Books for Independent Reading

VERY EASY

Pigsty
by Mark Teague
Scholastic 1994 (32p)
Wendell Fultz's room looks like a pigsty, so several pigs move in.
The Secret in the Matchbox
by Val Wallis
Available in Spanish asEl secreto en la caja de fósforos.
A Snake Mistake
by Mavis Smith
Harper 1991 (32p)
A snake swallows two light bulbs, apparently assuming they were eggs.
If the Dinosaurs Came Back
by Bernard Most
Harcourt 1978 (32p); also paper
A boy thinks of how useful dinosaurs would be if they came back.
Tuesday
by David Wiesner
Clarion 1991 (32p)
It's Tuesday, and frogs on lily pads are floating through the air.
The Dog That Pitched a No-Hitter
by Matt Christopher
Little 1988 (42p)
Using ESP, Harry the dog communicates with Mike, the pitcher for the Peach Street Mudders.
Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport
by Marjorie Sharmat
Macmillan 1990 (32p)
A New York City boy has strange notions about life in the West.
A Million Fish . . . More or Less
by Patricia McKissack
Knopf 1992 (40p)
(Multicultural)
A young boy claims to have caught over a million fish but arrives home with far fewer than that.

EASY

Catwings
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Orchard 1988 (48p); Scholastic 1992 paper
Rachel wishes for something to happen and suddenly pink pigs fill the sky. (See others in series.)
The Talking Eggs: A Folktale from the American South
by Robert San Souci
Dial 1989 (32p)
Blanche is unhappy until her kindness to a strange old woman is repaid with talking eggs.
Flat Stanley
by Jeff Brown
Harper 1964 (48p); also paper
Stanley is flattened to a width of one -- half inch. Available in Spanish as Stanley, el plano.
The Egyptian Polar Bear
by JoAnn Adinolfi
Houghton 1994 (32p)
A polar bear caught on an iceberg ends up in Egypt and befriends a lonely boy-king.
The Giant Jam Sandwich
by John Vernon Lord
Houghton 1972 (32p)
The residents of Itching Down build a giant sandwich to trap millions of wasps.
The Paper Crane
by Molly Bang
Greenwillow 1985 (32p)
A mysterious stranger pays for his dinner with a paper crane that comes to life.
The Scarebird
by Sid Fleischman
Greenwillow 1988 (32p)
A farmer begins a friendship with a scarecrow and gains a new hired hand.

AVERAGE

Las telaranas de Carlota (Charlotte's Web)
by E. B. White
Text in Spanish.
Three Strong Women: A Tall Tale from Japan
by Claus Stamm
(Multicultural)
Viking 1990 (32p) paper
Three women prove to be stronger than a champion wrestler.
The Invisible Dog
by Dick King-Smith
Crown 1993 (78p)
Janie's Great Dane is visible only to her -- and old Mrs. Garrow.
Stuart Little
by E. B. White
Harper 1945 (132p) also paper
A heroic mouse with human qualities searches for his lost friend, a bird named Margalo. Available in Spanish asStuart Little.
The Fortune Tellers
by Lloyd Alexander
Dutton 1992 (32p)
An unsuccessful carpenter takes the place of a local fortune teller and makes a name for himself.
Mule Eggs
by Cynthia DeFelice
Orchard 1994 (32p)
A city man is tricked by a farmer but eventually gets the last laugh.
The Garden of Abdul Gasazi
by Chris Van Allsburg
Houghton 1979 (32p)
Alan believes a dog that wandered into the garden of Abdul Gasazi may have been turned into a duck.
The Shrinking of Treehorn
by Florence Parry Heide
Holiday 1971 (64p)
No one believes Treehorn when he tells them that he is shrinking. Available in Spanish asTristan encoge.
Surtsey: The Newest Place on Earth
by Kathryn Lasky
Hyperion 1992 (64p)
A new volcanic island appears off the coast of Iceland.
The Great Quillow
by James Thurber
Harcourt 1994 (56p)
This Thurber classic tells how Quillow, the town toymaker, outwits a demanding giant.
The Stranger
by Chris Van Allsburg
Houghton 1986 (32p)
The stranger Farmer Bailey brings home to recuperate seems to have a mysterious connection to the weather.
Death Trap: The Story of the La Brea Tar Pits
by Sharon Elaine Thompson
(Science/Health)
Lerner 1994 (72p)
The bones of many Ice Age animals have been found in the La Brea Tar Pits in downtown Los Angeles.
The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau
by Jon Agee
Farrar 1988
Havoc results when the paintings of Felix Clousseau come alive and walk off the canvas.
Pippi Longstocking
by Astrid Lindgren
Viking 1950 (158p); Puffin 1988 paper
The classic story of a Swedish girl who wants to live alone with her horse and monkey.
Ace: The Very Important Pig
by Dick King-Smith
Crown 1990 (144p)
Ace, house-trained and able to understand human speech, saves himself from the butcher's block by becoming a television celebrity.

CHALLENGING

The Trumpet of the Swans
by E. B. White
Harper 1970 (222p); also paper
The classic story of Louis, a voiceless trumpter swan. Available in Spanish asEl trompeta del cisne.
The Mennyms
by Sylvia Waugh
Greenwillow 1994 (213p)
The Mennyms, a family of dolls with the ability to speak, are threatened by an inquisitive landlord.
Forest
by Janet Taylor Lisle
Orchard 1993 (160p)
Twelve-year-old Amber tries to make peace between an intelligent community of squirrels and human society.
The Borrowers
by Mary Norton
Harcourt 1953 (180p); also paper
The classic story of tiny people who live in a clock and “borrow” from humans. (See others in series.) Available in Spanish asLos incursores.
The Boggart
by Susan Cooper
Macmillan 1993 (208p)
In an old desk, Emily finds the Boggart, a centuries-old sprite who causes all kinds of mischief.
The Neverending Story
by Michael Ende
Puffin 1993 (448p) paper
Bastian Balthazar Bux becomes a hero in the enchanted world of Fantasia. Available in Spanish asLa historia interminable.

Books for Teachers to Read Aloud

The Cricket in Times Square
by George Selden
Farrar 1960 (160p); Dell 1970 paper
A cricket and his friends take up residence in a newsstand. Available in Spanish asUn grillo en Times Square.
Mr. Popper's Penguins
by Richard Atwater
Little 1938 (144p); also paper
Mr. Popper, who has always been fascinated by the Antarctic, receives a present of a penguin.
The Castle in the Attic
by Elizabeth Winthrop
Holiday 1985 (192p); Bantam 1986 paper
William's wooden model of a castle sweeps him into another time and place.