Boston Public Schools and
Boston Public Library
2015 Summer Book List
Kindergarten-Grade 2
Dear Parent/Guardian,
The summer months are a wonderful time for you to help your children develop a love
for books and reading—and the staff of the Boston Public Schools and Boston Public
Library look forward to helping you plan a reading program for your children to last the
whole summer.
This Summer Book List will help you assure that your children are reading high quality
literature. All the books on the list are available at your neighborhood library. Your
local librarian can suggest additional titles.
The Boston Public Schools is working hard to help every student achieve at high levels,
and literacy is a top priority in every school. We need your support in ensuring that your
children meet these expectations. Your example and encouragement will go a long way
toward helping us reach the goal of every student becoming an excellent reader.
Happy reading!
Sincerely,
John P. McDonough
Interim Superintendent
Boston Public Schools
Amy E. Ryan
President
Boston Public Library
Boston Public Library 2015 Summer Reading
Every Hero Has a Story
Boston Public Library’s 2015 summer program features books and activities about
all kinds of heroes – local, global, environmental, historical, animal, and even
children. For more information, contact or visit any BPL location.
PICTURE BOOKS
The Serpent Came to Gloucester
Extra Yarn
My Teacher Is a Monster
The Great Kapok Tree
The Day the Crayons Quit
A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers
Dog Magic
Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse
Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground
Railroad
Otis
How I Became a Pirate
The Ballot Box Battle
I'm Brave!
Moses Goes to a Concert
My Rows and Piles of Coins
Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin
Officer Buckle and Gloria
Grandfather’s Journey
The Lorax
How I Learned Geography
Wild About Books
Saving Sweetness
Sebastian and the Balloon
Doctor De Soto
Interrupting Chicken
Zachary’s Ball
Mailing May
Ira Sleeps Over
That Is NOT a Good Idea!
Show Way
Owl Moon
BEGINNING TO READ BOOKS
Fly Guy (series)
Pete the Cat (series)
Bink & Gollie (series)
Mia (series)
Flat Stanley (Easy Reader series)
Penny (series)
Pinkalicious (series)
Ling and Ting (series)
Anderson
Barnett
Brown
Cherry
Daywalt
Frazee
Gerstein
Golembe
Henkes
Levine
Long, L.
Long, M.
McCully
McMullan
Millman
Mollel
Moss
Rathmann
Say
Seuss
Shulevitz
Sierra
Stanley
Stead
Steig
Stein
Tavares
Tunnell
Waber
Willems
Woodson
Yolen
Arnold
Dean
DiCamillo
Farley
Haskins
Henkes
Kann
Lin
Katie Woo, Where Are You? (series)
Brownie and Pearl (series)
Ten Eggs in a Nest
Jon Scieszka’s Trucktown (series)
Elephant and Piggie (series)
Manushkin
Rylant
Sadler
Scieszka
Willems
CHAPTER BOOKS
Ivy and Bean (series)
Tumtum and Nutmeg (series)
Violet Mackerel (series)
Flat Stanley (series)
Chicken Squad
Leroy Ninker Saddles Up
Nikki and Deja (series)
Princess Posey (series)
Just Grace (series)
Ballpark Mysteries (series)
Alvin Ho (series)
Stink (series)
Lulu and the Duck in the Park (and sequel)
Nancy Clancy (series)
Clementine (series)
A to Z Mysteries (series)
No-Dogs-Allowed Rule
Geronimo Stilton / Thea Stilton (series)
Lulu and the Brontosaurus (and sequel)
Daisy Dawson (series)
Ellray Jakes (series)
Barrows
Bearn
Branford
Brown
Cronin
DiCamillo
English
Greene
Harper
Kelly
Look
McDonald
McKay
O’Connor
Pennypacker
Roy
Sheth
Stilton
Viorst
Voake
Warner
POEMS, RIDDLES & SONGS
In the Wild
Poetrees
Dear Hot Dog
Simms Taback’s Great Big Book of Spacey, Snakey, Buggy
Riddles
My People
Kids’ Funniest Knock-knocks
De Colores and Other Latin American Folk Songs for
Children
Good Sports: Rhymes About Running, Jumping, Throwing
and More
Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night
Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors
Mirror, Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse
Here’s a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry
Elliot
Florian
Gerstein
Hall
Hughes
Keller
Orozco
Prelutsky
Sidman
Sidman
Singer
Yolen
NURSERY RHYMES
Pio Peep! Traditional Spanish Nursery Rhymes
Skip Across the Ocean: Nursery Rhymes from Around the
World
The Neighborhood Mother Goose
Songs in the Shade of the Flamboyant Tree: French Creole
Lullabies and Nursery Rhymes
You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You: Very Short Mother Goose
Tales to Read Together
Red, Green, Blue: A First Book of Colors
Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes
Here Comes Mother Goose
Three Little Kittens
Truckery Rhymes
The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred
Ada
Benjamin
Crews
Grosleziat, comp.
Hoberman
Jay
Mavor
Opie
Pinkney
Scieszka
Vamos
FOLK TALES & FAIRY TALES
Cinder a Chicken Cinderella
Jack and the Beanstalk
The Magic Gourd
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Brother Eagle, Sister Sky
Tunjur! Tunjur! Tunjur!: A Palestinian Folktale
Little Rooster’s Diamond Button
Arrow to the Sun: A Pueblo Indian Tale
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs
Rapunzel
Brett
Crews
Diakite
Hennessey
Jeffers
MacDonald
MacDonald
McDermott
Willems
Zelinsky
INFORMATIONAL BOOKS
About Space
Coral Reefs
I Fall Down
Underground
From Seed to Plant
Ice Cream: The Full Scoop
Tornadoes
Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope
Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: A Tall, Thin Tale
Did Dinosaurs Eat Pizza?: Mysteries Science Hasn’t Solved
The Beetle Book
Can We Save the Tiger?
How to Clean a Hippomotamus
Bird Talk
Seeing Symmetry
Carson
Chin
Cobb
Evans
Gibbons
Gibbons
Gibbons
Grimes
Hokinson
Hort
Jenkins
Jenkins
Jenkins
Judge
Leedy
Let’s Talk About Race
Astronaut Handbook
Eight Days Gone
Seed, Soil, Sun: Earth’s Recipe for Food
An Island Grows
Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature
Penguins
Diego Rivera: His World and Ours
Insect Detective
Delores Huerta: A Hero to Migrant Workers
Biblioburro: A True Story from Columbia
Lester
McCarthy
McReynolds
Peterson
Schaefer
Sidman
Simon
Tonatiuh
Voake
Warren
Winter
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EVERY HERO HAS A STORY is sponsored by your local library,
the Massachusetts Library System, the Boston Bruins, and the Massachusetts Board of
Library Commissioners.
This book list was compiled by librarians from the Boston Public Library and the Boston
Public Schools (BPS). It was prepared and distributed by the BPS Office of Instructional
and Information Technology (OIIT) Library and Media Services Department, with support
from the BPS Communications Office.
Boston Public Schools | 2300 Washington Street | Boston, MA 02119
617-635-9000 | www.bostonpublicschools.org