Where Are You, Bronte? by Tomie dePaola illustrated by Barbara McClintock

 Tomie's last fully written book before he passed away in 2020

Tomie relates how special his dog, throughout its life and how much he misses him when Bronte dies.

Written in 2nd person-directly to Bronte

Children who love their pets will connect with Tomie's love for Bronte.

Ms. McClintock mimics Tomie's illustration style well. She includes the dove with a heart on it throughout the pages.

-Borrowed from the library

Little Fox in the Forest by Stephanie Graegin

 A sweet wordless book 

A girl loses her favorite stuffed animal, a fox, when a real fox snatches it.  The girl and her friend follow the fox into the woodland to discover a wondrous world.  A satisfying compromise is established.

The endpages are vital to look at and to discuss!

-Borrowed from the library.

Danny's Doodles The Jelly Bean Experiment by David A. Adler*

My eight year old read this book to himself.  He liked it!  Below is his review:
"Calvin told Danny to put jelly beans in pants' pockets.   But I can't tell you what happens to them.  Calvin can read the baseball pitcher's signs so he can determine what kind of pitch he will throw.   This book is very funny!"
*Highly recommend.
-Borrowed from the library.

Julia, Child by Kyo Maclear illustrated by Julie Morstad

Julie and her friend Simca love to cook and pursue opportunities to learn the art.  They notice, however, how wary and worried adults are and decide to create recipes to help people grow young.
An unique, fun picture book.

The Old Woman Who Named Things by Cynthia Rylant illustrated by Kathryn Brown*

An old woman names various items she owns, but only items that will outlive her.  She has outlived all of her friends and refuses to become attached to anything else that may pass away or become worn out before her.  Then a stray puppy arrives outside her gate and shakes up her well ordered world!!
*Highly recommend.
-I own this book.
Strategies: mentor text for personal narratives; character traits

Literature Pockets Aesop's Fables by Jo Ellen Moore and Jill Norris*

For Grades 2-3
Fables and extension activities included.
*Highly recommend.
-Borrowed from the library.
Fables included: The Tortoise and the Hare, The Lion and the Mouse, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Miller, His Son and Their Donkey, The Milkmaid and her Pail, The Fox and the Goat, The Fox and the Stork, The Cat, the Rooster and the Mouse.

Let's Read and Find Out Stage 2 Archaeologists Dig for Clues by Kate Duke*

A group of children spend a day with Sophie, an archaeologist, digging up area in a corn field where Archaic people once lived.
A wonderfully detailed book about how an archaeologist spends a day, not only at the dig site, but also in the laboratory categorizing finds.
Humor is woven into the characters', dog's and cat's speech bubbles.
*Highly recommend.
Tons of vocabulary and information!
My seven year old and I took turns reading aloud this book together for school.
Teaching strategy: nonfiction text features; scan and plan (how to plan and read nonfiction)

Place Value by David A. Adler

Mr. Adler explains the importance of place value and also shares the history of our number system.
-Borrowed from the library.

Good Night, Baddies by Deborah Underwood illustrated by Juli Kangas

How do the villains from the folk/fairy tales go to bed?  Do they ever become weary of being evil?  Are they ever afraid of anything?  Do they have bad days?
The answers to these questions can be found in this fun rhyming book.
Strategy: connections (text to text)
-Borrowed from the library.

Sly the Sleuth and the Sports Mysteries by Donna Jo Napoli and Robert Furrow illustrated by Heather Maione*

Sly (Sylvia) runs a detective agency and helps the friends in her neighborhood solve problems.
Instead of chapters, the book is divided into three cases.  Within each case, the authors have divided it into sections and labeled them with section headings.
Sly helps her friend Jack remove the birds from the soccer field so he can practice his kicking.  Then she figures out who is taking Melody's sports equipment.  Finally she helps a mother discover why her preschooler is acting strange.
I really liked the format of the book since it would encourage transitional readers to build stamina.  The different sections with headings make this a perfect book to practice "check for understanding", summarizing, figure out the main idea and monitor comprehension.
*Highly recommend.
Strategies: check for understanding, main idea/details, summarizing, monitoring comprehension, stamina
Guided Reading Level: L (2nd grade)
Grade Level Equivalent: 2.7
There are four different titles in this series.  Below is a link to the list:
https://www.goodreads.com/series/74772-sly-the-sleuth

Secret Files #16-Hardy Boys Camping Chaos by Franklin W. Dixon illustrated by Scott Burroughs*

My eight year old bought this book recently and read it in one day.
Nine and eight year old Frank and Joe camp in Bayport State Park with their friends.  The boys want to win the tent-decorating competition.  Then decorations begin to disappear and the culprit's "foot"prints do not look human!
*Highly recommend for reluctant readers and transitional readers.

