2023
books 2022-23
January
- O. Henry, The Gift of the Magi*
- Beatrix Potter, The Tailor of Gloucester*
- Richard Muhlberger (ed.), The Christmas Story*
- Ruth Sawyer, The Long Christmas*
- Jo Polseno, Secrets of a Cypress Swamp: The Natural History of the Okefenokee
Third Grade
Everything listed above plus:
- Berneice Freschet, The Year on Muskrat Marsh
- Betsy Maestro, The New Americans: Colonial Times, 1620-1689
Pre-K and Nursery
Everything listed above plus:
- Margaret Wise Brown, Christmas in the Barn
- Elsa Beskow, Peter and Lotta’s Christmas
- Norma Farber, How the Hibernators Came to Bethlehem
- Elsa Beskow, Ollie’s Ski Trip
- Tomie dePaola, An Early American Christmas
- Margaret Wise Brown, The Little Fir Tree
- Robert Barry, Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree
- Barbara Cooney (retold), The Little Juggler
- Mitsumasa Anno, Anno’s Counting Book
- Audrey Tarrant, The Donkey of Nazareth
- Astrid Lindgren, Christmas in Noisy Village
- Ruth Sawyer, Journey Cake, Ho!*
- Ingri & Edgar Parin D’Aulaire, The Star Spangled Banner
- Allen Say, Kamishibai Man
- Lois Lenski, Policeman Small
- Elsa Beskow, Around the Year
- Gene Zion, Harry the Dirty Dog
- Patricia Thomas, There Are Rocks in My Socks! Said the Ox to the Fox
- Paul Galdone (ill.), The Three Billy Goats Gruff*
- Gyo Fujikawa (ill.), Fairy Tales and Fables*
- Barbara Cooney (ill.), Read Me Another Story
- Elsa Beskow, Pelle’s New Suit*
- Feodor Rojankovsky (ill.), The Tall Book of Mother Goose
- Dahlov Ipcar, Lobsterman
- Jim Aylesworth, The Folks in the Valley
- Kathryn and Byron Jackson, The Saggy Baggy Elephant
- Jane Werner Watson, Wonders of Nature
February
- Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Long Winter
Third Grade
Everything listed above plus:
- H.A. Rey, The Stars
- Kathryn Lasky, Newton’s Rainbow: The Revolutionary Discoveries of a Young Scientist
- Bryce Milligan, Brigid’s Cloak: An Ancient Irish Story
- Arabella Buckley, Wild Life in Woods and Fields
- Jean de la Fontaine (transl. Sir Edward Marsh), Fables
- Betsy Maestro, Struggle for a Continent: The French and Indian Wars, 1689-1763
Pre-K and Nursery
Everything listed above plus:
- Aldous Huxley, The Crows of Pearblossom*
- Marianna Mayer (retold), The Twelve Dancing Princesses*
- Jane Yolen, Owl Moon
- John Steptoe (retold), The Story of Jumping Mouse
- The Brave Little Tailor in Herbert Leupin (ill.), Tales from the Brothers Grimm
- Trina Schart Hyman (ill.), Little Red Riding Hood
- Marjorie Priceman, Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride
- The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids in Herbert Leupin (ill.), Tales from the Brothers Grimm
- Tasha Tudor, 1 is One
- Steven Kellogg, Johnny Appleseed: A Tall Tale
- Hans Christian Andersen (transl. Naomi Lewis), The Wild Swans
- David A. Adler, A Picture Book of Sacagawea
- Jon Arno Lawson, A Day for Sandcastles
- Tomie dePaola, Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland
- Charles Santore (ill.), Paul Revere’s Ride*
- Tomie dePaola (retold), The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush
- Hans Christian Andersen (transl. Naomi Lewis), The Emperor’s New Clothes
- John Langstaff, Over in the Meadow
- K.Y. Craft, Cinderella*
- Paul Galdone (retold), Three Aesop Fox Fables*
- Demi (retold), The Donkey and the Rock
- Demi (adapted), The Magic Gold Fish
- Tomie dePaola, The Legend of Old Befana
- Charlotte Craft (retold), King Midas and the Golden Touch
- Ilse Plume (ill.), The Farmer in the Dell
- John Becker, Seven Little Rabbits
- Peter Spier, The Book of Jonah
- Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Miss Moppet
- Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Tom Kitten
- Gyo Fujikawa, Oh, What a Busy Day!
