This list has been compiled from several sources including the American Library Association, the International Reading Association, and state reading lists, when available. The books on this list are not required reading nor is this intended to be an all-inclusive list. As always, parents and teachers are encouraged to review the selections to ensure the appropriateness for individual students.
Fiction
- Madeleine – Ludwig Bemelmans
- Arthur (series) – Marc Brown
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle
- The Grouchy Ladybug – Eric Carle
- The Great Kapok Tree – Lynne Cherry
- Hairs/Pelitos – Sandra Cisneros
- Ramona (series) – Beverly Cleary
- The Josefina Story Quilt – Eleanor Coerr
- The Treasure Hunt – Bill Cosby
- Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type – Doreen Cronin
- The Empty Pot – Demi
- Amber Brown (series) – Paula Danziger
- Planting a Rainbow – Lois Ehlert
- The Doorbell Rang – Pat Hutchins
- The Snowy Day – Ezra Jack Keats
- Leo the Late Bloomer – Robert Kraus
- Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? – Bill Martin,
- Junie B. Jones (series) – Barbara Park
- The Stories Julian Tells (series) – Ann Cameron
- The Keeping Quilt – Patricia Polacco
- The Complete Adventures of Curious George – H.A. and Margret Rey
- Tar Beach – Faith Ringgold
- Henry and Mudge (series) – Cynthia Rylant
- The Relatives Came – Cynthia Rylant
- A Bad Case of Stripes – David Shannon
- Hip Cat – Jonathan London
- Sister Anne’s Hands – Marybeth Lorbiecki
- God Bless the Child – Billie Holiday and Jerry Pinkney
- The Giving Tree – Shel Silverstein
- Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day – Judith Viorst
- Frog and Toad – Arnold Lobel
- The Berenstain Bears (series) – Stan and Jan Berenstain
- Miss Birdie Chose A Shovel – Leslie Connor
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – Judi Barrett
- Luka’s Quilt – Georgia Guback
- Chrysanthemum – Kevin Henkes
- How My Parents Learned to Eat – Ina Friedman
- Tuesday – David Wiesner
- Uncle Jed’s Barbershop – Margaree King Mitchell
- A Country Far Away – Nigel Gray
- Miss Nelson is Missing! – Harry Allard
- Goodnight, Moon – Margaret Brown
Nonfiction
- Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man – David Adler
- Corn is Maize – Aliki
- Crinkleroot (series) – Jim Arnosky
- Tell Me, Tree: All About Trees for Kids – Gail Gibbons
- Many Nations: An Alphabet of Native America – Joseph Bruchac
- The Magic School Bus (series) – Joanna Cole
- Animal Dads – Sneed B. Collard
- The Story of Ruby Bridges – Robert Coles
- Ten Black Dots – Donald Crews
- Me on the Map – Joan Sweeney
- Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Doreen Rappaport
- Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman – Kathleen Krull
- Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones (World of Nature Series) – Ruth Heller
- Exactly the Opposite – Tana Hoban
- Snowflake Bentley – Jacqueline Briggs Martin
- The Dinosaur Alphabet Book – Jerry Palotta
- Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman – Alan Schroeder
Poetry
- Goodnight Moon – Margaret Wise Brown
- Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom – Bill Martin,
- Honey I Love, and Other Poems – Eloise Greenfield
- Where the Sidewalk Ends – Shel Silverstein
- Insectlopedia – Douglas Florian
- A Pizza the Size of the Sun – Jack Prelutsky
Fantasy and Folklore
- Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain – Verna Aardema
- Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears: A West African Tale – Verna Aardema
- The Mitten: A Ukrainian Folktale – Jan Brett
- The Story of the Milky Way: A Cherokee Tale – Joseph Bruchac
- Strega Nona – Tommie de Paola
- Anansi and the Talking Melon – Eric A. Kimmel
- The Story of Ferdinand – Munro Leaf
- Catwings – Ursula Le Guin
- Tikki Tikki Tembo – Arlene Mosel
- The Littles (series) – John Peterson
- The Ugly Duckling – Hans Christian Anderson and Jerry Pinkney
- Abiyoyo – Pete Seeger
- Where The Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak
- Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters – John Steptoe
- Tops and Bottoms – Janet Stevens
- The Warrior and the Wise Man – David Wisniewski
- Sleeping Ugly – Jane Yolen
- Dinosaurs Before Dark – Mary Pope Osborne
- My Father’s Dragon – Ruth Stiles Gannett