Looking for Chapter Book Series Book Recommendations for 1st-3rd graders? You are going to LOVE all these great books suggestions!
In this book, a word-loving boy spreads the wealth. Parents need to know that there’s nothing to be concerned about and much to be learned in this introduction to the joy of words. Families who read this book could discuss words.
What makes some words so much fun? How does knowing a lot of words help? What are some of your favorite words? Together you can also learn the words in the book’s glossary and try using them in everyday life whenever you can. Also, how about starting your own collections of wonderful words?Perfect for: Budding Scrabble players and kids who laugh at a good pun.Find at your local library.
Bespeckled and a little stressed out, pessimistic Gerald the elephant has the look of a worried old man while his upbeat friend Piggie is much more kid-like and exuberant. Together they make a great pair, in much the same way as Frog and Toad. The language is simple and repetitive enough for beginning readers to enjoy. And the humor will hold their interest while they struggle with the harder parts. This book is so much fun that even struggling readers will want to read it over and over again, especially if they are able to share parts with another reader. And, happily, this is only one of several in the Elephant and Piggie series.Perfect for: Helping kids see the fun and value in being a little different.Find at your local library.
This homage to the writing life gives new meaning to the educational precept known as “language acquisition.” Max’s brother Benjamin collects stamps; his other brother, Karl, collects coins; and Max wants a collection of his own. In a sly dig at reviewers and reviewing, he cuts up a publication that looks — suspiciously — like the New York Times Book Review and collects piles of words in a potpourri of fonts. Words, of course, lead to story and pretty soon all three brothers are happily engaged in creating a tale about a brown worm, a green snake and a mean crocodile.Perfect for: Kids who like realism.Find at your local library. A sure hit with kids starting chapter books.
Parents need to know the award-winning book is about making a new friend, learning about differences and sharing an adventure. On the surface these girls appear very different.
One wears dresses and reads books, the other has a sassy mouth and likes to get dirty. Some sibling issues occur, including fighting with an older sister, stealing her money, playing tricks on her and calling her names like “tightwad.” With its over-sized print, frequent black-and-white illustrations and easy-to-follow plot, this first book in the series is a great beginning chapter book for kids who are just emerging from early readers.Perfect for: Appreciating a friend’s differences.Find at your local library. Hoberman has written a charming sequel to her first book of the same title.
Set for two voices, these hilarious versions of the three bears, pigs and goats, plus a couple of princesses and one beanstalk, can be read by even beginning readers. The cozy appeal of partnered reading and slightly quirky stories are too snuggly for just one reading. Simple text with abundant humor and comic illustrations follow the invitation: “We’ll read each page to one another. You’ll read one side, I, the other.”Perfect for: Kids who like humor stories.Find at your local library. The Apple Pie that Papa Baked is as homey as Grandma’s kitchen, yet it’s modern, rich and even scientific. In simple language that is also poetic and true, Thompson tells the heartwarming story of how the apple pie comes to be, including a quick introduction to the whole ecological web of life. And, as a final loving touch, she adds that the true enjoyment comes in sharing the pie with all the creatures on the farm.
With that, the circle is made complete.Perfect for: Kids who like nature.Find at your local library. An amazing semi-autobiographical picture book about a young boy and his deaf father set in Brooklyn. The year is 1947 and Jackie Robinson has just been signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Although Dad was never a sports fan (since he can’t hear them on the radio), he becomes determined to meet Jackie in person. He wants to shake the hand of a man he views as a kindred spirit, “who works to overcome thoughtless prejudice.” This book is a beautiful social justice story and also a love letter from a son to his father.Perfect for: Kids who like historical fiction.Find at your local library. This is a layered story that weaves in and out, up and down, to form a fascinating fantasy.