- Arlene Mosel (retold), Tikki Tikki Tembo
- Dr. Seuss’s ABC
- Elizabeth Ring, Loon at Northwood Lake
- Bernadette Watts (retold), The Rich Man and the Shoemaker
- Nicola Bayley’s Book of Nursery Rhymes*
- Ilse Plume (retold), The Shoemaker and the Elves
- Joanna Cole, Plants in Winter
Independent reading (third grade)
- Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little Town on the Prairie
March
- Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood*
- Bruce Bliven, Jr., The American Revolution
Third Grade
Everything listed above plus:
- Diane Stanley, Peter the Great
- Russell Freedman, The Sinking of the Vasa
- Virginia Wright-Frierson, An Island Scrapbook: Dawn to Dusk on a Barrier Island
- George S. Fichter, Starfish, Seashells, and Crabs
- Leonard Everett Fisher, The Architects
- Candace Fleming (retold), The Hatmaker’s Sign: A Story by Benjamin Franklin
- Stephen Krensky, Dangerous Crossing: The Revolutionary Voyage of John Quincy Adams
Pre-K and Nursery
Everything listed above plus:
- Molly Brett, The Hare in a Hurry
- Doe Boyle, Coral Reef Hideaway: The Story of a Clown Anemonefish
- Olive Beaupre Miller, My Book House*
- Eric Carle, A House for Hermit Crab
- Selina Chonz, A Bell for Ursli
- Nicola Bayley, Nursery Rhymes*
- Christina Rossetti (Bernadette Wells, ill.), Fly Away, Fly Away Over the Sea*
- Sophie Blackall, Hello Lighthouse
- Dennis Nolan, Dinosaur Dream
- Virginia Lee Burton, The Little House
- Laurence Pringle, The Secret Life of the Red Fox
- Dianna Hutts Aston, A Butterfly is Patient
- Sibylle von Olfers, The Princess in the Forest
- Margaret Wise Brown, Wait Till the Moon is Full
- Demi, The Dragon’s Tale and Other Animal Fables of the Chinese Zodiac
- Tony Johnston, Sunsets of the West
- Margaret Hodges (retold), Saint George and the Dragon*
- Dahlov Ipcar, One Horse Farm*
- Barbara Cooney, Miss Rumphius*
- Dianna Aston, An Egg is Quiet
- Hans Christian Andersen (transl. Naomi Lewis), The Steadfast Tin Soldier*
- Gennady Spirin, The Tale of the Firebird
Independent reading (sixth grade)
- William Shirer, The Sinking of the Bismarck: The Deadly Hunt
- C.S. Forester, Sink the Bismarck!
Independent reading (third grade)
- Laura Ingalls Wilder, These Happy Golden Years
April
- Robert Louis Stevenson, The Black Arrow*
Third Grade
Everything listed above plus:
- Genevieve Foster, The World of William Penn
- Dennis Brindell Fradin, Let It Begin Here! Lexington & Concord
- Ann Turner, When Mr. Jefferson Came to Philadelphia
- Anita Sanchez, Karl, Get Out of the Garden! Carolus Linnaeus and the Naming of Everything
- Stephen Krensky, Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride
- Anne Rockwell, They Called Her Molly Pitcher
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner*
Pre-K and Nursery
Everything listed above plus:
- Margaret Hodges (retold), Saint George and the Dragon
- Tomie dePaola, Charlie Needs A Cloak
- Sherri Duskey Rinker, Steam Train, Dream Train
- Clement Hurd, The Merry Chase
- Paul O. Zelensky (retold), Rapunzel
- Anita Lobel, On Market Street
- Dr. Seuss, Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose*
- Paul Galdone, Little Red Riding Hood
- Tasha Tudor, A Tale for Easter
- Jan Brett, The Easter Egg
- John Updike, A Child’s Calendar
- Paul Galdone, The Elves and the Shoemaker
- Tomie dePaola (retold), Strega Nona
- Elsa Beskow, Princess Sylvie
- Clare Turlay Newberry, Smudge
- K.Y. Craft (ill.), Sleeping Beauty
- Charles E. Carryl, The Walloping Window-Blind
- Eve Titus, Mr. Shaw’s Shipshape Shoeshop
- Alice McLerran, Roxaboxen
- Margaret Wise Brown, Where Have You Been?
