McCaw Book Wish List
Have you wondered what is going on in schools today, what is all this talk of
Common Core Standards (CCS)? In Nevada and other Common Core states, the
CCS identifies specific standards for each grade level and works to build
readiness by having students literacy skills honed for college and career
readiness. Through the K-12 Common Core State Standards (CCSS), young
students learn to comprehend literature, informational text, and new vocabulary,
not only as listeners but soon, also as readers, once the foundational skills are in
place. This is where we need your help! Without the tools to support our teachers
as they navigate through this new foundational way of teaching, they are left
struggling to find resources to support the standards. Please help us by
purchasing or donating to help our school focus on the foundations once again,
and build our classroom libraries! Allow our teachers to teach students the
foundational skills and lay the pathway to their success and our success as a
nation. Thank you for supporting Gordon McCaw!
Sample Book Lists:
Kindergarten (K) and First Grade (1st)
Little Bear (An I Can Read Book)A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog (Boy, Dog, Frog) Mercer Mayer
Are You My Mother? P.D. Eastman
Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss
Put me in the Zoo Robert Lopshire
Frog and Toad Together (I Can Read Picture Book) Arnold Lobel
Owl at Home (I Can Read Book 2) Arnold Lobel
Pancakes for Breakfast Tomie dePaola
Hi! Fly Guy (Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book (Awards)) Tedd Arnold
“As I Was Going to St. Ives,” Anonymous
“Mix a Pancake,” Christina Rossetti
“Singing-Time,” Rose Fyleman
“Halfway Down” A.A. Milne
“Drinking Fountain” Marchette Chute
“Poem” Langston Hughes
“Wouldn’t You?” John Ciardi
“By Myself” Eloise Greenfield
“Covers” Nikki Giovanni
“It Fell in the City” Eve Merriam
“Celebration” Alonzo Lopez
“Two Tree Toads”
A Tree Is a Plant (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science) Clyde Robert Bulla
My Five Senses (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1) Aliki
Starfish (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science) Edith Thacher Hurd
A Weed is a Flower: The Life of George Washington Carver Aliki
Truck Donald Crews
I Read Signs (Reading Rainbow Books) Tama Hoban
Let’s Find Out About Ice Cream Mary Ebeltoft Reid
“Garden Helpers,” National Geographic Young Explorers
“Wind Power,” National Geographic Young Explorers
Mr. Popper’s Penguins (Paperback) Richard and Florence Atwater
Finn Family Moomintroll Tove Jansson
A Story, a Story Gail E. Haley
The Paper Crane (Reading Rainbow Book) Molly Bang
Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China Ed Young·
Tomas and the Library Lady Pat Mora
Kitten’s First Full Moon Kevin Henkes
“The Fox’s Foray,” Anonymous
“Over in the Meadow,” John Langstaff
“The Owl and the Pussycat,” Edward Lear
“April Rain Song” Langston Hughes
“Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin,” Lloyd Moss
A Year at Maple Hill Farm Alice and Martin Provensen
Fire! Fire! Gail Gibbons
Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2) Arthur Dorros
Water, Water Everywhere Cynthia Overbeck and Mark Rauzon
Earthworms Claire Llewellyn
What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? Robin Page and Steve Jenkins
From Seed to Pumpkin (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 1) Wendy Pfeffer
Amazing Whales! (I Can Read Book 2) Sarah L. Thomson
How People Learned to Fly True Kelley and Fran Hodgkins
Animal Life Cycles
Bird, Butterfly, Eel
James Prosek (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2009)
Grades K-1
An introduction to bird, fish, and insect migration.
A Den Is a Bed for a Bear
Becky Baines (National Geographic Kids, 2008)
Grades K-1
Factual information and colorful photos about bear hibernation.
Discover More: Animal Babies
Andrea Pinnington (Scholastic Nonfiction, 2012)
Grades K-1
Through photos and text, readers learn about the furry little creatures they love. Comes with
a digital companion book.
Discover More: See Me Grow
Penny Arlon (Scholastic Nonfiction, 2012)
Grades K-1
Photos and text describe the maturation process for puppies, elephants, and other animals.
Comes with a digital companion book.
It’s Moving Day
Pamela Hickman (Kids Can Press, 2012)
Grades K-1
Readers learn how woodland creatures create and share a variety of homes in the natural
world.
Families
All Kinds of Families!
Mary Ann Hoberman (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009)
Grades K-1
Rhyming text and illustrations explore the ways people, animals, and even objects form
families.
Family Pictures
Carmen Lomas Garza (Children’s Book Press, 2005)
Grades K-1
Illustrations depict the everyday life of a Mexican family, with text in English and Spanish.
Who’s in a Family?
Robert Skutch (Tricycle Press, 1997)
Grades K-1
This illustrated book describes all different types of families, including children’s favorite
farm animal families.