The haunting scene of a wispy, wistful girl peering into the glass case on the cover starts the journey. Inside the case, the girl in the castle, lonely in her turret, appears to be lost in a dreamlike trance. Yet as the story unfolds, the reader learns that the girl in the castle misses the children when they leave the museum and dreams of their return. She even dreams of the reader, who is, in the end, invited to leave his/her picture above the girl’s bed inside the castle, inside the glass case, inside the museum, inside the book that the reader is holding. Much like the Escher-like stairways of the illustrations, the three worlds intersect and blend into an unexpected story. And, with characters that look like dolls, dolls that look like porcelain figures from a Dali painting, strange toys, and hazy dream-like colors sparked here and there with a magical light, Bernheimer and Ceccoli have created a mesmerizing fantasy world that is both uniquely surreal, yet comfortingly real and loving.Perfect for: Kids who like fantasy stories.Find at your local library.
Count the first one hundred days of school with Emily in this fun, fact-filled book. Children will love learning about Emily’s days at school as she learns the alphabet, sings, reads and dances. The oversized format of this book makes the bright illustrations pop off the pages.Want to see the movie? The Scholastic video collection Emily’s First 100 Days of School and More Great School Time Stories features more Rosemary Wells stories and If You Made a Million by David M. Schwartz.Perfect for: Kids who like school.Find at your local library. This is a special book. Each page-spread is a poem, and together the poems tell the story of a bi-racial, blended family overcoming the trials and tribulations of learning to live and love together.
Xavier’s mom has just married Chris’ dad. To Xavier, the house feels too small, the love not enough for two, and just about everything Chris does, Xavier sees as ill-intentioned or competitive. But that makes the book sound heavy when indeed these are witty, moving poems that skip, sink, soar and take unexpected twists, along with the little boy’s emotions. When the brothers work things out and find joy in each other, my 5-year-old daughter in my lap was full of happiness and bounce.
The pictures are energetic, expressive and colorful, and more than match the text — they give it life and whimsy.Perfect for: Kids who like poetry.Find at your local library. Dead center in the fish-eye lens on the cover of this fantastic visual voyage floats another lens centered in the face of an old-fashioned brownie-style box camera. Nary a word is needed to tell the story of a young boy’s trip to the beach, the discovery of a camera washed up by a rogue wave, a trip to the one-hour film developers, a set of mysterious underwater images, and a final photograph showing a child who is holding a picture of a child who is holding a picture of a child who is holding a picture of a child and so on It’s an intriguing metaphor for looking at history through a progressive series of lenses.
A treat from beginning to end.Perfect for: Kids who like fantasy stories.Find at your local library. This sly reversal of the typical older-sibling-jealous-of-the-new-baby picture book tells the story of Rosemary Emma Angela Lynette Isabel Iris Malone, so-saddled because every relative in the extended family took a hand in the naming. Everyone, in fact, from Uncle Jeff to Aunt Barbara to the unnamed grandparents hangs on Rosemary’s every need until her life gives new meaning to the term “cosseted.” Eventually, she comes to the conclusion that being the target of everyone’s affection is hard work and she takes her complaints all the way to the top. “You need to have another kid right away,” she tells her mother, hands firmly planted on her hips. “And that’s that.” In the end, all is resolved to everyone’s satisfaction, though not in the way Rosemary demands or even imagines, and the clever title changes from a statement of fact to an open-ended question.Perfect for: Kids who like realism.Find at your local library.
Is it ever too early to teach compassion? That’s what this astounding and beautiful picture book aspires to do. When schoolchildren make fun of Wanda Petronski, both for her name and for the fact that she wears the same dress to school every day, Wanda begins to tell the tall tale that she has “one hundred dresses” at home. When the children learn the truth, they are given the chance for self-reflection. The lessons learned here will last your child a lifetime.Perfect for: Kids who like classics.Find at your local library. From the moment my mom ripped out the mail-in coupon from Highlights magazine, I loved receiving my monthly mailing from the “Dr. Seuss Beginning Readers” book club.
Of all the books I received, I Wish That I Had Duck Feet was my favorite. Written by Theo. LeSieg (Geisel backwards — a charming pen name Dr. Seuss used when he did not illustrate a title), this funny book is a charmer. Now I grin from ear to ear when my first-grader reads it to me.Perfect for: Kids who like classics.Find at your local library.
