Summer Reading 2024

2025 NKSD Summer Reading Lists Gr. K-5

Danielle DeAngelis

June 16, 2025

June 20, 2025


Dear Families,

We are often asked, “Do you have any suggestions for what my child should read over the summer?”  As reading specialists, we are happy to answer this question!  Here are some suggestions of titles of books or series that may be found at any library or bookstore that match the theme of Module 1 in our Wit & Wisdom Curriculum.

We have also included a few of our favorite websites if your child wants to work online this summer. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at stephanie_mckiernan@nksd.net  or any member of the NKSD Reading Team.

Sincerely,

Stephanie L. McKiernan, QES

Lynne Lastarza , FPES

Jessica Dubois, SLES

Kerri Fairbanks, HES

Jeannie Willette, FCES


Kindergarten - Module 1: “The Five Senses”

  • Rain, Manya Stojic 

  • Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, Bill Martin Jr. 

  • The Listening Walk, Paul Showers 

  • The Snowy Day, Ezra Jack Keats 

  • Ada Twist, Scientist, Andrea Beaty 

  • Hello Ocean, Pam Muñoz Ryan 

  • Owl Moon, Jane Yolen 

  • An Eye for Color: The Story of Josef Albers, Natasha Wing 

  • Drum Dream Girl, Margarita Engle 

  • Little Fur Family, Margaret Wise Brown 

  • Geraldine, the Music Mouse, Leo Lionni 

  • No One Saw, Bob Raczka 

  • Every Second Something Happens: Poems for the Mind and Senses, Christine San José 

  • A Color of His Own, Leo Lionni

Grade 1 -  Module 1: “A World of Books”

  • Poppleton by Cynthia Rylant

  • Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen

  • The Library by Sarah Stewart

  • Roger is Reading a Book, Koen Van Biesen  

  • Rain School, James Rumford 

  • Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books, Kay Winters 

  • Biblioburro: A True Story from Colombia, Jeanette Winter 

  • The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, William Joyce 

  • Thank You, Mr. Falker, Patricia Polacco 

  • The Stone Lion, Margaret Wild 

  •  Bats at the Library, Brian Lies 

  •  Wild about Books, Judy Sierraq 

  •  You Wouldn’t Want to Live Without Books!, Alex Woolf

Grade 2 -  “A Season of Change”

  • Frog and Toad All Year by Arnold Lobel

  • The Longest Day: Celebrating the Summer Solstice by Wendy Pfeffer

  • The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice by Wendy Pfeffer

  • Poppleton in Winter by Cynthia Rylant 

  • Henry and Mudge in the Sparkle Days, Cynthia Rylant 

  • The Little Island, Margaret Wise Brown 

  • Snow, Cynthia Rylant 

  • Over and Under the Pond, Kate Messner 

  • Over and Under the Snow, Kate Messner 

  • The House of Four Seasons, Roger Duvoisin

Grade 3 -  “The Sea”

  • National Geographic Kids First Big Book of the Ocean by Catherine D. Hughes

  • Seymour Simon’s Extreme Oceans by Seymour Simon

  • Narwhal, Unicorn of the Sea by Janet Halfmann

  • A Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle, Claire A. Nivola 

  • Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist, Jess Keating 

  • Shark Lady: True Adventures of Eugenie Clark, Ann McGovern 

  • Swimming with Sharks: The Daring Discoveries of Eugenie Clark, Heather Lang 

  • Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau, Jennifer Berne 

  • Mary Cassatt: Extraordinary Impressionist Painter, Barbara Herkert 

  • The Great Wave: A Children’s Book Inspired by Hokusai, Veronique Massenot 

  • Ocean: A Visual Miscellany, Ricardo Henriques and Andre Letria 

  • Tentacles!: Tales of the Giant Squid, Shirley Raye Redmond 

  • National Geographic Readers: Weird Sea Creatures, Laura Marsh 

  • Surprising Sharks: Read and Wonder, Nicola Davies 

  • National Geographic Kids First Big Book of the Ocean, Catherine D. Hughes

  • Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea, Steve Jenkins

  • Sharks, Seymour Simon  

  • Seymour Simon’s Extreme Oceans, Seymour Simon 

  • Giant Squid, Candace Fleming 

  • Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea, Janet Halfmann

Grade 4 - “A Great Heart”

  • Who Was Clara Barton? By Stephanie Spinner

  • The One and Only Ivan by Christine Applegate

  • The Circulatory System by Christine Taylor-Butler

  • Clara and Davie, Patricia Polacco 

  • Clara Barton: Angel of the Battlefield, Editors of TIME for Kids 

  • Sergeant Reckless: The True Story of the Little Horse Who Became a Hero, Patricia McCormick 

  • Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story about Brain Science, John Fleischman 

  • Breakthrough!: How Three People Saved “Blue Babies” and Changed Medicine Forever, Jim Murphy 

  • Katerina’s Wish, Jeannie Mobley  

  • Locomotion, Jacqueline Woodson 

  • The Circulatory System, Christine Taylor-Butler

Grade 5 - “Cultures in Conflict”

  • Seaman’s Journey: On the Trail with Lewis and Clark by Patricia Eubank

  • Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

  • The Birchbark House by Louise Erdich

  • Sacajawea, Joseph Bruchac  

  • Trail of Tears, Joseph Bruchac 

  • A History of US: The New Nation: 1789–1850, Joy Hakim  

  • How We Crossed the West: The Adventures of Lewis and Clark, Rosalyn Schanzer 

  • Only the Names Remain: The Cherokees and the Trail of Tears, Alex W. Bealer 

  • Zia, Scott O’Dell 

  • Sing Down the Moon, Scott O’Dell 

  • Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O’Dell 

  • Salt: A Story of Friendship in a Time of War, Helen Frost 

  • As Long as the Rivers Flow: Stories of Nine Native Americans, Paula Gunn Allen and Patricia Clark Smith 

  • American Indian Stories, Zitkala-Sa

Here are a few websites that your child may find helpful to keep his/her skills in tip-top shape over the summer: