Read Me a Story

"Read to them. Take their breath away. Read with the same feeling in your throat as when you first see the ocean after driving hours and hours to get there. Close the final page of the book with the same reverence you feel when you kiss your sleeping child at night. Be quiet. Don't talk the experience to death. Shut up and let these kids feel and think. Teach your children to be moved."
Cynthia Rylant

Short reads for the younger crowd. Pre-school - 2nd grade.

Henkes, Kevin. Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. (Juv E)
Lilly loves everything about school, especially her teacher until one day Lilly's antics distract the class and the teacher confiscates her new plastic purse. With the help of her family, Lilly writes an apology and feels good for doing the right thing.
Lilly also stars in: Chester's Way; and Julius, the Baby of the World.
Also by the author: Chrysanthemum; Sheila Rae, the Brave; Owen; Wemberly Worried; and A Weekend with Wendell.

Kasza, Keiko. Pigs Picnic. (Juv E)
Mr. Pig, on his way to call on Miss Pig, allows his animal friends to persuade him to don various handsome portions of their own bodies, with an alarming result.
Also by the author: The Wolf's Chicken Stew; Don't Laugh, Joe!; A Mother for Choco; and The Mightiest.

London, Jonathan. Froggy Gets Dressed. (Juv E)
Rambunctious Froggy hops out into the snow for a winter frolic, but is called back by his mother to put on some necessary articles of clothing that he has forgotten.
Look for over 10 more Froggy stories.
Also by the author: Crunch Munch and Wiggle Waggle.

Relf, Adam. Fox Makes Friends. (Juv E)
When Fox wants someone to play with, he takes his mom's advice and sets off to make a friend. What happens along the way surprises him. Fox is about to make the best friends he could ever hope for - but not the way he imagined.

Wilson, Karma. Bear Snores On. (Juv E)
On a cold winter night many animals gather to party in the cave of a sleeping bear, who then awakes and protests that he missed the party.
Also by the author: Bear Wants More; Bear's New Friend and Sweet Briar Goes to School.

Short reads for the older crowd. 3rd-5th grades.

DeFelice, Cynthia. One Potato, Two Potato. (Juv E)
A very poor, humble couple lives so simple a life they share everything, until the husband discovers a pot with magical powers buried under the very last potato in the garden.
Also by the author: Mule Eggs.

Palatini, Margie. Piggie Pie. (Juv E)
Gritch witch flies to Old MacDonald's farm for some pigs to make Piggie Pie, but when she arrives she can't find a single porker as she snoops around.
Also by the author: Zoom Broom (sequel to Piggie Pie); Broom Mates; Bad Boys; The Web Files and Stinky Smelly Feet - A Love Story.

Polacco, Patricia. Pink and Say. (Juv E)
This is a tale of two 15-year-old Union soldiers - one white, one black. The black soldier, separated from his company stumbles upon a left-for-dead white soldier, wounded while deserting his company. Tracing a sad chapter in American history, this story is told at a child's level of understanding about the inhumanity of slavery.
Also by the author: Something About Hensley's; John Philip Duck; Thank you, Mr. Falker; Babushka Baba Yaga; Boat Ride with Lillian Two Blossom; I Can Hear the Sun.

Scieszka, Jon. The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by A. Wolf. (Juv E)
The Big Bad Wolf gives his own version of what really happened when he tangled with the 3 little pigs.
Also by the author: The Frog Prince Continued; Math Curse; Science Verse; Squids Will Be Squids: Fresh Morals, Beastly Fables; and The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairy Stupid Tales.

Longer reads for the entire crowd.

Clements, Andrew. Frindle. (Juv Fic) 105 p.
When he decides to turn his 5th grade teacher's love of the dictionary around on her, clever Nick Allen invents a new word and begins a chain of events that quickly moves beyond his control. This laugh out loud book keeps winning kids' votes for state awards. (Grades 3-6)

DiCamillo, Kate. Because of Winn-Dixie. (Juv Fic) 182 p.
Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni charms everyone she meets and charms her daddy into keeping a big ugly stray dog - Winn-Dixie. She collects the weirdest assortment of cast-off grown-ups and kids during her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida. (Grades 2-5.)
Also by the author: The Tale of Despereaux (Newbery Medal) and Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.

Osborne, Mary Pope. Dinosaurs Before Dark. (Magic Tree House series) Juv Fiction 68 p.
Annie - 7 and Jack - 8 discover a tree house that transports them back in time to the age of dinosaurs. This on-going popular time-travel series often connects children to nonfiction subjects they might have otherwise ignored. (Grades K-3)

Park, Barbara. Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus. Juv Fiction 69 p.
The first in a wonderfully funny series, of more than 25 titles, Junie B., describes in her own words, her feelings about starting kindergarten and what she does when she decides not to ride the bus home. (Grades K-2)

Paulsen, Gary. Hatchet. Juv Fiction 195 p.
After a plane crash, 13 year-old Brian spends 54 days in the wilderness, learning to survive with only the aid of a hatchet give him by his mother. (Grade 5 and up.) Sequels: The River Brian's; Winter Brian's; Return; and Brian's Hunt. Also by the author: Guts: The True Story Behind Hatchet and the Brian Books. The author's real-life experiences and how they inspired parts of his books about the character, Brian Robeson. Also by the author: The Foxman (a precursor to Harris and Me); Mr. Tucket; Call Me Francis; Tucket's Gold; and Tucket's Home. Also: Nightjohn and it's sequel, Scarny: A Life Remembered; The Rifle; Soldier's Heart; The Tent: A Parable in One Sitting; and a survival-at-sea novel, The Voyage of the Frog.

Rockwell, Thomas. How to Eat Fried Worms. Juv Fiction 115 p.
Because of a bet, Billy is in the uncomfortable position of having to eat fifteen worms in fifteen days. His opponent, whose motto seems to be the bigger and juicier, the better, readily supplies the worms! (Grades 2-4)

Smith, Robert K. Chocolate Fever. Juv Fiction 93 p.
Henry Green l-o-v-e-s! chocolate - he eats it on and with everything. One day he breaks out in chocolate freckles - the world's first case of "chocolate fever". This funny book has a subtle message about moderation. (Grades 1-5)