- Richard Scarry, A Day at the Airport
- A.A. Milne, The Magic Hill
- Hans Christian Andersen, The Ugly Duckling
- Gordon Laite (ill.), The Blue Book of Fairy Tales
Independent reading (sixth grade)
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers*
Independent reading (third grade)
- Margot Fonteyn (retold), Coppelia
- Eve Titus, Anatole
- Marguerite Henry, San Domingo
- Opal Wheeler and Sybil Deucher, Mozart the Wonder Boy
books 2023-24
May
- Alexander Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo*
- Roger Lancelyn Green, King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table*
Third Grade
Everything listed above plus:
- Hans Christian Andersen, The Snow Queen*
- Margaret Hodges, The True Tale of Johnny Appleseed
- Laurence Pringle, The Secret Life of the Sea Otter
- Margaret Hodges (retold), Gulliver in Lilliput
- Selina Hastings, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Pre-K and Nursery
Everything listed above plus:
- Edward Ardizzone, Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain
- Gyo Fujikawa (ill.), Fairy Tales and Fables*
- M. Jean Craig (retold), The Donkey Prince*
- Brinton Turkle, Thy Friend, Obadiah
- Olive Beaupre Miller, My Book House, vol. 2 (Story Time)*
- Barbara Cooney, Chanticleer and the Fox*
- Elsa Beskow, Pelle’s New Suit&ast
- Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit*
- Francois Crozat, I am a little panda.
- Richard Scarry, The Supermarket Mystery
- Carolyn B. Otto, Raccoon at Clear Creek Road
- Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, What can you do with a shoe?
- Ilse Plume (ill.), The Farmer in the Dell
- Laura Ingalls Wilder (adapted from), A Little Prairie House
Independent Reading (Sixth Grade)
- Robert D. Loomis, Great American Fighter Pilots of World War II
- Ian Serraillier (retold), Havelok the Dane
Independent Reading (Third Grade)
- James Mayhew, Tales From Russia
books 2023-24
June
- Sigrid Undset, Sigurd and His Brave Companions: A Tale of Medieval Norway*
Kindergarten and Nursery
- Leo Politi, Song of the Swallows
- Bernadette Watts (retold), The Rich Man and the Shoemaker
- Lynne Cox, Yoshi
- Antonia Barber, Hidden Tales from Eastern Europe
- Elsa Beskow, Princess Sylvie
- Herve Tullet, Press Here
- Marianna Mayer, The Black Horse
- Margaret Hodges, Moses*
- John Langstaff, Over in the Meadow*
- Doris Burn, Andrew Henry’s Meadow
- Marianna Mayer (retold), Pegasus
- Julia Donaldson, The Snail and the Whale
Independent Reading (Fourth Grade)
- Bernadette Watts (retold), The Rich Man and the Shoemaker
- Bruce Robertson, Marguerite Makes a Book
- Howard Pyle, Bearskin
- Barbara Cooney (retold), Snow White and Rose Red
- Tasha Tudor, Pumpkin Moonshine
- Hans Christian Andersen (Demi, ill.), The Nightingale
- Paul O. Zelinsky, The Lion and the Stoat
- Elinor Lander Horwitz, When the Sky is Like Lace
- Ludwig Bemelmans, Madeline and the Gypsies
- Edward Ardizzone, Tim’s Friend Towser
- Barbara Cooney, Miss Rumphius
- Robert McCloskey, Lentil
- Howard Pyle, The Swan Maiden
- Demi, The Greatest Treasure
- Edward Ardizzone, Ship’s Cook Ginger
- Edward Ardizzone, Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain
- Susan Jeffers (retold), The Nutcracker
- Alice McLerran, Roxaboxen
- Esther Averill, Jenny and the Cat Club
- Betty MacDonald, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
- Esther Averill, The School for Cats
- Molly Brett, Robin Finds Christmas
- Esther Averill, Jenny Goes to Sea
July
- Robert Louis Stevenson, Catriona*
- Elizabeth Goudge, Linnets and Valerians
Kindergarten and Nursery
- Mitsumasa Anno, Anno’s Alphabet*
- Margaret Hodges, Hidden in Sand
- Margaret Wise Brown, Big Red Barn*
- Virginia Lee Burton, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
