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Health & Fitness

Summer Reading List for Kids Preschool through High School

Summer break is a key time to motivate kids to read because they have less demands on their time.

A few weeks back, I posted a reading list for parents of gifted children. It sparked the inspiration to also compile a list for parents of books they can have their children read over the summer. Summer break, which is right around the corner, is a key time to motivate kids to read because they have less demands on them in regards to homework deadlines or other academic related pressures and can learn the pleasure of lolling around and sinking their teeth into a good story. I have included a variety of books that can fit all interests from the budding scientists to the poets in training to the adventure lovers and fantasy seekers. 


PRESCHOOL THROUGH KINDERGARTEN
 

The Sun Is My Favorite Star
Frank Asch

Celebrating a child's love of the sun, this book illustrates the wondrous ways in which the sun helps the earth and the life upon it. 

SeasonsTranslated from the French
 
Claudia Bedrick

This artist explores various aspects of each season of the year using images and single words on each page. 

I Am Too Absolutely Small for School
Lauren Child
When Lola is worried about starting school, her older brother Charlie encourages and reassures her. 

Llama Llama Time to Share
Anna Dewdney

Llama Llama does not want to share his toys with his new neighbors, but when fighting leads to breakage and tears, he learns that it is much better to share. 

GRADES ONE AND TWO
 

Did Dinosaurs Eat Pizza? Mysteries Science Hasn’t Solved
Lenny Hort

While much is known about dinosaur anatomy, behavior, and habitat, the author points out the many mysteries that remain to be answered about these extinct creatures. 

Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners
Laurie Keller

Mr. Rabbit is worried that he might not get along with his new neighbors. A wise owl gives him the advice "Do unto otters as you would have otters do unto you" and proceeds to explain what this means. 

Missing Math: A Number Mystery

Loreen Leedy
A numerical mystery ensues when the numbers all over town suddenly disappear, bringing a halt to everyday activities. 

Out of This World: Poems and Facts about Space
Amy E. Sklansky

A collection of poems and facts about space, accompanied by color paintings. 

Secrets of the Garden: Food Chains and the Food
 Web in Our BackyardKathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
Depicts a family of four who make their garden their summer home as they prepare the soil, plant seeds, water the garden, and watch for a harvest of vegetables. 

GRADES THREE AND FOUR
 

Look to the Stars
Buzz Aldrin
Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin traces the history of air and space exploration from Isaac Newton to the International Space Station and Mars using personal insights and conversational text.

Snakes
Nic Bishop

Naturalist Nic Bishop provides an in depth examination of snakes, Including details on the characteristics, habitats, and abilities of various species of reptiles. 

The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer's Bright Ideas and Brand
Chris Barton

Brothers Bob and Joe Switzer had different interests and ambitions but worked together on the dazzling creation of fluorescent colors. 

Tales of the Cryptids: Mysterious Creatures That May or May Not Exist
Kelly Milner Halls
Cryptozoology is the study of animals that may or may not be real: familiar animals like Bigfoot and Loch Ness Monster, and those that are less familiar like the Marozi of Kenya and the Orang-pendek of Sumatra and the Thylacine of Tasmania. Meet these and more in this introduction to cryptozoology. 

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Roald Dahl

Each of five children lucky enough to discover an entry ticket into Mr. Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory takes advantage of the situation in his own way. 

GRADE FIVE
 

The Atlantis Complex
Eoin Colfer

When an army of fairy space probes programmed to destroy Atlantis returns to Earth, Artemis Fowl attempts to stop the destruction of the city while dealing with his own delusional and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Series book. 

The Search For WondLa
Tony DiTerlizzi

Living in isolation with a robot on what appears to be an alien world populated with bizarre life forms, a twelve-year-old human girl called Eva Nine sets out on a journey to find others like her. Features“augmented reality” pages in which readers can access additional information online about Eva Nine’s world. Series book. 

Into the Unknown: How Great Explorers Found Their Way By Land, Sea, and Air
Stewart Ross
A look at different explorers and the challenges they faced forging their way to new and amazing discoveries. 

Raggin’Jazzin’Rockin’: A History of American MusicalInstrument Makers
Susan VanHecke

A history of American musical instrument makers and the contributions they made to the changing sound of music. 

The Sixty-Eight Rooms

Marianne Malone
An adventure about the Thorne Rooms, sixty-eight miniature rooms made by Mrs. James Ward Thorne in the 1930s, and a magic key that allows a person to shrink down small enough to explore the rooms' secrets. 

GRADE SIX
 

Close to Famous
Joan Bauer
Twelve-year-old Foster dreams of growing up to become a celebrity chef despite her reading disability. Can the quirky townsfolk of tiny Culpepper help Foster succeed? 

The London Eye Mystery
Siobhan Dowd

When Ted and Kat's cousin Salim disappears from the London Eye ferris wheel, the two siblings must work together --Ted with his brain that is "wired differently" and impatient Kat -- to try to solve the mystery of what happened to Salim. 

