Summer Reading 2020!
For Rising Second Graders
Dear Dalton Parents
This summer reading list encompasses a wide variety of interests and reading levels. Over the break, as always, our top priority is to foster a love of reading in our students.
For ease of access:
Titles that are available on Sora are marked with an asterisk: *.
Titles available on Epic! are noted with a carrot: ^.
Have a wonderful summer of reading!
Christine Nassar and Jordy Samuels
First Program Librarians
Author, Illustrator, and Title Recommendations
Picture Book Authors and Illustrators
- Matt de la Peña (Last Stop On Market Street*^, Carmela Full of Wishes*, Love*, A Nation's Hope)
- Kadir Nelson (The Undefeated*, Coretta Scott, Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, Nelson Mandela, I Have a Dream, If You Plant a Seed)
- Dan Santat (The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend*, After the Fall*, Rodzilla*, Dog in Charge*, Drawn Together*)
- Brendan Wenzel (They All Saw a Cat*, A Stone Sat Still*, Some Pets, Some Bugs, Life*)
- Mo Willems (Elephant and Piggie series, The Pigeon series, Knuffle Bunny series, Because, Leonardo the Terrible Monster, Unlimited Squirrels series)
- Oliver Jeffers (Stuck, Once Upon an Alphabet*, This Moose Belongs to Me*, The Day the Crayons Quit*, The Day the Crayons Came Home*, Up and Down*)
- Christian Robinson (Just In Case You Want to Fly^, Another, The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade, School's First Day of School*, Carmela Full of Wishes*, Last Stop on Market Street*^, Gaston*, Another)
- Adam Rex (The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors*, Why?*, School's First Day of School*^)
- Adam Rubin & Daniel Salmieri (Dragons Love Tacos series*; Big, Bad Bubble^; Those Darn Squirrels series^, Secret Pizza Party^, High Five, Robo-Sauce)
- Kwame Alexander (The Undefeated*, How To Read a Book, Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band*, Surf's Up, Out of Wonder*)
- Jesse Sima (Not Quite Narwhal; Harriet Gets Carried Away; Love, Z; Spencer's New Pet)
- David Wiesner (Flotsam, Tuesday, The Three Pigs, Sector 7, Mr. Wuffles^)
- Vashti Harrison (Hair Love, Cece Loves Science, Little Leaders*, Little Dreamers*, Little Legends*)
- Peter H. Reynolds (The Dot^, Ish^, Sky Color^, The Word Collector^, Going Places^, The North Star^)
- Susan Verde & Peter Reynolds (I Am Human: A Book of Empathy^, I Am Peace: A Book of Mindfulness^, I Am Yoga^, You And Me^, Museum^, The Water Princess^)
- Kelly DiPucchio (Gaston*, Antoinette, Dragon Was Terrible*, Grace For President^, Super Manny series*)
- Jonathan Stutzman (Llama Destroys the World^, Tiny T. Rex and the Impossible Hug)
- Alexandra Boiger (Max and Marla series, She Persisted series)
- Aaron Reynolds (Creepy Carrots^, Creepy Pair of Underwear*, Dude!, Carnivores)
- Todd Parr (Be Who You Are*, The Family Book, It's Okay to Be Different, The I Love You Book, The Thank You Book)
- Kevin Henkes (Chrysanthemum^, Owen^, Kitten's First Full Moon^, Waiting, Wemberly Worried*, Lilly series, Penny series, Egg)
- Andrea Beaty (Ada Twist, Scientist*^; Rosie Revere, Engineer*^; Iggy Peck, Architect^; Sofia Valdez, Future Prez^)
- Ryan T. Higgins (We Don't Eat Our Classmates*, Mother Bruce, Be Quiet)
- William Steig (Sylvester and the Magic Pebble^, Doctor De Soto^, Brave Irene^)
Chapter Book Authors
- Kate DiCamillo (Mercy Watson series^*, Bink & Gollie series^*, Leroy Ninker Saddles Up*, Good Rosie!)