The Human Body
Discover More: My Body
Andrea Pinnington (Scholastic Nonfiction, 2012)
Grades K-1
The human body is explored in an easy-to-understand way. Comes with a digital companion
book.
Me and My Amazing Body
Joan Sweeney (Dragonfly Books, 2000)
Grades K-1
This picture book explains much of human anatomy with simple, colorful illustrations.
Ocean Life
Dolphin Baby!
Nicola Davies (Candlewick Press, 2012)
Grades K-1
A baby calf learns all about life under the sea.
Into the Sea
Brenda Z. Guiberson (Square Fish, 2000)
Grades K-1
The life cycle of a sea turtle
Star of the Sea: A Day in the Life of a Starfish
Janet Halfmann (Henry Holt and Co. LLC, 2011)
Grades K-1
A fascinating sea creature finds sustenance—and fights off prey.
Popular American Symbols
The House That George Built
Suzanne Slade (Charlesbridge Publishing, 2012)
Grades K-1
George Washington was not only “the father of our country”—he had a role in building the
White House.
The Story of the Statue of Liberty
Betsy Maestro (HarperCollins, 1989)
Grades K-1
Watercolors depict the major events in the statue’s creation.
True Lives
Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad
Ellen Levine (Scholastic Press, 2007)
Grades K-1
This Caldecott Honor Book tells the remarkable story of a slave who mailed himself to
freedom.
Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Doreen Rappaport (Hyperion, 2007)
Grades K-1
A pictorial biography of the renowned champion of civil rights.
Me . . . Jane
Patrick McDonnell (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2011)
Grades K-1
The story of Jane Goodall as a young girl and her stuffed animal monkey
Up in the Sky
Looking Down
Steve Jenkins (Sandpiper, 2003)
Grades K-1
Illustrations help depict the many levels of the universe.
The Moon Book
Gail Gibbons (Holiday House, 1998)
Grades K-1
Describes the movement and phases of the moon, and how humans have observed and
explored it over time
Weather
Clouds
Marion Dane Bauer (Aladdin Paperbacks, 2004)
Grades K-1
Explains all about clouds, including how they are formed
It’s Snowing!
Gail Gibbons (Holiday House, 2012)
Grades K-1
Fascinating facts about snow
What Is Weather?
Ellen Lawrence (Bearport Publishing, 2009)
Grades K-1
Describes different types of weather events, including hurricanes and snowstorms
GRADES 2–3
Second Grade and Third Grade
My Father’s Dragon Ruth Stiles Gannett
“The Fire Cat,” Esther Averill
Amos and Boris William Steig
The Treasure Uri Shulevitz
The Stories Julian Tells Ann Cameron
Sarah, Plain and Tall, Patricia MacLachlan
Henry and Mudge: The First Book of Their Adventures Cythia Rylant
Tops and Bottoms Janet Stevens
The Raft Jim LaMarche
Poppleton in Winter Cynthia Rylant
The Lighthouse Family: The Storm Cynthia Rylant
The One-Eyed Giant Mary Pope Osborne
Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa Erica Silverman
“Autumn,” Emily Dickinson
“Who Has Seen the Wind?” Christina Rossetti
“Afternoon on a Hill,” Edna St. Vincent Millay
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” Robert Frost
“Something Told the Wild Geese” Rachel Field
“Grandpa’s Stories” Langston Hughes
“A Bat is Born” Randall Jarrell
“Knoxville, Tennessee” Nikki Giovanni
“Weather” Eve Merriam
“Eating While Reading” Gary Soto
A Medieval Feast Aliki
From Seed to Plant Gail Gibbons
Bats: Creatures of the Night Joyce Milton
Throw Your Tooth on the Roof: Tooth Traditions Around the World Selby Beeler
Art around the World Heather Leonard
Martin Luther King and the March on Washington Frances E. Ruffin
So You Want to Be President? Judith St. George
Crittercam Andrew Einspruch
Boy, We Were Wrong About Dinosaurs Kathleen V. Kudlinski
Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 Brian Floca
Where Do Polar Bears Live? Sarah L. Thomson
How the Camel Got His Hump Rudyard Kipling
The Thirteen Clocks James Thurber
Charlotte’s Web E.B. White
The Cricket in Times Square George Selden
The Search for Delicious, Natalie Babbitt
Bud, Not Buddy Christopher Paul Curtis
Sign Painter Allen Say
“The Jumblies,” Edward Lear
“The Pied Piper of Hamelin,” Robert Browning
“Your World,” Georgia Douglas Johnson
“The Song of the Jellicles” T.S. Elliot
“Fireflies,” Paul Fleischman
Lincoln: A Photobiography Russell Freedman
The Story of the Ruby Bridges Robert Coles
A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder Walter Wick
If the World Were a Village: A Book about the World’s People David J. Smith
Ah, Music Aliki
The Museum Book: A Guide to Strange and Wonderful Collections Jan Mark
What the World Eats Faith D’Aluisio
Wild Tracks! A Guide to Nature’s Footprints
14 Cows for America Carmen Agra Deedy
Animals
Discover More: Penguins
Penny Arlon (Scholastic Nonfiction, 2012)
Grades 2-3
Readers get amazing insights into the lives of penguins in icy Antarctica. Comes with a
digital companion book.
