Miller, Debbie. Great Serum Race: Blazing the Iditarod Trail.
Moore, Lilian. Poems Have Roots.
Muirden, James. Seeing Stars.
J P Nunes, Susan. Coyote Dreams.
J FIC Paterson, Katherine. Flip-Flop Girl.
J POETRY Prelutsky, Jack. The Gargoyle on the Roof.
J591.56 RYL Rylant, Cynthia. The Journey: Stories of Migration.
J E Schotter, Roni. Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street.
J POETRY SIL Silverstein, Shel. A Light in the Attic.
J POETRY STE Stevenson, James. Candy Corn.
J POETRY STE Stevenson, James. Popcorn.
J P Thomas, Joyce Carol. I Have Heard of Land.
J FIC Williams, Carol Lynch. If I Forget, You Remember.
Williams, Karen Lynn. Discovering One Thing I’m Good At.
J POETRY Wor Worth, Valerie. Animal Poems.
Books for Students to Read
(If a book is too difficult for your child to read, please begin by using it as a read aloud. Refer to the leveled book list to find more individual titles at your child’s June reading level)
POPULAR FICTION AUTHORS: Fiction is shelved alphabetically by Author's last name.
Betsy Byars
Joanna Hurwitz
Jack Prelutsky
Matt Christopher
Kathryn Lasky
Jon Sciezska
Beverly Cleary
C.S. Lewis
Lemony Snicket
Joanna Cole
Lois Lowry
Jerry Spinelli
Roald Dahl
Patricia MacLachlan
William Steig
Paula Danziger
Patricia McKissack
Chris Van Allsburg
Paul Goble
Kate McMullan
Jane Yolen
Eloise Greenfield
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Bruce Hale
Barbara Park
NONFICTION – These books are shelved by subject so must be looked up individually.
These authors may have also written fiction, and they are especially well known for excellent nonfiction that stands alone or is embedded in a story.
Jim Arnosky
Jean Fritz
Sandra Markle
Russell Ash
Jean Craighead George
Steve Parker
Melvin Berger
Gail Gibbons
Seymour Simon
Robert Burleigh
Kathleen Krull
Stephen Swinburne
Matt Christopher
Kathryn Lasky
Joanna Cole
Ellen Levine
Individual Titles of Books for Students Entering 5th Grade to Read
*Adler, David. A Picture Book of Patrick Henry. Holiday House, 1991. An award-winning book! Children’s Literature reports, “Using Henry as a centerpiece, the author introduces the reader to historical events in a personal way.”
J E *Adler, David. The Many Troubles of Andy Russell. Harcourt, 1999. Award-winning author, David Adler, creates one problem after another for Andy Russell to solve in this book that is first in a series about a fourth-grade boy.
*Armstrong, Kristin. Lance Armstrong: The Race of His Life. Grosset & Dunlap, 2000. An inspirational account of a courageous athlete who overcame cancer and won the bike race of his life
J BIO *Ashby, Ruth. The Amazing Mr. Franklin: Or the Boy Who Read Everything. Peachtree Publishers, 2004. An award-winning book about a famous man in American history…Children’s Literature reviewers say, “This book offers an exciting version of Benjamin Franklin's life.”
J FIC *Atwater, Richard & Florence Atwater. Mr. Popper’s Penguins. Little Brown, 1938. This classic in children’s literature is a humorously written story about a house painter, Mr. Popper, who trained a group of penguins to perform.
*Baglio, Ben. Bunnies in the Bathroom. Scholastic, 2000. For anyone who enjoys reading about animals this book gets five-star reviews! It is part of a series by Ben Baglio entitled the Animal Ark Series.
*Bial, Raymond. Where Washington Walked. Walker & Company, 2004. This award-winning book beautifully combines engaging text with colorful photos and takes the reader on a journey from Washington’s childhood through his adult life.
*Biskup, Agnieszka. Understanding Global Warming with Max Axiom, Super Scientist. Mankato, MN, 2007. This book is recommended by The Horn Book Guide. It intrigues readers as a Superhero scientist Axiom uses a comic-book format to detail the basics of global warming.