- Beverly Cleary (Ramona series*, Dear Mr. Henshaw*, Ralph Mouse series*)
- Jacqueline Jules (Sofia Martinez series*, Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos series*)
- Arnold Lobel (Frog and Toad series*^, Fables, Mouse Soup, Mouse Tales)
- Nancy Krulik (Princess Pulverizer series*, George Brown: Class Clown series, Katie Kazoo Switcheroo series, Magic Bone series)
- Fran Manushkin (Katie Woo series*, Pedro series)
Nonfiction Authors and Illustrators
- National Geographic Kids* (Weird But True series, Just Joking series, What In the World: A Closer Look, Explore My World series, Real or Fake? series)
- Kathleen Krull (No Truth Without Ruth: The Life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Wilma Unlimited, Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez, Houdini: World's Greatest Mystery Man and Escape King)
- Steve Jenkins (How to Swallow a Pig*, The Beetle Book*, Actual Size, Speediest*, Stinkiest*, Trickiest*, Living Color, A House In the Sky^, What Do You Do With a Tail Like This^)
- Brian Floca (Locomotive^*, Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11, Lightship, The Racecar Alphabet)
- Jason Chin (Island: A Story of the Galápagos^, Grand Canyon^, Redwoods^, Coral Reefs^, Water is Water, Gravity^, Nine Months: Before a Baby Is Born^)
- Donna Jo Napoli (Treasury of Greek Mythology^, Treasury of Egyptian Mythology^, Tales from the Arabian Nights^, Hands & Hearts: With 15 Words in American Sign Language^)
- Jonah Winter (Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R.B.G. vs Inequality^*; Sonia Sotomayor; Barack; Elvis is King; Thurgood*; Muhammad Ali: Champion of the World; Dizzy)
- Julie Murray (Polar Bears*, Pythons*, Raccoons^, Sheep^, Explore the Countries series^, Spaceships^, Trucks^, Trains^, Boats^, Doctors^, Firefighters^, Teachers^, Librarians^, Ears^, Legs & Feet^, Arms & Hands^, Mouth^)
- Dave Eggers (What Can a Citizen Do?, Her Right Foot^, Tomorrow Most Likely*)
Authors and Illustrators Across Genres
- LeUyen Pham (Bear Came Along*, A Piece of Cake, The Princess in Black series*, Grace for President^, The Bear Who Wasn't There*, There's No Such Thing As Little, The Itchy Book)
- Tom Angleberger (Inspector Flytrap series^*; Didi Dodo Future Spy series^*, The Princess and the Pitstop^)
- Lenore Look (Alvin Ho series*, Ruby Lu series*, Brush of the Gods)
- Sophie Blackall (Hello, Lighthouse*; Finding Winnie*, Ivy & Bean*)
- Mac Barnett (Sam and Dave Dig a Hole^*, Extra Yarn^, Triangle, Circle*, Square, Leo: A Ghost Story^, Mac B. Kid Spy series*)
- Cynthia Rylant (Henry and Mudge series^*, Mr. Putter and Tabby series*, Poppleton series*, Gooseberry Park*, Life*)
- Ashley Spires (The Most Magnificent Thing^*, The Thing Lou Couldn't Do^, Larf^, Binky series^, Gordon: Bark to the Future^, Fluffy: Strikes Back^)
- Grace Lin (A Big Mooncake for Little Star*^, Not Exactly the Same*, The Ugly Vegetables^, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon*)
- Cece Bell (I Yam a Donkey^, Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover, Rabbit & Robot and Ribbit, Smell My Foot*, Itty Bitty, Inspector Flytrap series^*, You Loves Ewe)
- Dav Pilkey (Dog Man series*, Captain Underpants series^*, Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot series)
- Mark Teague (The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf, How Do Dinosaurs... series, Poppleton series*, Pigsty^ , Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters From Obedience School*^, Jack and the Beanstalk and the French Fries^)
- Jon Scieszka (The Stinky Cheeseman and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, Math Curse, Science Verse, Squids Will be Squids, Frank Einstein series)
- Lane Smith (Grandpa Green, There Is A Tribe of Kids, It's a Book, Giraffe Problems, Madam President^, Lulu series*, Tomorrow Most Likely*)