- Paul Galdone (retold), Little Red Riding Hood
- Gennady Spirin (ill.), The Easter Story
- Carl Memling, Our Flag
- Lois Lenski, The Little Sailboat
Independent Reading (Fourth Grade)
- Carolyn Haywood, “B” is for Betsy
- Edward Ardizzone, Tim All Alone
- Edward Ardizzone, Tim and Charlotte
- Astrid Lindgren, The Children of Noisy Village
- Barbara Cooney (retold), The Little Juggler*
- Jane Yolen, Letting Swift River Go
- Tasha Tudor, A Time to Keep
- Munro Leaf, Wee Gillis*
- Susan Wojciechowski, The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey*
- Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White Horse*
- Robert McCloskey, Time of Wonder*
- Kathleen Adams and Frances Atkinson (eds.), A Book of Princess Stories*
- E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web*
- Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit*
- Hans Christian Andersen (ill. Michael Hague), The Little Mermaid*
August
- Eva March Tappan, Alfred the Great*
Kindergarten
- Alan Aldridge, The Ship’s Cat*
- Elsa Beskow, The Flowers’ Festival
- Maud and Miska Petersham, The Story Book of Ships (in Best in Children’s Books, vol. 17)
- James Baldwin (retold), Drakesbill (in Best in Children’s Books, vol. 17)
- James Baldwin (retold), The Bell of Atri (in Best in Children’s Books, vol. 37)
- Sara Cone Bryant (retold), The King of the Golden River (in Best in Children’s Books, vol. 37)
- Elsa Beskow, Pelle’s New Suit
- Bernadette Watts (ill.), Fly Away, Fly Away, Over the Sea and other Poems by Christina Rossetti
- James Baldwin (retold), Ulysses and the Wooden Horse of Troy (in Best in Children’s Books, vol 13)
- Marcia Brown, Stone Soup
Nursery
- Richard Scarry, The Rooster Struts
- Janet and Allan Ahlberg, Each Peach Pear Plum
- Richard Scarry, 5-Minute Stories
- Nicola Bayley (ill.), Nursery Rhymes
- Tasha Tudor, 1 is One
- Rod Campbell, Dear Zoo
- Feodor Rojankovsky (ill.), The Tall Book of Mother Goose
- Jim Aylesworth, The Folks in the Valley
- Margaret Wise Brown, Goodnight Moon
- Sibylle von Olfers, The Princess in the Forest
Independent Reading (Fourth Grade)
- Kate Seredy, The Good Master*
- Janet & Allan Ahlberg, The Jolly Postman or Other People’s Letters
- K.Y. Craft, Cinderella*
- Edward Ardizzone, Tim’s Last Voyage
- Margot Fonteyn, Coppelia
- Mahlon F. Craft (retold), Sleeping Beauty
- Antonia Barber, The Mousehole Cat
- Edward Ardizzone, Tim and Lucy Go to Sea
- Dr. Seuss, The Sneetches
- Kinuko Y. Craft (ill.), Beauty and the Beast
- Carolyn B. Otto, Raccoon at Clear Creek Road
- Eve Titus, Anatole and the Cat
- Leo Politi, Song of the Swallows
Independent Reading (Seventh Grade)
- James D. Hornfischer, The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors
September
- Bruce Coville, William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale*
- Robert Hugh Benson, Come Rack! Come Rope!*
Fourth Grade
- Adrien Stoutenburg, American Tall Tales
Kindergarten
- Paul Zelinsky, Rapunzel*
- Lynd Ward, The Biggest Bear
- Esphyr Slobodkina, Caps For Sale
- J. Patrick Lewis, The Frog Princess*
- Bruce Hiscock, Ookpik: The Travels of a Snowy Owl
- Jean Craighead George, Luck
- Bruce Hiscock, The Big Caribou Herd
- Brenda Z. Guiberson, Mud City: A Flamingo Story
- Paul Heins (retold), Snow White*
- Donald Hall, Ox-Cart Man*
- Bruce Hiscock, Coyote and Badger: Desert Hunters of the Southwest
- Robert McCloskey, Make Way for Ducklings*
- Brenda Z. Guiberson, Life in the Boreal Forest
- Laura K. Zimmermann, Mushroom Rain
- Benjamin Elkin, The Wisest Man in the World
- Sibylle von Olfers, The Princess in the Forest
- Rumer Godden, St. Jerome and the Lion
Nursery
- Lois Lenski, The Little Airplane
- Paul Galdone, Three Aesop Fox Fables*