Dive! A Book of Deep-Sea Creatures by Melvin Berger

Hello Reader! Level 3 Grades 1 and 2
Explore the deep ocean and discover amazing creatures that live there.
Text features: chapter headings, different color font
Strategies: summarizing, main idea/details

Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Waber*

An oldie but a goody!
Ira having his first sleep over at Reggie's house.  The problem arises when he must decide if he is going to take along his teddy bear, Tah-Tah.  His parents do not think Reggie will laugh; his sister continually states "He'll laugh."  Poor Ira vacillates between bringing Tah-Tah and not bringing him throughout the story.
Lots of opportunities to make inferences and connections.  My boys and I had a good time thinking while I read this book aloud to them.
Strategies:  connections, inferring, author's message
Warnings/points to discuss: Reggie begins to tell a scary ghost story.
Guided Reading Level: L (2nd grade)
Grade Level Equivalent: 3.5

Andrew Lost in the Garden #4 by J.C. Greenburg*

Andrew and his crew escape the kitchen (see book #3) on a fly and end up in the garden.
Then they encounter many bugs.  The owner of the yard is having a party and she almost tramples them.
At end of this book they become normal size again!
*Highly recommend.

Andrew Lost in the Kitchen #3 by J. C. Greenburg*

My second grader read this book to himself.  This is his review.
In book #1 Andrew shrinks himself, his cousin Judy and his robot Thudd (his best friend).
He is trying back to the Atom Sucker (which shrunk him) to become normal size again before 8:01.
This book they are lost in the kitchen.  They encounter a cockroach.  Andrew almost is put into a refrigerator.
*Highly recommend.
True facts pertaining to the book in the back.

The Milo and Jazz Mysteries #2 The Case of the Poisoned Pig by Lewis B. Montgomery*

My preschooler loves hearing the books in this series read aloud to him and my second grader can easily read them in a couple of sittings.
In their second case Milo and Jazz (neighbors and classmates) try to figure out who may have poisoned Jazz's new pet pig.
*Highly recommend.
A great series to have  in 2nd-3rd grade classroom.
Fun puzzles in the back for aspiring detectives to hone their skills.

Nancy Clancy Super Sleuth Book #1 by Jane O'Connor illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser*

Ms. O'Connor takes her character, Fancy Nancy in picture books,  and creates chapter books for her readers who have matured.
Nancy is determined to solve cases with her best friend Bree,  like Nancy Drew.
One their teacher's beautiful blue shooter marble goes missing, Nancy and Bree seize the opportunity to solve a real case.
Love all the vocab. which Ms. O'Connor explains within the text.

Strategy: expanding vocab., fluent reading
Great series to have in a 2nd/3rd grade classroom library.

Guided Reading Level: O (3rd grade)
Grade Equivalent: 2.5

Here's Hank-Bookmarks Are People Too! #1 by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver*

Mr. Winkler and Ms. Oliver have now made Hank Zipzer available to the younger reading crowd with the series Here's Hank.   In these books Hank, his best friend Frankie and new friend Ashley are in second grade.  Hank struggles with focusing and dyslexia.
In this book Hank auditions for a part in play written by his teacher but cannot read the words (after much practice all weekend!) so she creates a "special" part for him -a bookmark.  Class meanie, Nick McKelty, relentless picks on Hank and threatens him not to "steal the show".

The book is written in a new font called Dyslexie developed by Christian Boer, a dyslexic.  The font makes letters more distinct and further spaced apart which enables dyslexics and any reader to read faster, easier, better.
*Highly recommend.
Great series for 1st-3rd grade classrooms.
Warning/points to discuss:  There is a zombie part in the play.

Secret Files #9 The Hardy Boys The Great Coaster Caper by Franklin W. Dixon illustrated by Scott Burroughs*

My second grader read this book to himself.
Frank and Joe help their friend Phil create a miniature model roller coaster for a design contest.  Someone destroys his model so Frank and Joe set out to found out "who did it".
*Highly recommend series.

The Hardy Boys Secret File #7 The Disappearing Dog by Franklin W. Dixon illustrated by Scott Buroughs*

Frank and Joe's classmate, Max, claims he can make anything disappear.  But when a prized dog keeps vanishing, Frank and Joe decide to investigate.
My second grader loves this series.  He read this book to himself.
*Highly recommend series.
Guided Reading Level: N (third grade)
If I taught 2nd-3rd grade, I would purchase this series for my classroom library.