This Irish folktale of Fin M’Coul, his lovely wife Oonagh and his nemesis, the pugilistic giant Cucullin, is a perfect read-aloud. Fin is busy building a causeway to Scotland (still called the Giant’s Causeway today) when he hears that the bully Cucullin is beating up all the other giants and is on his way to add Fin to his list of victims. Oonagh comes to the rescue and with the help of a fairy charm she tricks Cucullin into deciding that Fin is one giant better left alone. The book’s wonderful artwork, sprinkled with pictures of Irish metalwork, gives plenty of personality to the main characters and both charm and Celtic blarney to the tale.Perfect for: Kids who like fantasy stories.Find at your local library. This Irish folktale of Fin M’Coul, his lovely wife Oonagh and his nemesis, the pugilistic giant Cucullin, is a perfect read-aloud. Fin is busy building a causeway to Scotland (still called the Giant’s Causeway today) when he hears that the bully Cucullin is beating up all the other giants and is on his way to add Fin to his list of victims. Oonagh comes to the rescue and with the help of a fairy charm she tricks Cucullin into deciding that Fin is one giant better left alone.
De Paola’s wonderful artwork, sprinkled with pictures of Irish metalwork, gives plenty of personality to the main characters and both charm and Celtic blarney to the tale.Perfect for: Kids who like fantasy stories.Find at your local library. Brigg lives in a city of the future where the landscape is all cement, kept clean by giant vacuum systems so that even a mug-full of dust is hard to collect.
One day he discovers an image in a book that speaks to his heart: “It showed pictures of the most beautiful shapes and colors, and called them flowers.” He searches the city for traces of this beauty and discovers a pack of seeds at a junk shop. The Flower has a subtlety that intrigues both older and younger children who totally get it. I’ve had wonderful responses — joyful and vigorous affirmations of how they love, love, love flowers. And they draw lots of them after reading this book, so have some paper and crayons handy!Perfect for: Kids who like fantasy stories.Find at your local library.
Little Elephant is so curious she just has to know what the crocodile eats for dinner. None of her relatives will tell her, so she takes the Kolokolo bird’s advice to go directly to the great, grey-green Limpopo River to ask the reptile in person. A tug of war stretches her snub-nose into a useful trunk that all elephants have to this day, or so the story goes. Richards’ lively tale is a wonderful introduction to classic literature.Perfect for: Kids who like fantasy stories.Find at your local library. Are you looking for a sea adventure? If your child dreams of treasure and wonders what a pirate’s life might be like then sail away with Jeremy Jacobs and you’ll find out.
At first life seems great for Jeremy when he joins Braid Beard and his rambunctious crew. No manners, no bedtime and no nagging to brush your teeth make life on board ship very appealing.
But soon Jeremy begins to miss the comforts of home and realizes that a pirate’s life may not be exactly what he wants.Perfect for: Kids who like fantasy stories.Find at your local library. This picture book is created from the author’s fond childhood memory of a Spanish play song, and makes a fun game out of getting dressed. The animals in the forest gather and chant “Let’s play in the forest while the wolf is not around” on the left side of the page-spreads, while the wolf is getting himself ready for the morning on the right side. The wolf gets bigger with each piece of clothing he puts on.
The animals do play in the forest all the way through the book. When the wolf is finally dressed, his face fills the page and he proclaims, “I am very hungry!” Instead of eating the animals, he eats pancakes his mother made and then goes on his way to school. Rueda includes notes explaining the origins of the song (traditional French and Spanish), as well as the musical notation.Perfect for: Kids who like fantasy stories.Find at your local library.
For years, the Big Bad Wolf (B.B. Wolf) has been living at Villain Villa Senior Center in comfort, receiving nothing in the mail but bills. One day, he gets an invitation to the Annual Storybook Tea at the library.
Wolf, who until this point has never thought out his actions, is at a loss about what to do. Should he go to the tea, or not? After consulting with his good friend Crocodile, he decides to go, but not without taking the necessary precautions. Combining Judy Sierra’s clever storytelling abilities and Seibold’s hilarious and stylized illustrations, Mind Your Manners B.B. Wolf is a sure hit with children and parents alike. The lesson in manners is so subtle, kids won’t realize they are getting one. Make sure to pay attention to the pictures, as they are chock full of silliness!Perfect for: Kids who like fantasy stories.Find at your local library.
Lots of them. It all starts around 8 p.m. On a Tuesday. Almost totally wordless, Tuesday takes us into a magical, funny and flighty experience.
The frogs start their flights of fancy in a three-panel page that shows them sleeping. Then one is surprised by his floating-into-the-air-lily pad, while the rest watch him in delight. A turtle on a log notices something above him. Turn the page, and the frogs are calmly flying by on their magic lily pad carpets! Look for startled fish and harassed birds! The expressions on the frogs’ faces are priceless, and the artwork is bounding with energy. Tuesday won the 1992 Caldecott Medal and was named as an ALA Notable Children’s Book.Perfect for: Kids who like fantasy stories.Find at your local library.
This is a moving story set on a plantation in antebellum Virginia. The book deals directly with many of the hardships endured by enslaved African American people in the pre-Civil War South, from verbal and physical abuse by the owners and overseers of the plantation to the terrors of time spent on the dangerous Underground Railway. For children old enough to comprehend some aspects of the historical setting and political situation in the story, this is an emotionally rewarding and ultimately optimistic story.Perfect for: Kids who like historical fiction.Find at your local library. On January 1st, a family is surprised by a delivery: a single penguin from a mysterious sender. What’s more, the delivery continues with one penguin for each day until, by the end of the year, their house is so stuffed with penguins that the family has to celebrate a cold New Year’s Eve out on their front lawn. This picture book is fantastic in more ways than one — the story is imaginative and even includes counting concepts for some educational appeal — and the illustrations really put it over the top; they’re bold and simple with a retro appeal. You could read this book a dozen times and still find a penguin hiding where you’d least expect it.Perfect for: Kids who like adventure stories.Find at your local library.
It’s young Sam’s first snowfall, and he has plenty of questions. Do snow angels sing? Where do snowmen sleep? Luckily for him, his big sister Stella has a seemingly endless supply of imaginative answers. For instance, Sam asks why does breath turn into fog when it’s cold out?
Well, according to Stella, that’s because your words freeze and “every word has a different fog shape.” With her quirky outlook and boundless imagination, Stella offers young readers a fun and unconventional take on winter.Perfect for: Kids with an imagination.Find at your local library. This book opens simply enough, with two piglets waking up to the pre-dawn sounds of the garbage men making their rounds. The emphasis in these early pages is on the noises made by the trucks, rumbling and roaring like “dragons snoring.” But then the focus turn to the actual garbage — rotten eggs, apple cores, diapers, and so on. Odanaka isn’t afraid to be realistic; her smiley garbage men wear “Greasy gloves.sticky boots.stains a-plenty on their suits,” and there are flies “a-buzzin’ by the dozen.” Will Hillenbrand’s vivid ink and egg tempera illustrations bring all these stinky details to life — including the truck itself, which gobbles up everything with gusto. There’s a definite gross-out element to the book, but Odanaka’s rhyming text and enthusiastic look at an important job make this entirely suitable for small children.Perfect for: Kids who like humor stories.Find at your local library. Glen Rounds takes the flood story, bends it completely out of shape, and stretches it into a ridiculous, very funny tall tale.
Noah goes into a snit when a bunch of wild animals lumber aboard and overcrowd the newly finished ark. Nor is her mood improved by the fact that she is unable to wash while it rains. By the 41st day, she is thoroughly disgruntled, and her family is thoroughly dirty. On that first sunshiny morning, she is determined to let nothing stand in her way — most certainly not a minor detail like the lack of a clothesline.Perfect for: Kids who like humor stories.Find at your local library. The first page of this book reads: “Baseball. Alex lived for it.” This is the perfect read for those kids who are crazy about the sport of baseball and “live for it.” New York Yankees’ superstar Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod) tells a fictionalized story about a boy named Alex, who plays in the playoffs and a championship game at the age of 6. The emphasis is on hard work, the spirit of determination and joy in the game.