Extreme Animals: The Toughest Creatures on Earth
Nicola Davies (Candlewick, 2009)
Grades 2-3
How some of the heartiest animals adapt and survive
Insect Detective
Steve Voake (Candlewick, 2012)
Grades 2-3
A picture book describes ants, wasps, dragonflies, and other insects a child might
encounter.
Nic Bishop Spiders
Nic Bishop (Scholastic Nonfiction, 2007)
Grades 2-3
Close-up photos and text offer astonishing facts about spiders in this Sibert Honor Book.
Thunder Birds: Nature’s Flying Predators
Jim Arnosky (Sterling, 2011)
Grades 2-3
All about vultures, owls, and other majestic birds
Around the Nation
Brooklyn Bridge
Lynn Curlee (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2001)
Grades 2-3
The history behind the famous bridge and its construction
Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down
Andrea Pinkney (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2010)
Grades 2-3
A picture book that tells the story of the historic 1960 sit-in for civil rights in Greensboro,
North Carolina
Communities
Orani: My Father’s Village
Claire Nivola (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011)
Grades 2-3
Recounts a young girl’s journey back to her father’s village in Sardinia
Water Buffalo Days
Huynh Quang Nhuong (HarperCollins, 1999)
Grades 2-3
A short chapter book about a Vietnamese boy’s friendship with his family’s water buffalo
Earth’s Resources
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer (Dial, 2010)
Grades 2-3
A true story about a young man who built a windmill to bring electricity to his African village
Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life
Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm (Blue Sky Press, 2009)
Grades 2-3
Explains photosynthesis and the connection between the sun’s energy and plant life
Famous Americans
Sequoyah: The Cherokee Man Who Gave His People Writing
James Rumford (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2004)
Grades 2-3
How an American Indian created a writing system for the Cherokee language in the 1820s
Those Rebels, John and Tom
Barbara Kerley (Scholastic Press, 2012)
Grades 2-3
An entertaining account of the friendship between two opposites—John Adams and
Thomas Jefferson
The Solar System
Discover More: Planets
Penny Arlon (Scholastic Nonfiction, 2012)
Grades 2-3
Great photos and age-appropriate vocabulary entice newly confident readers to learn about
our place in the solar system. Comes with a digital companion book..
If You Decide to Go to the Moon
Faith McNulty (Scholastic Press, 2005)
Grades 2-3
A picture book that introduces readers to what they might experience on a journey to the
Moon
You Are Stardust
Elin Kelsey (Owlkids, 2012)
Grades 2-3
A picture book that teaches children how they are connected with the natural world
The U.S. Government
Smart About the Presidents
Jon Buller (Grosset & Dunlap, 2004)
Grades 2-3
Readers will learn about the floor plan of the White House, presidential perks, and other
interesting tidbits about the presidency.
Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation
Jacqueline Jules (Charlesbridge Publishing, 2009)
Grades 2-3
Written in the form of a school play, this work outlines the conflicts and compromises that shaped the U.S.
Fourth Grade and Fifth Grade
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll
The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Black Stallion Walter Farley
The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Tuck Everlasting Natalie Babbitt
Zlateh the Goat Isaac Bashevis Singer
M.C. Higgins, the Great Virginia Hamilton
The Birchbark House Louise Erdrich
Bud, Not Buddy Christopher Paul Curtis
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Grace Lin
“The Echoing Green,” William Blake
“The New Colossus,” Emma Lazarus
“Casey at the Bat,” Ernest Lawrence Thayer
“A Bird Came Down the Walk,” Emily Dickinson
“Fog,” Carl Sandburg
“Dust of Snow” Robert Frost
“Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf” Roald Dahl
“They Were My People” Grace Nichols
“Words Free As Confetti,” Pat Mora
Discovering Mars: The Amazing Story of the Red Planet Melvin Berger
Let’s Investigate Marvelously Meaningful Maps Madelyn Wood Carlisle
Hurricanes: Earth’s Mightiest Storms Patricia Lauber
The Kid’s Guide to Money: Earning It, Saving It, Spending It, Growing It, Sharing It Steve
Otfinoski
Toys!: Amazing Stories Behind Some Great Inventions Don Wulffson
Good Pet, Bad Pet Elizabeth Schleichert
Ancient Mound Builders E. Barrie Kavash
About Time: A First Look at Time and Clocks Bruce Koscielniak
England the Land Erinn Banting
A History of US Joy Hakim
My Librarian Is a Camel: How Books Are Brought to Children Around the World Margriet Ruurs
Horses Seymour Simon
Quest for the Tree Kangaroo: An Expedition to the Cloud Forest of New Guinea Sy Montgomery
Volcanoes Simon Seymour
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball Kadir Nelson
Kenya’s Long Dry Season Nellie Gonzalez Cutler
Seeing Eye to Eye Leslie Hall
Telescopes Colin A. Ronan
Underground Railroad Henrietta Buckmaster
Animals
The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs: A Scientific Mystery
Sandra Markle (Millbrook Press, 2011)
Grades 4-5
Uncovers the mystery of what caused Panamanian golden frogs to disappear about 15
years ago
Nic Bishop: Marsupials
Nic Bishop (Scholastic Nonfiction, 2009)
Grades 4-5
Explores the habitats and life cycles of marsupials, including kangaroos, koalas, and lesser
known pouched mammals
American History
The Crossing: How George Washington Saved the American Revolution
Jim Murphy (Scholastic Press, 2010)
Grades 4-5
The gripping tale of how Washington led the colonists to victory at pivotal moments of the
American Revolution.
