Over 41 books recommended for and by 2nd & 3rd graders

By Veronique Christensen — Monday, May 14th, 2007

Maggie is in a very special school where the classes are mixed-age. She is a Third Grader in a classroom equally divided by 2nd and 3rd grade boys & girls. Late last semester one of the kids discovered a love for reading and wanted to share with his friends. His incredible mom was generous enough to volunteer to facilitate a book club for the class. Anyone who wanted to join in, could. By the end I think just about all of the kids got into it, and gave up their lunch hours here and there to meet up (as did the mom — did I remember to mention how great she is?).

Now that the school year is winding down, they have come up with their list of favorite reads so that their classmates could discover new books over the summer. Books specifically recommended by kids like them.

What’s not to love?

I thought my readers would enjoy taking a peek at their list, and perhaps find some inspiration for their kids’ summer reading — way more interesting than some generic list a mega-corp thinks they should read. At least that’s my way of thinking…

The Thief Lord, by Cornelia Caroline Funke
The Trumpet of the Swan, by E. B. White
Stuart Little, by E. B. White
Charlotte’s Web, by E. B. White
The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread, by Kate Dicamillo
Because of Winn-Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo
Dragon Rider, by Cornelia Funke
The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, by Robert C. O’Brien
Seven Professors of the Far North, by John Fardell
Flight of the Silver Turtle, by John Fardell
The Navigator, by Eoin Mcnamee
Island of the Aunts, by Eva Ibbotson
The Star of Kazan, by Eva Ibbotson
The View from Saturday, by E.L. Konigsburg
Matilda, by Roald Dahl
Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh
The Doll People, by Ann Matthews Martin, Laura Godwin, Brian Selznick, and Ann M. Martin
Haroun and the Sea of Stories, by Salman Rushdie
Swallows and Amazons, by Arthur Ransome
The Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O’Dell
The Prince of the Pond: Otherwise Known as De Fawg Pin, by Donna Jo Napoli
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy, by Jeanne Birdsall