First Grade Summer Reading List

Students Entering First Grade

The following is a list of books that you can read with your child in the summer and throughout the coming school year.  The books that are listed reflect a variety of the topics pursued in the First Grade.  You should feel free to choose from this list according to the interests of your child and the availability of books in libraries and stores.  (Please note that an * indicates that the author has written numerous books, most of which would make for equally suitable reading.)

Note:  This list was updated June 10, 2011.

Thinking with Numbers

*Anno, Mitsumasa   Anno’s Counting Book
Crews, Donald        Ten Black Dots
Friedman, Aileen     The King’s Commissioners
Giganti, Paul           Each Orange Had Eight Slices
Kellogg, Steven       How Much is a Million
Sendak, Maurice      One Was Johnny
Sis, Peter                Fire Truck
Tang, Greg             Math For All Seasons

Journeys & Exploration

Barton, Byron    I Want to be an Astronaut
Burleigh, Robert        Flight
Cooney, Barbara        Miss Rumphuis
Lauber, Patricia    How We Learned the Earth is Round
Lindbergh, Reeve        Nobody Owns the Sky
*Ringgold, Faith        Tar Beach
Ryan, Pam Munoz    Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride
*Sis, Peter            Starry Messenger
Young, C. & Miles, J.    Ships, Sailors, and the Sea

By Boat, By Plane, By Train

*Burton, Virginia Lee        Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
*Crews, Donald        Freight Train, The Short Cut, Big Mama
*Gibbons, Gail        Trains
*Siebert, Diane        Truck Song, Plane Song, Train Song
*Van Allsburg, Chris        The Polar Express

ABC Books

Crews, Donald            We Read: A to Z
Hall, Adelaide            The ABC of Cars, Trucks, and Machines
Lobel, Anita            Away From Home
Magee, D. & Newman, R.    All Aboard ABC, Let’s Fly From A to Z
Martin,  Bill            Chicka, Chicka, Boom Boom
Palotta, Stillwell & Bolster    The Airplane Alphabet Book
Van Allsburg, Chris        The Z Was Zapped
Knowlton, Jack      Geography from A to Z

Bible Stories & Stories of Faith

*De Paola, Tomie        The Clown of God
Hagan, L. & Westerhoff, J.    Theirs is the Kingdom
Lindbergh, Reeve        The Circle of Days
Lloyd-Jones, Sally     The Jesus Storybook Bible
Spier, Peter            The Book of Jonah, Noah’s Ark

Other Good Books

*Asch, Frank            Happy Birthday Moon
Allen, Pamela            Mr. Archemides’ Bath
Chase, Edith Newlin        The Tale of Thomas Mead
*Hoban, Russell        Bread and Jam for Frances
*Lobel, Arnold        Owl at Home, Frog and Toad
*Martin, Bill             Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear
Minarik, Else Holmelund    Little Bear’s Visit

A Few Noteworthy Collections

Clark, Margaret        The Best of Aesop’s Fables
Hamiltion, Virginia    When Birds Could Talk and People Could Sing, The People Could Fly
Low, Alice    The MacMillan Book of Greek Gods and Heroes