- Joe Todd-Stanton (A Mouse Called Julian^, Brownstone's Mythical Collection series^)
- Elise Gravel (Disgusting Critters series, The Cranky Ballerina, What Is a Refugee?,The Worst Book Ever, A Day In the Office of Doctor Bugspit^, Adopt a Glurb^)
- Tedd Arnold (Fly Guy series, Noodleheads series^ with Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss)
- Aaron Blabey (I Need a Hug, The Bad Guys series, Pig the Pug series)
- Doreen Cronin (Duck for President*; Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type^; Dooby Dooby Moo^; Giggle, Giggle, Quack*; The Chicken Squad series)
- Ben Clanton (Narwhal and Jelly series*; Rot series, Vote For Me*)
- Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (Baby Mouse series, Squish series, Comics Squad*)
- John Patrick Green (Hippopotamister, InvestiGators series^, Kitten Construction Company series)
- Maxwell Eaton III (Okay, Andy^; Andy Also^; The Flying Beaver Brothers series; Bear Goes Sugaring^)
- Pranas T. Naujokaitis (The Totally Awesome Epic Quest of the Brave Boy Knight, Dinosaurs in Space, Dinosaurs in Space: Out of This World)
General Recommendations
Picture Books
- All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold*
- A Family is a Family is a Family by Sara O'Leary^
- I Walk With Vanessa by Kerascoët*
- What If...? by Samantha Berger*
- Drawn Together by Minh Lê*
- Where Are You From by Yamile Saied Méndez
- The Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen*
- Julián is a Mermaid by Jessica Love*
- Dreamers by Yuyi Morales^*
- The Day you Begin by Jacqueline Woodson*
- Not Quite Snow White by Ashley Franklin
- How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills*
- Grandma's Purse by Vanessa Brantley Newton^*
- The King of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes*
- Lena's Shoes Are Nervous by Keith Calabrese*
- Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora*
- Saturday by Oge Mora*
- Kitty and Dragon by Meika Hashimoto (series)^
- A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin*
- The House That Once Was by Julie Fogliano
- The Brain is Kind of A Big Deal by Nick Seluk*
- The Sun is Kind of a Big Deal by Nick Seluk*
- ¡Vamos! Let's Go to the Market by Raúl the Third*
- What Does It Mean to Be Kind? by Rana DiOrio^
- One Word From Sophia by Jim Averbeck*
- Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe^*
- Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann*
- Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal*
- I Am a Cat by Galia Bernstein*
- So You Want To Be President by Judith St. George*
- Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág
- Fox the Tiger by Corey R. Tabor
- Imagine! by Raúl Colón
- Pearl by Molly Idle
- Sophie Johnson, Unicorn Expert by Morag Hood
- The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld
- My Magic Breath: Finding Calm Through Mindful Breathing by Nick Ortner and Alison Taylor
Chapter Books
- Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne (series)
- My Weird School by Dan Gutman (series)^*
- A - Z Mysteries, Calendar Mysteries, Ballpark Mysteries, Capital Mysteries by Ron Roy (series)*
- Mia Mayhem by Kara West (series)*
- Rainbow Magic by Daisy Meadows (series)^
- Safari Pug, Pirate Pug, Cowboy Pug, Captain Pug by Laura James (series)*
- Fox and Chick by Sergio Ruzzier (series)*
- The Alien Next Door by A. I. Newton (series)*
- The Major Eights by Melody Reed (series)*
- Anna Banana by Anica Mrose Rissi (series)
- The Kingdom of Wrenly by Jordan Quinn (series)*
- Dragon Masters by Tracey West (series)*
- Baby Monkey, Private Eye by Brian Selznick*
- Jasmine Toguchi by Debbi Michiko Florence (series)*
- Owl Diaries by Rebecca Elliott *
