Suggested Book List

For those looking for some inspiration in their book buying please feel free to consult the list below. This list is not exhaustive, but instead should be seen as a starting point. More resources can be found at: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/58/

PRESCHOOL AND KINDERGARTEN

Eric Carle

  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar
  • The Grouchy Ladybug

Donald Crews

  • Freight Train
  • Truck

Lois Ehlert

  • Color Zoo
  • Fish Eyes: A Book You Can Count On

Eric Hill

  • Where’s Spot
  • Spot Goes to the Farm

Bill Martin Jr

  • Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
  • Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (w John Archambault)

Helen Oxenbury

  • All Fall Down
  • Say Goodnight

GRADES 1 – 3

Jan Brett

  • The Hat
  • Annie and the Wild Animals

Marc Brown

  • Arthur in a Pickle
  • Visiting the Art Museum

Anthony Brown

  • The Piggybank
  • Little Beauty

Eloise Greenfield

  • Honey, I Love
  • Under the Sunday Tree

Steven Kellogg

  • Pinkerton, Behave
  • Paul Bunyan

Jerry Pinkney

  • The Talking Eggs
  • Mirandy and Brother Wind

James E. Ransome

  • Uncle Jed’s Barbershop
  • How Many Stars in the Sky?

Vera B Williams

  • A Chair for my Mother
  • “More, More, More,” said the Baby

Ed Young

  • Lon Pop Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China
  • Seven Blind Mice

Charlotte Zolotow

  • William’s Doll
  • Big Sister and Little Sister

GRADES 3-6

Arnold Adoff

  • Touch the Poem
  • Black is Brown is Tan

Mitsumasa Anno

  • Anno’s Counting Book
  • Anno’s Journey

Natalie Babbitt

  • Tuck Everlasting
  • The Eyes of the Amaryllis

Judy Blume

  • Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
  • Fudge-A-Mania

Betsy Byars

  • Trouble River
  • The Cybil War

Beverly Cleary

  • Henry Huggins
  • Ramona Quimby, Age 8

Pam Conrad

  • Pedro’s Journal
  • My Daniel

David Macaulay

  • The Way Things Work
  • Black And White

Patricia Mckissack

  • Flossie And The Fox

GRADES 6-8

Lloyd Alexander

  • Time Cat
  • The Black Cauldron

Avi

  • Nothing But The Truth
  • The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

Susan Cooper

  • The Dark Is Rising
  • The Grey King

Cynthia Voigt

  • Homecoming
  • Dicey’s Song

Robert Cormier

  • The Chocolate War
  • I Am The Cheese

Paula Fox

  • The Slave Dancer
  • One-Eyed Cat

Virginia Hamilton

  • M.C. Higgins, The Great
  • Her Stories

Walter Dean Myers

  • Fallen Angels
  • Jazz

Richard Peck

  • Father Figure
  • Are You In The House Alone?

Gary Soto

  • A Fire In My Hands
  • Living Up The Street

Mildred Taylor

  • The Land
  • Let The Circle Be Unbroken

OTHER SUGGESTIONS FROM PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS

  • Classic children’s literature
  • Newbery/Caldecott winners and honorable mention books appropriate for K-8
  • Biographies related to the Civil Rights movement, suffragettes, the Civil War, and WWII
  • Series fiction
  • Atlas and other reference books
  • Guinness Book of World Records
  • Picture dictionaries
  • Elementary level books about the environment
  • Greek mythology
  • Maryland Black Eyed Susan Award winners
  • Books about Native Americans
  • Coretta Scott King Award winners