J FIC *Blume, Judy. Fudge-a-Mania. Puffin Books, Reissued 2003. A hilarious story about how Fudge, the human hurricane, continues to amaze readers with his escapades as he annoys his older brother, Peter.
*Bunting, Eve. Your Move. Harcourt Brace, 1998. This is a wonderful picture storybook that examines decision making in spite of family and peer pressure.
J FIC *Byng, Georgia. Molly Moon’s Hypnotic Time Travel Adventure. Harper Collins Children’s Books, 2005. In this exciting book, Molly Moon must rescue her beloved pug that is kidnapped by a stranger. It is another in the Molly Moon series of hypnotic time travel adventures. Students cannot wait to keep turning the pages, as the intriguing plot unfolds.
J BIO LEO *Byrd, Robert. Leonardo: Beautiful Dreamer. Dutton Children’s Books, 2003. This award-winning picture biography stunningly details the genius’s life with outstanding text features that are accompanied by engaging text.
J E *Cameron, Ann. Gloria’s Way. Puffin Books, 2001. This entertaining book contains six stories about Gloria, a character audiences love to get to know.
*Christopher, Matt. Hard Drive to Short. Little, Brown & Company, 1991. A shortstop made several errors in a book that examines issues of friendship by a popular sports author.
J FIC *Clements, Andrew. Frindle. Simon & Schuster, 1996. This is a fascinating account of what happens when a fifth-grade student creates an unusual word, frindle. Will his teacher accept it?
J E *Cohen, Barbara. Molly’s Pilgrim, William Morrow & Company, 1998. Molly and her family came to the United States from Russia seeking freedom. However, life in the United States isn’t easy for Molly, since she worries about fitting in with her classmates.
*Cole, Joanna and Wendy Saul. On the Bus with Joanna Cole: A Creative Autobiography. Heinemann, 1996. This is a fascinating account of why Joanna Cole writes the Magic School Bus series.
J 593.6 COL *Collard, Sneed. One Night in the Coral Sea. Charlesbridge Publishing, 2006. The National Science Teachers Association gave this book an award and stated, "This book takes the reader on a Field Trip along the Great Barrier Reef”….and “contains beautiful illustrations and interesting information about this natural wonder.”
J FIC *Collins, Suzanne. Gregory the Overlander. Scholastic, 2005. The School Library Journal states, ”In this accessible, almost-cinematic fantasy, Gregor and his two-year-old sister fall into an amazing underground world.”
*Daniels, Lucy. Dolphin Diaries series, Hodder & Stoughton Children’s Division. This fascinating series has an environmental focus and features stories about a girl, whose parents are scientists, and the encounters she has with dolphins and other sea animals.
J E *Danziger, Paula. Amber Brown Goes Fourth. Scholastic, 1996. This is one book in the Amber Brown series. Amber Brown struggles with friendship and changes in her life.
*Donlan, Leni. Working for Change: The Struggle for Women’s Rights. Raintree Publishers, 2007. This book is recommended by The Horn Book Guide. “From Abigail Adams’s plea to “Remember the Ladies” to the passing of the women’s suffrage amendment in 1920, Donlan documents the struggle for women’s voting rights by looking at the lives and work of the movement’s leaders.”
*Draper, Sharon Mills. Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs. Just Us Books, 1994. The author has written an adventure story that weaves in African and Native-American history, as four boys solve a mystery about a hidden trunk.
*Florian, Douglas. Comets, Stars, the Moon and Mars. Harcourt, Incorporated, 2007. Booklist recommend this beautiful book of poetry that “looks at astronomy through the magnifying, clarifying lens of poetry.”
*Frasier, Debra. Miss Alaineus – A Vocabulary Disaster. Harcourt, Incorporated, 2000. This award-winning book interests students in learning new vocabulary words in a very playful manner.
*Giblin, James Cross. The Many Rides of Paul Revere. Scholastic, 2007. Award-winning author, James Cross Giblin, highlights little-known historical facts about Paul Revere and weaves them into a captivating biography.
