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| Young Reader’s List |
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Arranged By Grade Level
To offer a reading list for grade groups in elementary school is indeed risky, for the best books and poems belong to all age groups. A little girl of ten reads Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows and writes of the character she likes best: "I like Mr. Badger the best because he is kind and old, and seems to be lonely." A fifteen year old boy writing about the same character says: "Mr. Badger avoided crowds. He enjoyed the quiet of his surroundings, and would not have been caught dead at a football game. He was very much like one of my teachers who enjoys his solitude and who would never be caught in a crowd." And J. Donald Adams, the critic, writing of the incident in the same story of Mole's coming home and his pleasure at being there again: "It is the truth that every adventurer comes to know. It is the same impulse that, in reading, brings us back from time to time to the old tried favorites, the books which we know will never let us down. To recognize and accept the strength of that desire is not to shut the door against new experiences, whether in the world or in books; it is merely to leave the door open, both for departure and return." Here then, as among all readers whether young or old, in all books, new ones or tested classics, each will find some experience, some feeling, which will give significance to some emotion or experience in life—that experience may be that of a little girl of ten who has seen age and loneliness and responded with love, or it may be the wise critic finding new pleasures in the familiar.
In addition to the problems of the best books and poems, there is also the problem of the reader. Studies in reading carried out at the University of Michigan indicate that a typical group of fifth graders might contain readers who read at nine different "book levels" ranging from Grades 1 through 9. Any list becomes, more or less, arbitrary, especially for the lower grades. One need only visit the local bookstore to see how many are the shelves from which to choose. There are rockets and spiders, sand dunes and middens, fairies and flying saucers, space-men and wilderness scouts, and snakes of the Gobi desert and flowers of the world. Interest will vary and change and it is to be hoped that the young reader will range widely.
If there seems to be an omission of titles befitting our age of automation and space, the reason for the omission is to be found in the reading habits of 93 children tested and a survey recently conducted by the University of Illinois. The survey, conducted in 270 communities, attempted to probe the gap between the interests of children and what parents, teachers, and libraries have believed they want to read. It was found that "adults" generally tend to overemphasize the child's "curiosity" about machines, applied science (all-about-how-it-works books), sports and recreation. Under-estimated has been the appeal of ethics and values, history and people. The same survey reveals that "interest" in animals is strong at every reading level.
The list here offered omits much. Many of the old favorites which are read to children, and which children come back to and read themselves, are omitted. Only a few titles from many significant series, such as Landmark and Signature, are listed; however, when the first is returned to the public library, the young reader will choose a second and a third. Included are a limited number of titles aimed at implanting a desire for further reading in the mind of the young reader.
There is the added problem of limitation. The child in the "dinosaur stage of reading" might want ten titles and find only one. However, when 93 youngsters submit themselves to conferences and check lists to determine what books they have enjoyed reading, most of the problems disappear. The list which follows is the result of extensive inquiry among eighth graders (50 girls and 43 boys) from thirty-two ¦States. Most of the 93 come from homes where there are some books; some evidenced wise guidance for the reading of good books on the part of their parents, but some have received no encouragement for reading at home. Except in rare cases (disturbed children because of some neglect) they all seemed to have one thing in common. As normal boys and girls who want to become better swimmers and tennis players, so also, they want to become better readers of better books. If this list is in any way surprising, your own child, with a little encouragement, might well surprise you more.
Grades 1 - 3
Andersen, Hans C.
Fairy Tales Grosset
Arabian Nights Grosset
Bannerman, Helen
Little Black Sambo Lippincott
Belting, Natalia
Moon is a Crystal Ball Bobbs
Benson, Sally
Stories of Gods and Heroes Dial
Bishop, Claire H.
Five Chinese Brothers Coward
Boulton, R.
