MIS Summer Reading - Elementary School Edition

Summer is here! We hope that it is both relaxing and full of adventurous learning. Whether you are relaxing at home or hitting the roadways, waterways, and skyways, we hope that one way of escape for you this summer will be through reading.

Summer reading is a great opportunity for you to build and explore your own reading habits and to keep your brain active and engaged. We encourage you to read books purely for pleasure and as an opportunity to explore the big magnificent world around you and within your imagination.

You all have diverse interests and reading levels, so these books vary in topic, difficulty, and depth. You may want to do a little research to make sure you are selecting books that are best for you and your family. The links for each grade level’s summer reading list below will outline suggested texts and expectations so you are prepared for the first week of school. You’ll find that each book has a link to order it on the Little Shop of Stories website – we encourage you to support small, local independent bookstores!

All in all, we wish you a happy and safe summer!  

Elementary:

For the elementary level, the only requirement is that you read something that challenges you (your reading level or your ideas and perspectives).  We have compiled some ideas here, but feel free to take a look at other lists and explore other interests, as well.  As you read, think about story elements such as plot, setting, conflict, and resolution.  We recommend a balance of reading together aloud and reading independently. There are a very wide variety of reading levels, themes, and depth here, so please make sure that you are helping your students select books that are best for your family in particular.

Rising Kindergarten 

  Fiction

• Saturday by Oge Mora

• The Book with No Pictures by B J Novak

• Be Quiet by Ryan Higgins

• Lon Po Po by Ed Young

• Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña

• The Sandwich Swap by Kelly DiPuccio

• Mercy Watson to the Rescue by Kate DiCamillo

• Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary 

• The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me by Roald Dahl

  Nonfiction

• Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick

• Locomotive by Brian Floca

• Star Stuff: Carl Sagan and the Mysteries of the Cosmos by Stephanie Roth Sisson

Rising First Grade

• Umbrella by Taro Yashima

• The Cat from Hunger Mountain by Ed Young

• Color Me a Rhyme by Jane Holden 

• Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o

• I Wonder Why series published by Kingfisher (multiple authors)

• Dinosaur Lady by Linda Skeers

• Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary

• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

• The Infamous Ratsos by Kara LaReau (Early Chapter Book Series)

• I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

• The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson

• A Different Pond by Bao Phi

• Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal

Rising Second Grade

• Cam Jansen Mystery series by David A. Adler

• My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett

• Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors by Hena Khan

• Xochitl and the Flowers/Xochitl, la Nina de las Flores by Jorge Argueta

• The Crane Girl by Curtis Manley

• New Shoes by Susan Lynn Meyer 

• The Case of the Spooky Sleepover, Jigsaw Jones Mystery #4 by James Prelle

• The Adventures of Taxi Dog by Debra Barracca, Sal Barracca, Mark Buehner (illus.)

• The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rainforest by Lynne Cherry

• Dory Fantasmagory by Abby Hanlon

• Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows

• Mercy Watson to the Rescue by Kate DiCamillo

• Ellray Jakes series by Sally Warner

• Alvin Ho series by Lenore Look

• Andy Shane, Hero at Last by Jennifer Richard Jacobson

• Absolutely Alfie series by Sally Warner

• Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie by Julie Sternberg

Rising Third Grade

• Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford (picture book)

• Appleblossom the Possum by Holly Goldberg Sloan (chapter book)

• The Problem with Being Slightly Heroic by Uma Krishnaswami (chapter book)

• Dumpling Days by Grace Lin (chapter book)

• Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert O’Brien (chapter book)

• El Deafo by Cece Bell (graphic novel)

• Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary (chapter book with picture support)

• The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich (chapter book with picture support)

• Oddfellow’s Orphanage by Emily Winfield Martin (chapter book with picture support)

• Wonder by R.J. Palacio

• Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
  
  

Rising Fourth Grade

• Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan (Chapter Book)

• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (Poetry)

• They Called Us Enemy by George Takei (Graphic Novel)

• Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott (Chapter Book)

• Year of the Dog (A Pacy Lin Novel) by Grace Lin (Chapter Book)

• New Kid by Jerry Craft (Graphic Novel)

• The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez (Chapter Book)

• City Spies & City Spies 2: Golden Gate by James Ponti (Chapter Book)

Rising Fifth Grade

• Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams (Chapter Book)

• The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya (Chapter Book)

• The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (Chapter Book)

• Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli (Poetry)

• Ghost by Jason Reynolds (Chapter Book)

• Chew on This by Charles Wilson and Eric Schlosser (Nonfiction)

• Bomb by Steve Sheinkin (Nonfiction)

• Breakout by Kate Messner (Chapter Book)

• Ground Zero by Alan Gratz (Chapter Book)