Journey into the Deep: Discovering New Ocean Creatures
Rebecca L. Johnson

Travel with oceanographers discovering new animals during a ten-year project documenting sea life. Learn about new species of interesting creatures such as jellyfish, octopuses, squids, and sea worms found along coral reefs, ocean mountain ranges, and in the deepest, darkest zones of the ocean floor. 

The Dreamer
Pam Munoz Ryan

A fictionalized biography of the Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who grew up a painfully shy child, ridiculed by his overbearing father, but still became one of the most widely-read poets in the world. 

GRADES SEVEN AND EIGHT
 

If Stones Could Speak: Unlocking the Secrets of Stonehenge
Marc Aronson

Texts, photographs, and explanatory maps and illustrations document archaeologist Mike Parker Pearson's study of Stonehenge and the surrounding area, describing what he found and what the artifacts reveal about the site and its history. 

Young Samurai: The Way of the Warrior
Chris Bradford

Orphaned by a ninja pirate attack off the coast of Japan in 1611, twelve-year-old English lad Jack Fletcher is determined to prove himself despite the bullying of fellow students. A legendary sword master who rescues Jack begins training him as a samurai warrior.Series book. 

Spellwright
Blake Charlton

A wizard’s apprentice, Nicodemus Weal, has trouble controlling his spells because he is dyslexic. To make matters worse, he is named a suspect in the murder of a powerful wizard and must race against time to clear his name and uncover who is responsible for that crime as well as the destruction of the city around him. Series book. 

Planet Middle School
Nikki Grimes
 
A series of poems describes all the baffling changes at home and at school in twelve-year- old Joylin's transition from tomboy basketball player to not-quite-girly girl. 

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Ransom Riggs

Sixteen-year-old Jacob, having traveled to a remote island after a family tragedy, discovers an abandoned orphanage, and, after some investigating, he learns the children who lived there may have been dangerous and quarantined but may also still be alive. Haunting vintage photographs are dispersed throughout the book, giving the story a hint of creepiness. 

GRADES NINE AND TEN


Dash& Lily’s Book of Dares
Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

While perusing his favorite bookstore, Dash stumbles across a hidden red journal. After accepting the dare written within the journal, he and Lily begin a mysterious, clever scavenger hunt. As they get to know each other only through the journal entries, they both wonder if they should meet. 

Dune
Frank Herbert

The story of a young prince, Paul Artreides, scion of a star-crossed dynasty, and of his journey from boy to warrior to ruler of a dying planet destined to become a paradise regained. Series book. 

The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger

Holden Caulfield is an alienated, disillusioned youth who drops out of school and spends three days and nights in New York City on a quest for self-discovery. 

Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and ColonialMaryland
Sally Walker

Walker provides a detailed and illustrated account of an archaeological dig in Jamestown. The search for human remains and materials from colonial Maryland is revealed layer by fascinating layer. 

Robopocalypse
Daniel H. Wilson

An artificial intelligence program has taken over the world, uniting all the computer programs residing in everything from dolls and toys to domestic service robots, airplanes, and military weapons. Its aim is to destroy all human life and the robots are winning. 

GRADES ELEVEN AND TWELVE 

Big Girl Small: A Novel

Rachel DeWoskin
Sixteen-year-old Judy Lohden, a girl whose phenomenal singing voice should have made her the star of the local performing arts high school, instead finds herself hiding out from the national media in a seedy hotel room due to a controversy sparked in part by the fact that she is only three feet, nine inches tall.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Jonathan Safran Foer

Oskar Schell is an inventor, Francophile, tambourine player, Shakespearean actor, jeweler, pacifist. He is nine-years-old and on an urgent, secret search through the five boroughs of New York to find the lock that fits a mysterious key belonging to his father, who died in the attacks on the World Trade Center. 

Moonwalking With Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering
 Everything
Joshua Foer

Journalist Joshua Foer’s informative book on human memory is as entertaining as it is educational. He expounds on the history of human memory and chronicles his experience of training to become the 2006 USA Memory Champion. 

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Seth Grahame-Smith
Many people know about Abe Lincoln’s political successes, but few know that after his mother was killed by a vampire Old Abe became a ruthless vampire hunter. This “biography,” packed full of historical facts, will not disappoint readers who like a good horror story. 

The Grand Design
Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow

The authors present a new discussion of the laws of the universe and the nature of reality. The journey includes thoughts of the great philosophers and scientists over the centuries as well as questions such as “Are the laws of nature suspended when miracles occur?” Well-placed, clever cartoons provide balance to the weighty discussions. 

(Special thanks to the Houston Areas Independent School Library for publishing such an extensive list of current youth books from which I compiled many books on this list, among other sources.)
 

Dr. Dan Peters, Ph.D., is co-founder of the Summit Center, which provides psychological and educational assessments and counseling for children and adolescents, specializing in the gifted, creative, and twice-exceptional. 

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