The incidents described in the book are based on experiences from A-Rod’s childhood, and actual photos from his early life are featured at the end of the book.Perfect for: Kids who like sports.Find at your local library. This is part of the Rookie Biographies Series and includes books about Benjamin Franklin, Neil Armstrong and Amelia Earhart. Rookie Biographies is an excellent series for stronger first-grade readers. The books utilize lyrical language and challenging vocabulary words, but also offer guidance with pronunciation keys and word definitions at the end of each book.
Mae Jemison biography is one of my favorites because not only was she the first African-American woman to travel into space, but she is an accomplished chemical engineer and jet pilot, making her a truly exciting role model for girls and boys alike.Perfect for: Kids who like to read about real people.Find at your local library. Doreen Cronin has done it again with this first person narrative told from the point of view of a boy worm. This book introduces the concept of a diary in a fun way. Young readers will identify with all the escapades of a worm, as he interacts with family members, goes to school and vacations at Compost Island.
Children will laugh and learn facts in a fun way while learning to appreciate living creatures.Want to see the movie? Check out the Scholastic video collection Diary of a Worm And Four More Great Animal Tales, which also includes favorites like Anatole and Frog Goes to Dinner.Perfect for: Kids who like humor stories.Find at your local library. On one level this picture book seems to be a science fiction story of aliens from Mars landing on Earth.
It is actually the story of Orson Welles’ famous 1938 live radio broadcast of H.G. Wells The War of the Worlds, which caused panic and hysteria across the country despite broadcast disclaimers that it was only a play. The book begins with a radio announcer explaining the important role that radio played in the lives of Americans during the ’30s, which will probably be surprising to many young readers. McCarthy uses the illustrations to distinguish fact from fiction by presenting real-life scenes in black and white and the fictional radio play in color. The amusing illustrations add to the book’s appeal, with the humans’ buggy eyes looking strangely similar to the buggy eyes of the Martian aliens.Perfect for: Kids who like history.Find at your local library. There’s lots of info packed into this appealing pop-up. Parents need to know that this pop-up book is so chock-full of historical information that kids won’t be able to take it all in on the first round.
A bloodless joust is illustrated, and readers learn about armor and battles. Families can talk about what it must have been like to live during medieval times. They can compare our romantic ideal of castle life with the more stark reality presented in this pop-up.Perfect for: Kids who like history.Find at your local library. Ann McGovern’s simple text is an excellent way to introduce children to the struggles that the Pilgrims faced during their first year at Plymouth. This book works best as a read-aloud for first-graders because of its third-grade reading level. Curious readers will be mesmerized by the vivid details of life aboard the Mayflower and the building of the colony. The idea of making friends with an Indian named Squanto proves to be even more intriguing.
McGovern paints a realistic picture of the hardships the colonists faced and the relationships that were forged with the Indians. Perhaps what is most stunning for young readers is learning about the strict rules and discipline children had to endure in 1623.Perfect for: Kids who like history.Find at your local library. The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle is narrated by the bottle in question as it goes on a journey from a refinery plant to a manufacturing line to a store shelf to a garbage can and finally to a recycling plant, before reemerging, through the wonders of plastic recycling, as a fleece jacket. Readers share the daily experiences and inner thoughts contained in the bottle’s diary entries. The book is entertaining and at the same time eye-opening, pointing out the ecological significance behind consumer products and the resources used to make them.Perfect for: Kids who like science and nature.Find at your local library. This photo essay chronicles the rescue, treatment and ultimate release back to the ocean of a critically ill loggerhead sea turtle at the South Carolina Aquarium.
Although the author goes beyond describing the turtle’s observable behavior by attributing human emotions to the creature, this book might be comforting to kids going through difficult medical treatment and would certainly be of interest to any young animal lovers. The large print and simple vocabulary format should be accessible for beginning readers.Perfect for: Kids like science and nature.Find at your local library. OK, not to be overly technical, but not all of these creepy-crawlies are insects — some are arachnids, diplopods, or crustaceans. But they’re all pretty icky. Author Jerry Palotta chose 26 subjects, including stinkbugs, pill bugs, and periodical cicadas.
