Books for Independent Reading
VERY EASY
- 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.
- Flood Fish
- by Robyn Eversole
(science)
Crown 1995 (32p)
In the Australian Outback, it seldom rains, but when it does the normally dry river beds fill with rain and large fish, whose origin no one can explain.
- 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.
EASY
Disappearing Lake: Nature's Magic in Denali National Park- by Debbie S. Miller
(Science)
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 is eaten by a hungry black bear. Biscuit recipe included.
- 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.
- Unseen Rainbows, Silent Songs: The World Beyond Human Senses
- by Susan Goodman
(Science)
Atheneum 1995 (40p)
The author compares the senses of various animals with those of humans.
- When Willard Met Babe Ruth
- by Donald Hall
Harcourt 1996 (48p)
Twelve-year-old Willard Babson and his family meet Babe Ruth when they pull his car out of a ditch; eighteen years later, their paths cross again in a surprising way.
- 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 and devour small insects.
AVERAGE
- Eye of the Storm: Chasing Storms with Warren Faidley
- by Stephen Kramer
(Science)
Putnam 1997 (48p)
The author describes the work of stormchaser Faidley, whose photographs of tornadoes, thunderstorms, and hurricanes have appeared inNational Geographic and other magazines and in television documentaries.
- The Naked Mole-Rat Mystery: Scientific Sleuths at Work
- by Gail Jarrow and Paul Sherman
(Science)
Lerner 1996 (112p)
The naked mole-rat, an animal classified as a mammal but with the variable body temperatures of a reptile, continues to confound scientists since it was discovered in East Africa in 1842.
- Killer Asteroids
- by Margaret Poynter
(Science)
Enslow 1996 (48p)
The author explains the theory held by many scientists that a collision between the earth and an asteroid caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.
- Highest, Longest, Deepest
- by John Malam
Simon 1996 (44p)
Pages that fold out, up, and down contain illustrations of and facts about some of the world's most fascinating natural wonders.
- Exotic Invaders: Killer Bees, Fire Ants, and Other Alien Species Are Infesting America!
- by Jeanne M. Lesinski
(Science)
Walker 1996 (48p)
A close and startling look at the zebra mussel, the sea lamprey, the fire ant, the European starling, and the African honey bee, with advice on how to control of these invaders.
- Niagara Falls: Nature's Wonder
- by Leonard Everett Fisher
(science)
Holiday 1996 (64p)
One of nature's spectacular wonders, Niagara Falls has captured the imagination since the days the Seneca and Tuscarora Indians traveled along its banks.
- Math Curse
- by Jon Scieszka
(math)
Viking 1995 (32p)
After her teacher tells her that you can think of almost everything as a math problem, a young girl finds herself surrounded by math problems from morning till night.
- Movie Magic: Behind the Scenes with Special Effects
- by Elaine Scott
Morrow 1995 (96p)
From such early films as King King through contemporary ones like Jurassic Park, the reader learns about the people who create special physical, visual, and make-up effects in movies.
CHALLENGING
- The Day The Sky Split Apart: Investigating a Cosmic Mystery
- by Roy A. Gallant
(Science)
Atheneum 1995 (156p)
The author offers theories about the still-unexplained Tunguska meteorite that caused massive damage in Siberia in 1908.
Now Out of Print
- Ordinary Jack: Being the First Part of the Bagthorpe Saga
- by Helen Cresswell
- The Curse of King Tut's Tomb
- by Jay Montavan
- The Mystery of the Roswell UFO
- by Ken McMurty
- The Secret of Roanoke Island
- by Janet Hubbard-Brown
- Killer Bugs
- by Melvin Berger
Now Available in Paperback
- The Scarebird
- by Sid Fleischman
Greenwillow
- Surtsey: The Newest Place on Earth
- by Kathryn Lasky
Hyperion
- The Magnificent Mummy Maker
- by Elvira Woodruff
Scholastic
- The Boggart
- by Susan Cooper
Macmillan
Now Available in Spanish
- The Twenty-One Balloons (Los 21 globos)
- by William Du Bois Pene