J FIC *Hale, Bruce. Chet Gecko’s Detective Handbook. Harcourt Children’s Books, 2005. One in the series of detective stories about Chet Gecko…Guaranteed to tickle the funny bone of mystery enthusiasts.
*Harris, Joan. The Least of These: Rescue and Rehabilitation of Wild Baby Birds. Westwinds Press, 2005. The National Science Teachers Association rated this book as outstanding! A science reviewer from NSTA states, “Each story in this book has the ability to capture the reader’s mind and heart and will likely instill a fondness for the natural world around us.” In addition, this book is one of the 2005 ASPCA® Henry Bergh Children's Book Award Winners.
J P *Hesse, Karen. The Cats in Krasinski Square. Scholastic, 2004. This award-winning book received very positive reviews. Kirkus Reviews state, “Hesse has found a little-known vignette that she treats with her customary modest but elevating free verse style, making a grave subject enormously accessible, gently humorous, and affectingly triumphant.” The story takes place in Warsaw in 1942, and it is the story of how children resisted the Gestapo. It is a story of bravery and ingenuity.
J E *Hurwitz, Johanna. Just Desserts Club. William Morrow & Company, 1999. Bored with your summer vacation? Why not start a cooking club, like sixth-grader, Cricket Kaufman did! Read to find out how she used her resourcefulness in creating delicious desserts that got rid of the excess zucchini that was in her family’s kitchen.
*Kalman, Bobbie & Heather Levigne. What is a Bat? Crabtree Publishing Company, 1999. This fascinating nonfiction book on bats is part of a great series by Crabtree Publishers called The Science of Living Things. All books in the series are clearly written with strong text features.
J E *King-Smith, Dick. Mr. Potter’s Pets. Demco Media, 1997. An easy-to-read, satisfying chapter book about how a pet can change a man’s life!
J PAPER *Lasky, Kathryn. The Siege (Guardians of Ga’hoole series). Scholastic, 2004. An action-packed fantasy novel that received five-star reviews from fans…Readers won’t be able to put this book down, as they follow the spine-tingling events as noble owls protect their resources.
*Lasky, Kathryn. Monarchs. Harcourt, 1993. The author shares information about monarch butterflies in a fascinating way.
*Leedy, Loreen and Pat Street. There’s A Frog In My Throat – 440 Animal Sayings A Little Bird Told Me. Holiday House, 2003. This entertaining book will help students understand how to use unique sayings for writing similes, metaphors, idioms, and proverbs, humorously comparing people to animals.
Ref J031.02 *Levey, Judith (Editor). The World Almanac for Kids. World Almanac Books, 1997. This book fascinates readers with helpful information in all subject areas.
J63.34 MAR *Markle, Sandra. Rescues! Lerner/Millbrook, 2006. Book Links recommends an exciting book by Sandra Markle! “In this full-color photo essay, she uses individual experiences of rescue and survival to bring each drama close, basing many accounts on phone interviews with those who were there.”
J BIO ATL *McCarthy, Meghan. Strong Man: The Story of Charles Atlas. Random House Children’s Books, 2007. This book is highly recommended by The Horn Book Guide!“This picture book biography gives readers context for the homage still paid to the bodybuilding champ and fitness guru…simple and light-handed narration.”
J FIC *McDonald, Meghan. Judy Moody Predicts the Future. Candlewick Press, 2003. Does Judy Moody really have clairvoyant capabilities? Judy becomes convinced that she does, as she amazes classmates with her special mood ring. This book is one in a humorous series about Judy Moody.
J PAPER *McMullan, Kate. Dragon Slayer’s Academy. Grosset & Dunlap. A popular fantasy series loaded with humor and adventure
J FIC *Mead, Alice. Junebug. Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1997. Junebug is the story of how a ten-year-old boy deals with being in a small nuclear family and struggles with the pressures of his surroundings. This book is part of a Junebug series.
J FIC *Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Boys Rock! Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 2005. Readers will enjoy reading another book in the series of the Hatford boys and the Mallory girls. They will be interested in finding out why their lives are so contentious.
J FIC *Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Shiloh. Atheneum, 1991. Marty provides a safe haven for a dog that is abused by his owner. This book invites discussion about honor and doing what is right.