Not only will kids learn that blister beetles are used for medicine and that honey pot ants make delicious snacks, but discerning readers will also notice that this is an ABC book in reverse, beginning with one zebra swallowtail butterfly and ending with 26 army ants.Perfect for: Kids who like science and nature.Find at your local library. Reptiles are endlessly fascinating to kids, so this book should be appealing to young non-fiction lovers. The book is also packed with fun, interesting facts that kids will love, for example, “A chameleon’s tongue is as long as the rest of its body.” The colorful, eye-catching photos on each page feature these scaly creatures up-close and personal in their natural habitats.
Published by Dorling Kindersley, publisher of the wildly popular Eyewitness Series, this series is aimed at a younger group of readers with simpler vocabulary and less text on each page. The meanings of new words are clearly explained in context. If this book is a hit with your child, there are seven more in the Eye Wonder series: Big Cats, Birds, Bugs, Explorer, Mammals, Ocean, Rain Forest, Rivers and Lakes, Space.Perfect for: Kids who like science and nature.Find at your local library. This rhyming alphabet book provides young readers with facts about every facet of the state of California – its natural history, famous people and interesting landmarks.
From Alcatraz to Yosemite to the 21 California missions, children are introduced to many unique features of the Golden State. This book is part of the Discover America State by State series, including E is for Evergreen (Washington), M is for Mayflower (Massachusetts), S is for Sunshine (Florida), and so on, one for each of the 50 states. These books would be a wonderful read before a vacation, a visit to relatives or a move to a new home.Perfect for: Kids who like history.Find at your local library.
Of all the dinosaur books that have crossed my desk, Uneversaurus (a fun play on a dinosaur’s name: “you never saw us”) never fails to capture attention. The best way to encourage your child to read is to cater to their interests with the books you choose. And what first-grader is not fascinated by dinosaurs? Impressively illustrated and comically written, this book inspires children to draw some of their own scientific conclusions by showing how paleontologists have pieced together facts about dinosaurs over the years. Perfect for a long car or plane ride, Uneversaurus will be a summer favorite.Perfect for: Kids who like science and nature.Find at your local library. Have you ever had a day that you’d rather forget?
Then you will certainly be able to relate to poor Alexander when his day starts bad and gets progressively worse as the day goes on. From the moment Alexander wakes up, with gum in his hair, to the disappointment of not getting a surprise in his cereal box, Alexander keeps you laughing as he complains about his horrible day. This is a great book for parents and teachers to read to children when they are having “one of those days!”Perfect for: Kids who like realism.Find at your local library. The words “You are mostly made of water” start a young boy on a mysterious exploration of that very substance. He moves from fear (“If his cat scratched him, would all the water leak out?”) to kinship (“When he stood on the cliffs, the waves sang to him”) and finally to control (“He was able to toss water from a glass and have it come snapping back, like a yo-yo”). The lack of a name (he is always called “the boy”) and the deliberate cadence of the sentences give this book a sense of universality and solemnity while the luminous images — lit by a strange interior light — lend a dreamlike quality to every scene. This is a book that will appeal to the quiet, inquiring, and introspective child who sees — or seeks — mystery and magic in the everyday world.Perfect for: Kids who like science and nature.Find at your local library.
This sweet ode to stars begins and ends with the night sky. In between, Stars explores all sorts of other places where stars can be found, both literally and figuratively: on pajamas or school papers; in snowflakes or the flowers in a pumpkin patch. A star can transform a stick into a magic wand or a kid into a sheriff. Ray’s simple prose and Frazee’s playful illustrations combine to create a lovely stream-of-consciousness feel that encourages a child’s mind to wander and wonder.Bottom line: Reading with your child is sure to spark conversation and inspire star-related crafts and a star hunt of your own.Find at your local library.
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