Included below are book suggestions and ways to encourage your children to read more. Please note this list is only a suggested list and a starting point for finding books that children love. Many of these books can be found at the Chicago Public Library and have been voted as favorites in the Bluestem, Monarch, Caudill, and Abraham Lincoln Awards. Find other awards and winning books on the Association for Library Service to Children website by clicking on the different awards. Also, consider participating in the Chicago Public Library’s Summer Reading Program: You Are What You Read and find these healthy book choices at your local CPL branch.
Ways to engage kids in reading more:
- Let kids choose subjects they love. They’re more likely to finish books they pick out themselves.
- Set the example. Model good reading behaviors. Find time for your child to read at least 20 minutes every day. This encourages a lifelong love of reading and learning.
- Lead them to reading. Talk about books. Continue to read aloud to children, regardless of their age.
K-1st grade
ABC, I Like Me by Nancy Carlson
Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo
Cha Cha Chimps by Julia Durango
Dogku by Andrew Clements
Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld
From Head to Toe by Eric Carle
Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio
Imogene’s Last Stand by Candace Fleming
Memoirs of a Goldfish by Devin Scillian
Never Smile at a Monkey: and 17 Other Important Things to Remember by Steve Jenkins
Let’s Do Nothing! by Tony Fucile
Not a Box by Antoinette Portis
Otis by Loren Long
Panda Kindergarten by Joanne Ryder
Shark vs. Train by Chris Barton
2nd-3rd grade
Action Jackson by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan
Baby Mouse by Jennifer Holm (series)
Big Nate by Lincoln Pierce (series)
The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors by Chris Barton
Dying to Meet You by Kate Klise
Flight of the Phoenix by R. L. LaFevers
Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine
Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows (series)
Just Grace by Charise Mercile Harper (series)
Knights of the Lunch Table by Frank Cammuso (series)
Lunch Lady by Jarrett Krosoczka (series)
Marty McGuire by Kate Messner
Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca
Nic Bishop Frogs by Nic Bishop
Testing the Ice: A True Story about Jackie Robinson by Sharon Robinson
The World According to Humphrey by Betty Birney
4th-5th grade
Alvin Ho by Lenore Look (series)
Around the World: Three Remarkable Journeys by Matt Phelan
Bad News for Outlaws by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
The BFG by Roald Dahl
Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugen Yelchin
Countdown by Deborah Wiles
A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban
Dodger and Me by Jordan Sonnenblick
Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynee Jonell
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry
Houdini Box by Brian Selznick
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Jimi Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix by Gary Golio
Knucklehead: Tall Tales & Mostly True Stories about Growing Up Scieszka by Jon Scieszka
No Talking by Andrew Clements
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story by Ken Mochizuki
Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook by Eleanor Davis
Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
Smile by Raina Telgemeier
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis
6th-8th grade
After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson
All the Broken Pieces by Ann Burg
The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose
Elephant Talk: The Surprising Science of Elephant Communication by Ann Downer
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
Extra Credit by Andrew Clements
The Girl Who Threw Butterflies by Mick Cochrane
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Marching for Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don’t You Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridge
Nation by Terry Pratchett
Peak by Roland Smith
Powerless by Matthew Cody
The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon
Rules by Cynthia Lord
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
Sir Charlie Chaplin: Funniest Man in the World by Sid Fleischman
The Surrender Tree by Margarita Engle
akibird 