*O’Connor, Jim. Comeback! Four True Stories. Random House, 1992. The athletes selected by the author all overcame serious obstacles and made noteworthy comebacks: Wilma Rudolph, Catfish Hunter, Greg LeMond, and Bart Connor.
J PAPER *Park, Barbara. Skinnybones. Random House, 1982. “For the smallest kid on the baseball team, Alex Frankovitch has a major-league big mouth!”
*Phillips, Louis. Keep ‘em Laughing: Jokes to Amuse and Annoy Your Friends. Viking, 1996. Readers will be chuckling from the beginning to the end of this book!
*Platt, Richard. They Played What?!: The Weird History of Sports and Recreation. Two-Can Publishing, Inc. 2007. Recommended by The Horn Book Guide! A fascinating compilation of engaging facts about competitive sports activities played on land, water, and in the air. Beautiful, colorful pages surround the text.
J FIC *Rodda, Emily. Rowan of Rin. HarperCollins Children's Books, 2004. One in a very popular fantasy series about a shy and quiet boy named Rowan… He has to face amazing challenges in a dangerous journey to help the villagers in Rin. The School Library Journal states, “Traditional fantasy elements and setting are presented in a fast-moving and enjoyable tale that should be an easy sell to fantasy lovers.
*Roop, Connie and Peter Roop. Tales of Famous Americans. Scholastic, 2007. This is a collection of profiles on the accomplishments of seventeen famous Americans, ranging from George Washington to Mia Hamm. It is recommended by The Horn Book Guide.
J E *Sachar, Louis. Marvin Redpost #7: Super Fast, Out of Control! Random House, 2000. Award-winning author, Louis Sachar wrote another humorous story that is part of the Marvin Redpost series. Marvin copes with trying to ride his new mountain bike down a very treacherous hill.
J POETRY *Schertle, Alice. Keepers. Lothrop, 1996. This is a beautiful collection of poetry that inspires writers to view simple things differently.
J E *Scieska, Jon. The Time Warp Trio series. Puffin Books. A fantasy series that is full of wild adventure and fun
*Shreve, Susan. Josua T. Bates series, Knopf Paperback, 1997. “Joshua T. Bates is no stranger to trouble.”
*Simon, Seymour. Our Solar System. HarperCollins Publishers, 2007. *The Horn Book Guide recommends this updated book by award-winning nonfiction writer, Seymour Simon. Learn what is the latest and most interesting information!
*Sullivan, George. Helen Keller: Her Life in Pictures. Scholastic, 2007. A fascinating, award-winning collection of unusual photographs of Helen Keller, accompanied by intriguing biographical information that follows her life from infancy to age eighty
*Wagner, Heather Lehr. How the President Is Elected. Chelsea House Publishers, 2007. This book is recommended by The Horn Book Guide. “Archival photographs and paintings and sidebars combine with informative text to present a comprehensive discussion of the political parties and processes that define U.S. government.”
J P *Weatherford, Carole Boston. Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom. Hyperion Books for Children, 2006. This book won the 2007 Teachers’ Choice from the International Reading Association and the 2007 Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration. This is a gorgeous poetic text that depicts Harriet Tubman’s plight when she escaped as an adult slave.
J FIC *Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House in the Big Woods. HarperCollins, 1932. This is part of the Little House series, which takes place on a farm in Wisconsin in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Readers learn of the hardships of Laura and her family.
* Yin. Brothers. Penguin Young Readers Group, 2006. This book is a Teachers’ Choices for 2007 award winner. A touching story about a young Chinese immigrant named Ming. “This is the rarely told story of the first Chinese immigrants and the timeless message of what happens when differences are put aside.”
*Zalben, Jane Breskin. Paths to Peace: People Who Changed the World. Penguin Young Readers Group, 2006. This book received the Teachers’ Choices for 2007 award. It describes the accomplishments of sixteen peacemakers who changed the world in some way. Beautiful quotes and multimedia artwork also make this book a winner.
Resources Consulted: Tenafly teachers and lists of national award-winning books