The Giant and How He Humbugged America
Jim Murphy (Scholastic Press, 2012)
Grades 4-5
Students can learn to read like a detective and write like a reporter with this fascinating
account of a famous 19th-century hoax.
The Signers: The 56 Stories Behind the Declaration of Independence
Dennis Brindell Fradin (Walker Childrens, 2003)
Grades 4-5
A close-up look at the 56 men who dared to claim independence
The Environment
The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge
Joanna Cole (Scholastic Press, 2010)
Grades 4-5
Ms. Frizzle teaches her students the science behind climate change.
Ocean Sunlight
Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm (Blue Sky Press, 2012)
Grades 4-5
This picture book explores the life cycles and food chains within the Earth’s oceans.
A Strange Place to Call Home
Marilyn Singer (Chronicle Books, 2012)
Grades 4-5
A look at 14 animals that live in some of the darkest, deepest, driest, or coldest places on
Earth
A Warmer World: From Polar Bears to Butterflies, How Climate Change
Affects Wildlife
Caroline Arnold (Charlesbridge Publishing, 2012)
Grades 4-5
A compelling account of how climate change has affected ecosystems and the animals that
live in them
Extraordinary Americans
Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and
Changed the World
Sy Montgomery and Temple Grandin (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2012)
Grades 4-5
A spotlight on a scientist with autism whose work has revolutionized the livestock industry
The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle
for Equal Rights
Russell Freedman (Clarion Books, 2011)
Grades 4-5
An account of the career of African-American vocalist Marian Anderson
You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?!
Jonah Winter (Schwartz & Wade, 2009)
Grades 4-5
A picture biography of baseball player Sandy Koufax
Ecosystems
Coral Reefs
Jason Chin (Flash Point, 2011)
Grades 4-5
A narrator journeys through a coral reef where she learns about plants and animals that live
there.
Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story
Thomas F. Yeserski (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011)
Grades 4-5
Describes the area in New Jersey known as the Meadowlands and how the ecosystem is
making a comeback
Famous Americans
Sequoyah: The Cherokee Man Who Gave His People Writing
James Rumford (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2004)
Grades 4-5
How an American Indian created a writing system for the Cherokee language in the 1820s
What to Do About Alice?: How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules,
Charmed the World, and Drove her Father Teddy Crazy!
Barbara Kerley (Scholastic Press, 2008)
Grades 4-5
The story of a charmingly recalcitrant daughter
The Solar System
13 Planets: The Latest View of the Solar System
David A. Aguilar (National Geographic Children’s Books, 2011)
Grades 4-5
Updated profiles of the planets in our solar system
Cars on Mars: Roving the Red Planet
Alexandra Siy (Charlesbridge Publishing, 2011)
Grades 4-5
Readers follow the journey of two NASA rovers on the surface of Mars.
Earth: The Life of Our Planet
Mike Goldsmith (Kingfisher, 2011)
Grades 4-5
Visual depictions of key eras during the billions of years of Earth’s history
Understanding Weather Patterns
Blizzard!
Grades 4-5
Jim Murphy (Scholastic Press, 2006)
Captures the story of one of the most devastating natural disasters in U.S. history—the
Great Blizzard of 1888
Inside Tornadoes
Mary Kay Carson (Sterling, 2010)
Grades 4-5
Through dramatic photos and vivid prose, readers can learn about the most violent storms
on the planet.
The Secret Life of a Snowflake
Kenneth Libbrecht (Voyageur Press, 2010)
Grades 4-5
The journey of a snowflake from its creation in a cloud to its soft landing on the ground.