Traveling With the Birds Donohue
Brooke, Leslie
Johnny Crow's Garden Warne
Golden Goose Book
Burgess, Thornton
Old Mother West Wind Little, Brown
Dalgliesh, Alice
Courage of Sarah Noble Scribner's
The Bears on Hemlock Mountain
d'Aulaire, Ingri and Edgar
Buffalo Bill Doubleday
de Angeli, Marguerite
The Door in the Wall Doubleday
Doane, Pelagie
Small Child's Bible Oxford
Eager, Edward
Half Magic
Knights' Castle Harcort
Freeman, Ira
Your Wonderful World of Science Random
Frost, Francis
Sleigh Bells for Windy Foot Whittlesey
Gag, Wanda
Millions of Cats
Fairy Tales From Grimm Coward
Grahame, Kenneth
Reluctant Dragon Holiday
Harris, Joel Chandler
Tales of Uncle Remus Giosset
Hasford, Dorothy
Thunder of the Gods Holt
Kieran, John
Introduction to Birds Garden City
Kipling, Rudyard
The Just So Stories
La Fontaine
Fables Grosset
Lawson, Robert
Fabulous Flight Little, Brown
Rabbit Hill
Leaf, Munro
Story of Ferdinand
Aesop's Fables (Leafs edition) Viking
Lenski, Lois
Peanuts for Billy Ben Lippincott
We Live in the Country Lippincott
MacGregor, Ellen
Miss Pickerel Goes to Mars Whittlesey
Macleod, Mary
Book of King Arthur Lippincott
*Mason, Miriam.
Young Audubon: Boy Naturalist Bobbs
McKinney, Margaret
Birds in Your Garden Minnesota Press
Meadowcroft, Enid
First Year: The Story of the Pilgrims
in America Crowell
* (The Childhood of Famous Americans Series. Bobbs-Merrill. There are more than fifty titles and they are all well written for this age group.)
Otis, James
Toby Tyler Grosset
Peck, Harry T.
The Adventures of Mabel Dodd
Politi, Leo
Song of the Swallows Scribner's
Potter, Beatrix
The Tale of Peter Rabbit Warne
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny Warne
The Tale of Jemima Paddle-Duck Warne
Schwab, Gustave
Gods and Heroes Pantheon
Seuss, Dr.
And to Think I saw It on
Mulberry Street Vanguard
Sewell, Ann
Black Beauty Scríbner's
*Stevenson, Augusta
Booker T. Washington: Bobbs
Ambitious Boy Abe Lincoln: Bobbs
Frontier Boy Clara Barton: Bobbs
Girl Nurse George Washington: Bobbs
Boy Leader Bobbs
*Wagoner, Jean Brown
Jane Addams: Little Lame Girl Bobbs
Warner, Elsa J.
Stories From the Old Testament: Simon and Schuster
POETRY: Grades 1 - 3
de la Mare, Walter Holt
Rhymes and Verses
¦ (The Childhood of Famous Americans Series. Bobbs-Merrill. There are more than fifty titles and they are all well written for this age group.)
Elliot, Gertrude (editor) Simon and Schuster
The Golden Book of Verses
Field, Eugene Scribnei's
Poems of Childhood
Frost, Francis
The Little Whistler Whittlesey
The Little Naturalist Whittlesey
McFarland, Wilma (editor)
Great Poems Old and New Westminster
Milne, A. A.
When We Were Very Young Dutton
Now We Are Six Dutton
Peterson, Isabel J.
The First Book of Poetry Watts
Richards, Laura E.
Tirra Lirra Little, Brown
Riley, James Whitcomb
Child Rhymes Grosset
Stevenson, Robert L.
A Child's Garden of Verses Grosset
Grades 4-5
Adams, Samuel H.
The Pony Express Random
Allen, M. P.
Johnny Reb Longmans
Andersen, Hans C.
Andersen's Fairy Tales Heritage
Andrews, Roy Chapman
All About Dinosaurs Viking
Barker, Shirley
The Trojan Horse Random
Boumann, Hans
Caves of the Great Hunters Dodd
Buck, Margaret W.
In Woods and Fields Abingdon
Burgess, Thornton
Old Mother West Wind Little, Brown
Children's Book of Flowers
Children's Book of Birds
Nature's Children
Burnett, Frances Hodgson
The Secret Garden Scribner's
Carroll, Lewis
Alice in Wonderland Grosset
Through the Looking Glass Grosset
Carter, Hodding
Robert E. Lee Random
Collido, C.
