Books for Independent Reading
VERY EASY
Mailing May- by Michael O.Tunnell
Greenwillow 1997 (32p)
In 1914, when Charlotte May Pierstorff wanted to visit her grandmother seventy-five miles across the mountains of Idaho, she, her father, and the United States mail came up with a clever solution.
- My Life with the Wave
- by Catherine Cowan
Lothrop 1997 (32p)
A young boy brings a wave home from the ocean and discovers it has a life and mind of its own.
- I Was Born About 10,000 Years Ago
- by Steven Kellogg
Morrow 1996 (32p)
The multiple characters of this rhyming story, based on an old folk song, try to best each other by telling more and more outrageous whoppers.
- Night in the Barn
- by Faye Gibbons
Morrow 1995 (32p)
When Willie, his brother, and their two cousins spend the night in the barn,
they are convinced that monsters are also spending the night there.
- Luck with Potatoes
- by Helen Ketteman
Orchard 1995 (32p)
In this tall tale from the Tennessee valley, Clemmon Hardigree, who has had
bad luck raising cows, finds his luck changing in a very strange way.
EASY
- Breakfast at the Liberty Diner
- by Daniel Kirk
Hyperion 1997 (32p)
When Bobby, a victim of polio, and his mother and brother stop by the Liberty Diner for breakfast, they are amazed when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, himself a victim of polio, arrives at the diner.
- The Bunyans
- by Audrey Wood
Scholastic/Blue Sky 1996 (32p)
Paul Bunyan, his wife Carrie McIntie, and their children Little Jean and Teeny frolic across America, creating Niagara Falls, the Rocky Mountains, and Old Faithful as they go.
- The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
- by Susan Wojciechowski
Candlewick 1995 (32p)
No one knows why woodcarver Jonathan Toomey is so sad, but when the widow McDowell and her son ask him to carve a crèche for Christmas they bring happiness back into this life.
- Walking Upside Down
- by Philip Heckman
Atheneum 1996 (40p)
When Morton reluctantly switches bedrooms with his little sisters, he discovers he can walk on the ceiling, giving him an odd but fun perspective on the world.
- Fenwick's Suit
- by David Small
Farrar 1996 (32p)
To change his image, Fenwick buys a red-and-yellow plaid suit that, he soon discovers, has a mind of its own.
- The Flying Ship
- retold by Andrew Lang
Morrow 1995 (48p)
One of Lang's best-known stories, this is the tale of a young man who sets sail through the skies to win the hand of a princess.
AVERAGE
- Dinosaur Ghosts: The Mystery of Coelophysis
- by J. Lynett Gillette
Dial 1997 (32p)
Since the discovery of the remains of hundreds of Coelophysis dinosaurs fifty years ago, scientists have been puzzled about what killed them.
- Disappearing Lake: Nature's Magic in Denali National Park
- by Debbie S. Miller
Walker 1997 (32p)
Each spring a lake appears in Denali Park in Alaska, fed by winter snows, but as the days grow warmer, the lake disappears and becomes a meadow again.
- Sody Sallyratus
- by Teri Sloat
Dutton 1997 (32p)
In this cumulative tall tale from Appalachia, an old woman sends her family members to the store for the sody sallyratus she needs to make baking soda biscuits, but each one is eaten by a hungry bear. Biscuit recipe included.
- A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder
- by Walter Wick
(Science)
Scholastic 1997 (40p)
Spectacular photographs allow the reader to see a drop of water as it drips from a faucet or lands on a hard surface as well as water captured as steam, dew, and frost. A page of simple scientific experiments is included.
- The Leaf Men
- by William Joyce
Harper 1996 (40p)
When an old woman becomes ill and can no longer tend her garden, the Long-Lost Toy tells the garden insects they need the help of the Leaf Men.
- When Birds Could Talk and Bats Could Sing
- by Virginia Hamilton
(Multicultural)
Scholastic 1996 (72p)
These entertaining African American trickster tales collected in the 1880s by Martha Young are retold by a master storyteller.
- Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett
- by Steven Kellogg
Morrow 1995 (48p)
In this rip-roaring tall tale, strong and fearless Sally Ann rescues Davy
Crockett from ferocious eagles and, despite Sally Ann's skunk perfume, Crockett proposes marriage.
- The Cat's Meow
- by Gary Soto
(Multicultural)
Scholastic 1995 (80p)
Graciela investigates to find out how her cat Pip has learned to speak English.
- Sundew Stranglers: Plants That Eat Insects
- by Jerome Wexler
(Science)
Dutton 1994 (48p)
This photo essay introduces the reader to the sundew, a deceptive plant with
tentacles that lure and devour small insects.
CHALLENGING
- Treehouse Tales
- by Anne Isaacs
Dutton 1997 (96p)
These humorous, lighthearted tales are about two brothers and a sister who share a treehouse in rural Pennsylvania in the nineteenth century.
- The Boggart and the Monsters
- by Susan Cooper
McElderry 1997 (192p)
In Scotland, Emily and Jessup Volnik and the Boggart are on a camping trip where they encounter the Loch Ness Monster.
- The Kid Who Invented the Popsicle And Other Surprising Stories About Inventions
- by Don Wulffson
Cobblehill 1997 (128p)
The author explains the surprising and sometimes comical origins of many ordinary items, such as flyswatters, sunglasses, potato chips, zippers, flashlights, and hair dryers.
- The Mennyms in the Wilderness
- by Sylvia Waugh
Greenwillow 1995 (256p) Avon 1996 paper
In the continuing saga of the doll family the Mennyms, they find their home threatened by the construction of a new highway and must find somewhere else to live.
Now Out of Print
- The Secret in the Matchbox
- by Val Wallis
Available in Spanish only.
- A Snake Mistake
- by Mavis Smith
Now Available in Paperback
- The Giant Jam Sandwich
- by John Vernon Lord
Houghton
- A Million Fish…More or Less
- by Patricia McKissack
Dragonfly
- The Mennyms in the Wilderness
- by Sylvia Waugh
Avon
- The Mennyms
- by Sylvia Waugh
Avon
- Forest
- by Janet Taylor Lisle
Scholastic
- The Boggart
- by Susan Cooper
Aladdin