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
- Because of Winn Dixie – Kate DiCamillo
- Frindle – Andrew Clements
- A Week in the Woods – Andrew Clements
- A Dog Called Kitty – Bill Wallace
- Big Red – Jim Kjelgaard
- Ramona (series) – Beverly Cleary
- Judy Moody (series) – Megan McDonald
- Maniac Magee – Jerry Spinelli
- Everywhere – Bruce Brooks
- Fly Away Home – Eve Bunting
- Keeper of the Doves – Betsy Byars
- Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story – Mary Downing Hahn
- The Foxman – Gary Paulsen
- The Stories Huey Tells and The Stories Julian Tells (series) – Ann Cameron
- The Flunking of Joshua T. Bates – Susan Shreve
- Freckle Juice – Judy Blume
- Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing – Judy Blume
- Stone Fox – John Reynolds Gardiner
- The Great Gilly Hopkins – Katherine Paterson
- Misty of Chincoteague – Marguerite Henry
- The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Goosebumps (series) – R.L. Stine
- In The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson – Bette Boa Lord
- The Silver Coach – Carole Adler
- The Children of Green Knowe (series) – Lucy Boston
- Old Yeller – Fred Gipson
- The Higher Power of Lucky – Susan Patron
- Joey Pigza Loses Control – Jack Gantos
- Nancy Drew (series) – Carolyn G. Keene
- Chocolate Fever – Robert Kimmel Smith
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
- Rules – Cynthia Lord
- The Sign of the Beaver – Elizabeth George Speare
Fantasy and Folklore
- Space Race – Sylvia Waugh
- The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse – Bruce Hale
- The Case of the Raging Rottweiler – John R. Erickson
- The Great Good Thing – Roderick Townley
- The Doll People – Ann M. Martin
- I, Houdini – Lynne Reid Banks
- The Indian in the Cupboard – Lynne Reid Banks
- Poppy – Avi
- Mean Margaret – Tor Seidler
- The Moorchild – Eloise McGraw
- The Secret of Platform 13 – Eva Ibbotson
- Abel’s Island – William Steig
- James and the Giant Peach – Roald Dahl
- The BFG – Roald Dahl
- The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis
- Charlotte’s Web – E.B. White
- Castle in the Attic – Elizabeth Winthrop
- Magic Tree House (series) – Mary Pope Osborne
- Going Through The Gate – Janet S. Anderson
- The Sea Egg – L.M. Boston
- The Talking Parcel – Gerald Durrell
- Mick Harte Was Here – Barbara Park
- Cricket in Times Square – George Selden
- The Wizard of Oz – Frank L. Baum
- Whittington – Alan Armstrong
- Under the Bridge – Ellen Kindt McKenzie
- Just So Stories – Rudyard Kipling
Historical Fiction
- Linnea in Monet’s Garden – Cristina Bjork
- Meet Kit: An American Girl – 1934 – Valerie Tripp
- Love From Your Friend, Hannah – Mindy Warshaw Skolsky
- Sarah, Plain and Tall – Patricia MacLachlan
- Little House on the Prairie (series) – Laura Ingalls Wilder
- Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes – Eleanor Coerr
- Understood Betsy – Dorothy Canfield Fisher
- King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian – Marguerite Henry
- The Birchback House – Louise Erdrich
- The Night Journey – Kathryn Lasky
- Grasshopper Summer – Ann Turner
- The Midwife’s Apprentice – Karen Cushman
- The Borning Room – Paul Fleischman
- Jacob, Have I Loved – Katherine Patterson
- Boxcar Children – Gertrude Chandler Warner
- Pink and Say – Patricia Polacco
- The Perilous Road – William Steele
- Boston Jane: An Adventure – Jennifer L. Holm
- Our Only May Amelia – Jennifer L. Holm
- Follow the Drinking Gourd – Jeanette Winter
- Hattie Big Sky – Kirby Larson
- Show Way – Jacqueline Woodson
Science Fiction
- Linnea in Monet’s Garden – Cristina Bjork
- Meet Kit: An American Girl – 1934 – Valerie Tripp
- Love From Your Friend, Hannah – Mindy Warshaw Skolsky
- Sarah, Plain and Tall – Patricia MacLachlan
- Little House on the Prairie (series) – Laura Ingalls Wilder
- Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes – Eleanor Coerr
- Understood Betsy – Dorothy Canfield Fisher
- King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian – Marguerite Henry
- The Birchback House – Louise Erdrich
- The Night Journey – Kathryn Lasky
- Grasshopper Summer – Ann Turner
- The Midwife’s Apprentice – Karen Cushman
- The Borning Room – Paul Fleischman
- Jacob, Have I Loved – Katherine Patterson
- Boxcar Children – Gertrude Chandler Warner
- Pink and Say – Patricia Polacco
- The Perilous Road – William Steele
- Boston Jane: An Adventure – Jennifer L. Holm
- Our Only May Amelia – Jennifer L. Holm
- Follow the Drinking Gourd – Jeanette Winter
- Hattie Big Sky – Kirby Larson
- Show Way – Jacqueline Woodson
Poetry
- Where The Sidewalk Ends – Shel Silverstein
- Bird Watch: A Book of Poetry – Jane Yolen
- From Sea To Shining Sea – Amy T. Cohn
- In A River Valley – Josette Frank
- Hand in Hand: An American History Through Poetry – Lee Bennett Hopkins
- Bringing Me News – Mary O’Neill
- The New Kid On The Block – Jack Prelutsky
- Something Big Has Been Here – Jack Prelutsky
- Pierre – Maurice Sendak
- Heartsongs (series) – Mattie J.T. Stepanek
- Spin a Soft Black Song – Nikki Giovanni
Nonfiction
- The Kid Who Invented the Popsicle – Dan Wulffson
- Lives of Musicians: Good Times, Bad Times (And What The Neighbors Thought) – Kathleen Krull
- A River Run Wild – Lynne Cherry
- Look To The North: A Wolf Pup Diary – Jean Craighead George
- The Man Who Walked Between The Towers – Mordacai Gerstein
- Pink and Say – Patricia Polacco
- Dateline: Troy – Paul Fleischman
- Will You Sign Here, John Hancock? – Jean Fritz
- Six Minute Nature Mysteries – Faith Brynie
- The Truth About Great White Sharks – Mary M. Cerullo
- Through My Eyes – Ruby Bridges
- The Story of Baseball – Lawrence Ritter
- Girls Think of Everything – Catherine Thimmeah
- Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader for Kids Only! – the Bathroom Readers Institute
- Meet Me in St. Louis: A Trip to the 1904 World’s Fair – Robert Jackson
- Just Peace: A Message of Hope – Mattie J.T. Stepanek with Jimmy Carter