The Adventures of Pinocchio Macmillan
Colum, Padraic
Children of Odin Macmillan
Tales of Homer Macmillan
Dalgliesh, Alice
Ride on the Wind Scribner's
Dougherty, James
Daniel Boone Viking
Abraham Lincoln Viking
de Angeli, Marguerite
The Old Testament Doubleday
de le Mare, Walter
A Penny a Day Knopf
Earle, Olive G.
Birds in their Nests Morrow
Fadiman, Clifton
The Voyages of Ulysses Random
The Adventures of Hercules Random
Farley, Walter
The Black Stallion Random
Fenton, Carroll
Prehistoric World Day
Pecos Bill, Texas Cowpuncher Knopf
The Land We Live On Doubleday
Gait, John
The Rise of Thunderer Crowell
Graves, Robert
Greek Gods and Heroes Doubleday
Grimm (Brothers)
Grimm's Fairy Tales Grosser
Gunther, John
The Golden Fleece Random
Hahn, Emily
Leonardo Da Vinci Random
Hawthorne, Nathaniel
Tanglewood Tales Dodd
The Wonder Book Dodd
Henry, Marguerite
Misty of Chincoteague Rand-McNally
Justin Morgan Had a Horse Rand-McNally
Hillyer, V. M.
A Child's History of the World Crofts
A Child's Geography of the World Crofts
Holden, Raymond
Secrets in the Dust: Archaeology Dodd
Hunt, Mabel L.
Johnny Appleseed Lippincott
Johnson, Gerald W„
America: A History for Peter (3 vols.) Morrow
Johnson, Wm.
Sam Houston Random
Johnson, Ralph E.
Old Tangle Eye Houghton
Kieran, Margaret and John
John J. Audubon Random
Kingsley, Charles
The Water Babies Dodd
Kipling, Rudyard
The Jungle Book Doubleday
Knight, Eric
Lassie Come Home Winston
Lawson, Robert
Mr. Revere and I Little, Brown
Ben and Me Little, Brown
Lewis, C. S.
The Lion, the Witch,
and the Wardrobe Macmillan
Prince Caspian Macmillan
Voyage of the "Dawn Treader" Macmillan
The Silver Chair Macmillan
The Horse and His Boy Macmillan
Lofting, Hugh
The Story of Dr. Dolittle Lippincott
Macdonald, George
The Princess and the Goblins Macmillan
The Princess and Curdie At the Back of the North Wind
Mason, Van Wyck
The Winter at Valley Forge Random
McSwigan, Marie
Snow Treasure Button
Moody, Ralph
Geremino Random
North, Sterling
Abraham Lincoln Random
Orton, Helen F.
Treasurer in the Little Trunk Lippincott
Pace, Mildred
Old Bones, the Wonder Horse McGraw
Pease, H.
Mark Twain, His Life Holt
Pyle, Howard
The Wonder Clock
King Arthur and His Knights Scribner's
Robin Hood
Rice, Alice H.
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch Crofts
Ruskin, John
King of the Golden River Macmillan
Salten, Felix
Bambi Barnes
Sandburg, Carl
Rutabaga Stories Harcourt
Abe Lincoln Grows Up Harcourt
Seredy, Kate
The Good Master Viking
Seton, Ernest Thompson
Wild Animals I Have Known Scribner's
Biography of a Grizzly Scribner's
Sperry, Armstrong
Danger to Windward Grosset
Call it Courage Grosset
Steele, William
Winter Danger Harcourt
Stuart, Jesse
A Penny's Worth of Character McGraw
Teale, Edwin W.
Insect Friends Dodd
Travers, Pamela L.
Mary Poppins Harcourt
Untermeyer, Louis (editor)
The Wonderful Adventures of Paul Bunyan Heritage
Van Riper, Guernsey
Lou Gehrig Bobbs
Waldeck, Theo.
Lions on the Hunt Viking
West, Anthony
The Crusades Random
White, E. B.