- Sibylle von Olfers, The Story of the Root Children
Independent Reading (Fourth Grade)
- Anna Sewell, Black Beauty*
- Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle
- Margaret Wise Brown, Wait Till the Moon is Full
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit*
Independent Reading (Seventh Grade)
- Alden Hatch, General George Patton: Old Blood and Guts
October
- Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale*
- Hilda van Stockum, Mogo’s Flute*
- Rumer Godden, Mr McFadden’s Hallowe’en*
- J.R.R. Tolkien, Farmer Giles of Ham*
- H.E. Marshall, Stories of Roland*
Seventh Grade
- J.R.R. Tolkien, Leaf by Niggle*
- Shakespeare, Macbeth*
Kindergarten
- Beatrice Schenk de Regniers, David and Goliath*
- Peter Spier, Noah’s Ark*
- James Thurber, Many Moons*
- Dr. Seuss, Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose
- Stephen R. Swinburne, Wings of Light: The Migration of the Yellow Butterfly
- Brenda Z. Guiberson, Cactus Hotel
- Gyo Fujisawa, Oh, What a Busy Day!
- Stephen Lindblom, The Golden Book of Snakes and Other Reptiles
- Donald Hall, Ox-Cart Man*
- Marjorie Flack, Angus and the Ducks
- Thomas Locker, The Mare on the Hill
Nursery
- Little Golden Classics, Three Best-Loved Tales
- Lois Lenski, The Little Sailboat
- Taro Gomi, Bus Stops
- Herve, Press Here
November
- Howard Pyle, Pepper and Salt
- Marchette Chute, King Lear in Stories from Shakespeare*
- Louisa May Alcott, An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving
- Shakespeare, King Lear*
Seventh Grade
- Frithiof the Bold in Journeys Through Bookend, vol. 3
Kindergarten
- Tasha Tudor, Pumpkin Moonshine
- Elizabeth Ring, Loon at Northwood Lake
- Anne Winter, Nell Plants a Tree
- Jo Polseno, Secrets of Redding Glen*
- Michael Bania, Kumak’s House: A Tale of the Far North
- Gail Gibbons, Thanksgiving Is …
- Bernadette Watts, St. Francis and the Proud Crow
- Leonard Weisgard, The Plymouth Thanksgiving
- Paul Galdone (retold), The Three Little Pigs*
- Dr. Seuss, Horton Hatches the Egg
- Stephen R. Swinburne, Armadillo Trail: The Northward Journey of the Armadillo
- Alice Dalgliesh, The Thanksgiving Story
- James Mayhew, Katie and the Waterlily Pond
Nursery
- Wendy Kessleman, Emma
- Nicola Bayley, Nursery Rhymes*
- Lois Lenski, Cowboy Small
- Margaret Wise Brown, The Big Red Barn
- Eric Carle, The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Independent Reading (Fourth Grade)
- Winston Churchill, Painting as a Pastime
- Gloria Houston, The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree
- Marguerite Henry, King of the Wind
Independent Reading (Seventh Grade)
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King*
- Winston Churchill, Painting as a Pastime
- Stephen W. Sears, Air War Against Hitler’s Germany
- Al Hine, D-Day: The Invasion of Europe
December
- Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol*
- Marchette Chute, Stories from Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice*
- Antonia Barber, The Mousehole Cat*
- Ruth Sawyer, The Remarkable Christmas of the Cobbler’s Sons
- Victor Hugo, Notre Dame of Paris*
Kindergarten (everything above plus)
- Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire, Wings for Per
- Jane Werner Watson, The Christmas Story
- Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin*
- Gloria Houston, The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree*
- Clement C. Moore (ill. Gyo Fujikawa), The Night Before Christmas*
- Efner Tudor Holmes, The Christmas Cat*
- Jamichael Henterly (ill.), Good King Wenceslas*
- Vladimir Vagin (ill.), The Twelve Days of Christmas
Nursery
- Mother Goose
- Alvin Tresselt, White Snow Bright Snow
Independent Reading (Fourth Grade)
- Ruth Sawyer, Roller Skates
Reading
* indicates a great book.