- Roscoe Riley Rules by Katherine Applegate (series)*
- Heidi Heckelbeck by Wanda Coven*
- Ivy & Bean by Annie Barrows*
- The World According to Humphrey, Friendship According to Humphrey, Trouble According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney (series)*
- Unicorn Rescue Society by Adam Gidwitz and others (series)*
- Odd Gods by David Slavin (series)*
- Isadora Moon by Harriet Muncaster (series)*
- Rider Woofson by Walker Styles (series)*
- Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown (series)*
- Charlie and Mouse by Laurel Snyder (series)*
- Lulu by Hilary McKay (series)*
- Jasper John Dooley by Caroline Anderson (series)^
- King & Kayla by Dori Butler (series)^
- Stella Díaz by Angela Dominguez (series)*
- Lola Levine by Monica Brown (series)*
- Sherlock Sam by A. J. Low (series)^
- The Kicks by Alex Morgan (series)*
- Geronimo Stilton by Geronimo Stilton (series)^*
Nonfiction
- I Am... by Brad Meltzer (biography series)*
- Inky's Amazing Escape: How A Very Smart Octopus Found His Way Home by Sy Montgomery*
- Hands & Hearts: With 15 Words in American Sign Language by Donna Jo Napoli^
- Who Is... by various authors (biography series)*
- Who Was... by various authors (biography series)*
- Who Would Win? by Jerry Pallotta (series)*
- A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood by Fred Rogers*
- Shark Lady by Jess Keating*
- A Place for Pluto by Stef Wade*
- This is How We Do It by Matt Lamothe*
- We Are Grateful by Traci Sorell*
- Calm: Mindfulness for Kids by Wynne Kinder*
- The Big Book of Laugh-Out-Loud Jokes for Kids by Rob Elliott*
- Jokelopedia by Eva Blank, Alison Benjamin, Rosanne Green, Ilana Weitzman, and Lisa Sparks*
- Baby Animals by Seymour Simon*
- Animals Nobody Loves by Seymour Simon*
- The Real Poop on Pigeons by Kevin McCloskey^
Additional Resources
Public Libraries
Although most public libraries are physically closed, many offer fantastic digital resources, including greater access to e-books and audiobooks. For information on virtual resources and programming, please visit:
- New York Public Library (serving Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island)
- Brooklyn Public Library
- Queens Library
You can also add any libraries to which to you belong on Sora (The New York, Brooklyn, and Queens Public Libraries, or any others for which you have a library card) and search their collections in addition to Dalton's offerings. Please note that the NYPL, Brooklyn, and Queens Public Libraries also include Young Adult selections when you connect to their collections on Sora.
Virtual Read-Alouds
Due to all the closures, many children's authors and illustrators have shared their work online. You can see participating authors on The Big List of Children’s Authors Doing Online Read-Alouds & Activities by We Are Teachers.
Additional Book Lists
For additional book lists, we recommend the following online resources:
- The Association for Library Service to Children
- The Children's Book Council
- Here Wee Read
- The Brown Bookshelf
- We Need Diverse Books, and the OurStory App
- The Horn Book Summer Reading List 2020
Book Purchasing
For families buying books in these turbulent times, please consider purchasing directly from local independent bookstores who could use the support. We also highly recommend Bookshop, an online book delivery service, designed to work with independent book stores rather than compete with them.
We encourage you to read books with your child that you both love and are able to read a little bit of each day.
Have a wonderful summer of reading!
The Dalton School First Program Library
Email: fplibrary@dalton.org
Website: https://www.dalton.org/programs/library
Phone: (212) 423 - 5453
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daltonlibraries