Charlotte's Web Harper
Stuart Little
Wilder, Laura
Little House in the Big Woods Harper
Yates, Elizabeth
Mountain Born Coward
POETRY: Grades 4-5
Aldis, Dorothy
All Together Putman
Field, Eugene
Poems of Childhood Scribner's
Frost, Robert
You Come Too Holt
Kipling, Rudyard
Poems for Boys and Girls Doubleday
Lindsay, Vachel
Johnny Appleseed and Other Poems Macmillan
Lines, Kathleen, and Montgomery, Norah (editors)
Poems and Pictures Abelard
Riley, James Whitcomb
Best Loved Poems Bobbs
Sandburg, Carl
Wind Song Harcourt
Grades 6-7
Alcott, Louisa
Little Women Little, Brown
Eight Cousins
Andrews, Mary
The Perfect Tribute Scribner's
Baldwin, James
The Story of Roland Grosset
The Story of Siegfried Grosset
Blivan, Bruce J.
The Story of D-Day Random
Buchan, John
Prester John
The 39 Steps Houghton
Chase, Mary Ellen
Sailing the Seven Seas Houghton
Commanger and Ward
Robert E. Lee Houghton
Coolidge, Olivia
Greek Myths
Roman People
Legends of the North Houghton
Cottier, Joseph
Heroes of Civilization Little, Brown
Davis, W. S.
Friend of Caesar Macmillan
Defoe, Daniel
Robinson Crusoe Grosser
Dickens, Charles
David Copperfield
Oliver Twist Macrae
Dumas, Alexander
The Man in the Iron Mask Grosser
Edmonds, Walter
Matchlock Gun Dodd-Mead
Eifert, Virginia S.
(The five books listed below provide a well chronicled picture of
Abraham Lincoln and his times)
The Buffalo Trace
Out of the Wilderness
Three Rivers South
With This Task Before Me
New Birth of Freedom Dodd-Mead
Fast, Howard
Tall Hunter Harper
Fisher, Dorothy Canfield
Paul Revere and the Minute Men Random
Our Independence and the Constitution Random
Flaherty, John J.
The Courage and the Glory Lippincott
Forbes, Esther
Johnny Tremain Houghton
Foster, Genevieve
Augustus Caesar's World
George Washington's World
Abraham Lincoln's World Scribner’s
Fox, John
The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come Rinehart
Frank, Ann
The Diary of Ann Frank Doubleday
Gait, John
The Story of Peace and War Crowell
Gipson, Frederick B.
Old Yeller Harper
Goodwin, Frank
The Black Bull Doubleday
Grahame, Kenneth
The Wind in the Willows Heritage
Hammond-Innes, Ralph
Wreck of the Mary Deare Westminster
Hemingway, Ernest
The Old Man and the Sea Scribner's
Heyerdahl, Thor
Kon-Tiki Random
Household, Geoffrey
The Exploits of Xenophon Random
James, Will
Smokey, the Cow Horse Scribner's
Jones, Juanita
David, Warrior of God Association
Kantor, MacKirnlay
Gettysburg Random
Lee and Grant at Appomattox Random
The Voice of Bugle Ann Coward
Kipling, Rudyard
Captains Courageous Doubleday
Kjelgaard, Jim
Wild Trek Holiday House
Lamb, Charles and Mary
Tales from Shakespeare Crowell
Lawson, Robert
Mr. Wilmer Little, Brown
Lawson, Ted and Considine, Bob
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo Random
London, Jack
Call of the Wild
White Fang Macmillan
Long, Laura
Joseph: Slave and Prince Association
Mann, Martha
Nathan Hale, Patriot Dodd
Masefield, John
Jim Davis McKay
Meader, Stephen W.
Trap Lines North Dodd
Montgomery, Eliz. R.
The Story Behind Great Books Dodd
Moody, Ralph
Little Britches
Man of the Family
The Fields of Home Norton
Ogburn, C.
The White Falcon Lippincott
O'Hara, Mary
My Friend Flicka
Green Grass of Wyoming Lippincott
Pyle, Howard
Men of Iron
Otto of the Silver Hand
Adventures of Robin Hood Grosset
Rowlings, Marjorie K.
The Yearling Scribner's
Reese, John H.
Big Mutt Westminster
Rendina, Laura
My Love for One Little, Brown
Reynolds, Quentin
The Battle of Britain Random
Ouster's Last Stand Random
The Wright Brothers Random
Ross, Nancy Wilson
Joan of Arc Random
Rush, William
Red Fox of Kinapoo Longmans
Ruskin, John
King of the Golden River Macmillan
Sandburg, Carl
Rutabaga Stories Harcourt
Prairie Town Boy Harcourt
Scherman, Katherine
The Sword of Siegfried Random
Steinbeck, John
The Red Pony Viking
Stevenson, Robert L.
