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Hidden Trails Elementary

Suggested Reading List by Grade Level

    • The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle
    • Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? – Bill Martin Jr.
    • Chicka Chicka Boom Boom – Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault
    • The Cat in the Hat – Dr. Seuss
    • Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes – Eric Litwin
    • We Don’t Eat Our Classmates – Ryan T. Higgins
    • The Kissing Hand – Audrey Penn
    • Corduroy – Don Freeman
    • Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! – Mo Willems
    • Llama Llama Red Pajama – Anna Dewdney
    • Giraffes Can’t Dance – Giles Andreae
    • Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak
    • Caps for Sale – Esphyr Slobodkina
    • Mouse Paint – Ellen Stoll Walsh
    • The Pout-Pout Fish – Deborah Diesen
    • Bear Snores On – Karma Wilson
    • How Do Dinosaurs Go to School? – Jane Yolen
    • A Sick Day for Amos McGee – Philip C. Stead
    • Press Here – Hervé Tullet
    • David Goes to School – David Shannon

    • Dr. Seuss Beginning Book Collection (Go Dog Go, One Fish Two Fish, Are You My Mother)
    • Fly Guy Series
    • Frog and Toad Are Friends – Arnold Lobel
    • Elephant & Piggie series – Mo Willems
    • Miss Nelson Is Missing! – Harry Allard
    • The Day the Crayons Quit – Drew Daywalt
    • Henry and Mudge – Cynthia Rylant
    • If You Give a Mouse a Cookie – Laura Numeroff
    • No, David! – David Shannon
    • The Paper Bag Princess – Robert Munsch
    • Little Bear – Else Holmelund Minarik
    • Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon – Patty Lovell
    • Diary of a Spider – Doreen Cronin
    • I Am Enough – Grace Byers
    • A Bad Case of Stripes – David Shannon
    • The Dot – Peter H. Reynolds
    • Owl Moon – Jane Yolen
    • The Gruffalo – Julia Donaldson
    • Scaredy Squirrel – Mélanie Watt
    • Amelia Bedelia – Peggy Parish
    • Knuffle Bunny – Mo Willems
    • Library Lion – Michelle Knudsen

      Early Chapter Books:
    • Magic Tree House Series

    • Junie B. Jones Series

    • Owl Diaries Series 

    • Ivy and Bean Series 

    • Narwhal and Jelly Series (early graphic novel)

    • Magic Tree House: Dinosaurs Before Dark – Mary Pope Osborne (or any other Magic Tree House Books)
    • Julius, the Baby of the World – Kevin Henkes
    • Charlotte’s Web – E.B. White
    • Poppleton – Cynthia Rylant
    • Mr. Putter & Tabby Fly the Plane – Cynthia Rylant
    • The Relatives Came – Cynthia Rylant
    • Mercy Watson to the Rescue – Kate DiCamillo
    • Because of Winn-Dixie – Kate DiCamillo
    • The Rainbow Fish – Marcus Pfister
    • My Father’s Dragon – Ruth Stiles Gannett
    • Flat Stanley – Jeff Brown
    • Nate the Great – Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
    • The One and Only Ivan (adapted discussions) – Katherine Applegate
    • A Chair for My Mother – Vera B. Williams
    • The Paperboy – Dav Pilkey
    • Henry’s Freedom Box – Ellen Levine
    • Amazing Grace – Mary Hoffman
    • The BFG (read‑aloud) – Roald Dahl
    • Ira Sleeps Over – Bernard Waber
    • The Stories Julian Tells – Ann Cameron

    • Because of Winn-Dixie – Kate DiCamillo
    • Ramona Quimby, Age 8 – Beverly Cleary
    • Charlotte’s Web – E.B. White
    • The Boxcar Children – Gertrude Chandler Warner
    • Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing – Judy Blume
    • Sarah, Plain and Tall – Patricia MacLachlan
    • James and the Giant Peach – Roald Dahl
    • The Chocolate Touch – Patrick Skene Catling
    • The One and Only Ivan – Katherine Applegate
    • Frindle – Andrew Clements
    • Wayside School Is Falling Down – Louis Sachar
    • Stone Fox – John Reynolds Gardiner
    • The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane – Kate DiCamillo
    • Judy Moody – Megan McDonald
    • Captain Underpants – Dav Pilkey
    • Pippi Longstocking – Astrid Lindgren
    • How to Eat Fried Worms – Thomas Rockwell
    • The Tale of Despereaux – Kate DiCamillo
    • Clementine – Sara Pennypacker
    • The Indian in the Cupboard – Lynne Reid Banks

    • Hatchet – Gary Paulsen
    • Esperanza Rising – Pam Muñoz Ryan
    • Number the Stars – Lois Lowry
    • Island of the Blue Dolphins – Scott O’Dell
    • The Giver – Lois Lowry
    • Wonder – R.J. Palacio
    • Maniac Magee – Jerry Spinelli
    • From the Mixed‑Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler – E.L. Konigsburg
    • Holes – Louis Sachar
    • Bridge to Terabithia – Katherine Paterson
    • Shiloh – Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
    • The Wild Robot – Peter Brown
    • Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH – Robert C. O’Brien
    • The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis
    • El Deafo – Cece Bell
    • The Lightning Thief – Rick Riordan
    • Esperanza Rising – Pam Muñoz Ryan
    • Where the Mountain Meets the Moon – Grace Lin
    • Rules – Cynthia Lord
    • Because of Mr. Terupt – Rob Buyea

    • Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief – Rick Riordan
    • The Outsiders – S.E. Hinton
    • A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle
    • The War That Saved My Life – Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
    • Esperanza Rising – Pam Muñoz Ryan
    • Bud, Not Buddy – Christopher Paul Curtis
    • Wonder – R.J. Palacio
    • Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry – Mildred D. Taylor
    • The Wild Robot Escapes – Peter Brown
    • Fish in a Tree – Lynda Mullaly Hunt
    • Bridge Home – Padma Venkatraman
    • Inside Out & Back Again – Thanhhà Lại
    • The Red Pyramid – Rick Riordan
    • Out of My Mind – Sharon M. Draper
    • The Watsons Go to Birmingham – Christopher Paul Curtis
    • Hoot – Carl Hiaasen
    • Because of Mr. Terupt – Rob Buyea
    • The Crossover – Kwame Alexander
    • Refugee – Alan Gratz
    • Tuck Everlasting – Natalie Babbitt

    • The Giver – Lois Lowry
    • Hatchet – Gary Paulsen
    • Wonder – R.J. Palacio
    • The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
    • The Lightning Thief – Rick Riordan
    • The Crossover – Kwame Alexander
    • Refugee – Alan Gratz
    • Esperanza Rising – Pam Muñoz Ryan
    • A Long Walk to Water – Linda Sue Park
    • Stargirl – Jerry Spinelli
    • The City of Ember – Jeanne DuPrau
    • New Kid – Jerry Craft
    • The Outsiders – S.E. Hinton
    • Inside Out & Back Again – Thanhhà Lại
    • Ghost – Jason Reynolds
    • Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters – Rick Riordan
    • Brown Girl Dreaming – Jacqueline Woodson
    • The Book Thief (advanced readers) – Markus Zusak
    • Chains – Laurie Halse Anderson
    • Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life – James Patterson