SALEM SCHOOL DISTRICT
SUGGESTED READING LIST
INCOMING FIRST GRADERS - 2008
Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s):
It is with great pleasure that we welcome you and
your child to the Salem School District!
You are your child’s
first and most important teacher. We
look forward to working with you to help your child develop the skills and
abilities that will enable him or her to become a successful, life-long
learner.
Reading serves as the
major foundational skill for all school-based learning. Helping your child develop
into a proficient reader is a gift that will last a lifetime. These few, simple strategies and actions can
make a significant difference in helping your child develop into a good reader.
·
Read aloud together with
your child every day. Even a
few minutes a day can make a big difference!
Point to the words as you read sometimes. This will help your child
learn that reading goes from left to right and understand that the words you
say represent the print in the book.
·
Read your child’s
favorite book over and over again.
·
Read many stories with
rhyming words and lines that repeat. Invite
your child to join in.
·
Be an example for your
child – let him or her see that you read, too.
·
Keep a wide selection of
reading materials in your home.
·
Visit the library
regularly and have your child get his or her own library card.
In this handout you will
find some suggested book titles for you and your child to enjoy. These books
are available at Salem’s Kelley Library. Most of the authors have written other
terrific books in addition to the titles listed. Please note that these
suggestions represent only a small sampling of the many fun, interesting, and
thought provoking books waiting to be discovered by your child and you.
We hope this is the beginning of a wonderful
educational experience for your child and you.
Wishing you a wonderful summer,
Diane Reynolds
Director of Literacy
Brett, Jan The Mitten When Nicki drops his white mitten in the snow, he goes on without
realizing that it is missing. One by
one, woodland animals find the mitten and crawl in. As the
story of the animals in the mitten unfolds, the reader can see Nicki in the
borders of each page, walking through the woods unaware of what is going on.
Carle, Eric The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Follow the progress of a hungry little
caterpillar as he eats his way through the days of the week and through a
varied and very large quantity of food until, full at last, he forms a cocoon
around himself and goes to sleep.
Falconer, Ian Olivia Olivia, the pig, loves life. She
loves to sing, to dress-up, to go to the beach, to make sand castles, to dance
and to paint. Olivia is constantly on the move,
dreaming big dreams and meeting every challenge head-on.
Henkes, Kevin Chrysanthemum
Young mouse Chrysanthemum loves her
name - until she starts school and finds the teasing of her peers unbearable.
Then the beloved music teacher, Mrs. Delphinium Twinkle, announces that she
plans to name her baby Chrysanthemum, and suddenly everyone wants to be named
after a flower.
Henkes, Kevin Owen
Owen is devoted to a no-longer-fuzzy
blanket named Fuzzy. Owen's next-door
neighbor suggests to Owen's parents a series of ways to separate their son--who
is soon to start school--from Fuzzy. The ingenious mouse foils each attempt,
until his resourceful mother stumbles upon “an absolutely wonderful, positively
perfect, especially terrific idea.''
Hoberman, Mary You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You Three books in this
series each present retellings of Mother Goose nursery rhymes, fairy tales
and short stories, each told in two voices designed
especially for children and adults to read together.
Martin, Bill Chicka Chicka Boom Boom In this bright and lively rhyme, the letters of the alphabet race
each other to the top of the coconut tree. When X, Y and Z finally scramble up
the trunk, however, the weight is too much, and down they all tumble in a
colorful chaotic heap. All the family
members race to the rescue, as one by one the slightly injured letters are
helped.
Schachner, Judith Skippyjon Jones
Skippyjon is a young Siamese cat with a
vivid imagination. His mother sends him to his room to do some serious thinking
about what it means to be a cat.
Instead he dons the Zorro-like outfit of his alter-ego, Skippito Friskito
(a Chihuahua) and enters his closet for an adventure.
Stevens, Janet And
the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon In the familiar nursery rhyme, the dish and the spoon run away, but
they always come back. Except for this time. All of the characters have a different
spin on where the dish and spoon could be, so they set off to locate them and
bring them back in time for the next evening's reading of their rhyme.
Wells, Rosemary Emily’s
First 100 Days of School On day one of first grade, Emily's teacher announces they will
"make a new number friend" every day for the next hundred days. Every
day the children write a new number in their number books and Emily includes it
in a story. Those one- or two-sentence stories tell about Emily's lessons in school,
the antics of her friends and family, and her thoughts and feelings as she
lives through these hundred days.
Willems, Mo Knuffle Bunny When Little
Trixie (too young to "even speak words") leaves her beloved stuffed
bunny at the Laundromat, she does her best to get Daddy to understand. Daddy,
unable to understand her problem, brings Trixie home where Mommy greets them
with the question: "Where's Knuffle Bunny?"
Yolen, Jane How Do Dinosaurs Go to School? How do
dinosaurs go to school? Do dinosaurs walk to school or carpool? Do they
stomp and make a fuss on the bus? Do they roughhouse and punch and disrupt the
class by yelling or fidgeting with their tails in the air? Ten colorful dinosaurs perfectly convey how dinosaurs behave in school, large
and powerful though they may be.
Cazet, Denys Minnie and Moo Minnie and Moo are cows that keep getting ideas. Follow the funny and silly adventures of
these best friends who never follow the herd.
Lobel, Arnold Frog and Toad Frog and Toad are always there for each other -- just as best
friends should be. From sledding in winter to eating ice cream on hot summer
days, these two friends have fun together the whole year round!
Parrish, Peggy Amelia
Bedelia In this series housekeeper Amelia Bedelia tries to make sense of her list of chores. Follow the hilarious antics of
literal-minded Amelia as she interprets her instructions and causes chaos in
the Rogers household.
Beeler, Selby Throw Your Tooth on the Roof: Tooth Traditions From Around
the World Children from
familiar and remote countries on each continent, and dressed in native attire,
explain what they do when they lose a tooth.
Ehlert, Lois Waiting for
Wings Follow the life
cycle of four common butterflies, from their beginnings as tiny hidden eggs and
hungry caterpillars to their transformation into full-grown butterflies. Complete with butterfly and flower facts and
identification tips, as well as a guide to planting a butterfly garden.
George, Kristine Toasting
Marshmallows: Camping Poems Thirty simple poems capture the sights, sounds, smells, and
sensations of a family's camping trip, from pitching the tent to pulling up
stakes and returning home.
Hoban, Tana 26 letters and 99 cents Both upper- and lower-case letters are shown beside objects
beginning with that letter. Reverse the
book, and numerals are shown alongside coins that total that amount.
Jenkins, Steve What
Do You With a Tail Like This? Five different animals' tails,
ears, eyes, or other body parts appear with a simple question -"What do
you do with a- like this?". The next two pages show the five creatures’
whole bodies and offer a brief explanation.