Treasure Island
Kidnapped Scribner's
Streatfield, Noel
The Stranger in Primrose Lane Random
Street, James
Goodby, My Lady Lippincott
The Civil War Dial Press
Stuart, Jesse
The Beatenist Boy
Hie to the Hunters
The Red Mule
The Rightful Owner McGraw
Swift, Jonathan
Gulliver's Travels Grosset
Terhune, Albert P.
Lad: A Dog Dutton
Thomas, Lowell
True Adventures Hawthorne
Twain, Mark
The Prince and the Pauper Grosset
Tom Sawyer Grosset
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Grosset
Warner, Rex
Gods and Men Random
Warren, Robert Penn
The Gods on Mt. Olympus Random
West, Anthony
The Crusades Random
White, Anne T.
Lost Worlds: Archaeology Random
Whitridge, Arnold
Simon Bolivar Random
Wilde, Oscar
The Happy Prince and other Stories Winston
Wyss, Johann
Swiss Family Robinson Grosset
POETRY: Grades 6-7
Adams, Franklin P. (editor)
Innocent Merriment McGraw
Benét, Rosemary and Stephen
Book of Americans Rinehart
Daly, T. A.
Selected Poems Harcourt
Dickinson, Emily
Poems for Youth Little, Brown
Guiterman, Arthur
Lyric Laughter Dutton
Herbert, A. P.
Laughing Ann and Other Poems Benn
Kipling, Rudyard
Poems for Boys and Girls Doubleday
Housman, A. E.
A Shropshire Lad Holt
Means, Hughes
Creative Youth Doubleday
Millay, Edna St. Vincent
Second April Harper
The Harp Weaver and Other Poems Harper
Sandburg, Carl
Early Moon Harcourt
Stephens, James
In the Land of Youth Macmillan
Untermeyer, Louis
The Golden Treasury of Poetry Golden Press
Some Favorite Poems for 6th and 7th Graders
Blake, William
The Lamb
Browning, Robert
Pied Piper of Hamelin
Bryant, Wm. Cullen
To a Water Fowl
Carroll, Lewis
Father William
Coffin, Robert P. T.
The Means Massacre
de la Mare, Walter
The Listeners
Emerson, Ralph Waldo
Concord Hymn
Frost, Robert
Departmental
The Pasture
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Hodgson, Ralph
"Time, You Old Gipsy Man"
Holmes, Oliver W. Old
Ironsides
Hood, Thomas
Past and Present Faithless Nellie Grey
Hunt, Leigh
Abou Ben Adam
Longfellow, Henry W.
The Village Blacksmith
Paul Revere's Ride
The Children's Hour
Evangeline
Hymn to the Night
Excelsior
The Psalm of Life
The Wreck of the Hesperus
The Arrow and the Song
Macaulay, Thomas B.
Horatius at the Bridge
Markham, Edwin
The Christ of the Andes
How the Great Guest Came
Masefield, John
Sea Fever
A Wanderer's Song
Miller, Joaquin
Columbus
Noyes, Alfred
The Highwayman
Foe, Edgar Allan
The Raven
Annabel Lee
Service, Robert
The Cremation of Sam McGee
The Shooting of Dan McGrew
Tennyson, Alfred Lord
The Lady of Shalott
The Charge of the Light Brigade
Thorpe, Rose Hartwick
Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight
Untermeyer, Louis
Caliban in the Coal Mines
Whitman, Walt O
Captain! My Captain!
Whittier, John Greenleaf
In School Days
Maud Muller
Snow Bound
Wordsworth, William
The Solitary Reaper
The Daffodils
My Heart Leaps Up
Lucy Gray; or, Solitude Intimations of Immortality
Yeats, WilliamB.
The Ballad of Father Gilligan
Favorite Short Stones - 7th and 8th Graders
Asch, Sholem A
Child Leads the Way
Bates, H. E.
The Ox
Benét, Stephen Vincent
The Devil and Daniel Webster
Bierce, Ambrose
The Damned Thing
Caldwell, Erskine
Snacker
Cather, Willa
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