Below, please find a list of notable children’s books for 2012 ~ this is one of our librarian’s favorite lists! This is a great resource for families/students looking for good literature to read over the summer.
What To Read This Summer…
The Howard Elementary library is working on collaborative projects with the Santa Clara/River Road Volunteer Library for next year. Over the summer, Santa Clara / River Road Volunteer Library will have a Saturday morning reading program for children. The program will run from July 7 through August 11, 10:00-11:30 every Saturday morning. Every third Saturday students can enjoy a Story-time. These are fun for kids and grown-ups alike.
- If you are not enjoying family read-alouds yet, here are some ideas that might help you get started:
- Establish a regular time for reading aloud with your child(ren).
- Turn off computer, music, radio, and TV.
- Consider reading books of their interests such as, dragons, heroes, insects, or space.
- Read the books you loved as a kid.
- Dare to ham it up as you read. Try changing the volume or pitch of your voice.
- Talk about what you are reading.
- Ask questions like “What do you think will happen next?”
- Some restless children need to draw or play quietly while you read.
Happy summer reading!!
Book List
Fiction (including fiction graphic novels and fiction verse novels)
- Bauer, Joan. Close to Famous. Viking Childrens Books
- Billingsley, Franny. Chime. Dial Books for Young Readers
- Burgis, Stephanie. Kat, Incorrigible. Atheneum Books for Young Readers
- Engle, Margarita. Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck. Henry Holt & Co.
- Holm, Jennifer L. The Trouble with May Amelia. Atheneum Books for Young Readers
- Lai, Thanhha. Inside out and Back Again. HarperCollins
- Magoon, Kekla. Camo Girl. Aladdin
- Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan. The Secret River. Illus. by Leo and Diane Dillon. Atheneum Books for Young Readers
- Reedy, Trent. Words in the Dust. Arthur A. Levine Books
- Schmidt, Gary D. Okay for Now. Clarion Books
- Sepetys, Ruta. Between Shades of Gray. Philomel Books
- Shang, Wendy Wan Long. The Great Wall of Lucy Wu. Scholastic Press
- Stephens, John. The Emerald Atlas. Alfred A. Knopf
Picture books
- Clement, Nathan. Job Site. Illus. by Nathan Clement. Boyds Mills Press
- Compestine, Ying Chang. The Runaway Wok: A Chinese New Year Tale. Illus. by Sebastià Serra. Dutton Children’s Books
- Czekaj, Jef. Cat Secrets. Illus. by Jef Czekaj. Balzer + Bray
- Evans, Shane. Underground. Illus. by Shane Evans. Roaring Brook Press
- Goodrich, Carter. Say Hello to Zorro! Illus. by Carter Goodrich. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
- Hall, Michael. Perfect Square. Illus. by Michael Hall. Greenwillow Books
- Henkes, Kevin. Little White Rabbit. Illus. by Kevin Henkes. Greenwillow Books
- Lamb, Albert. Tell Me the Day Backwards. Illus. by David McPhail Candlewick Press
- Latimer, Alex. The Boy Who Cried Ninja. Illus. by Alex Latimer. Peachtree
- Maclachlan, Patricia and Emily Maclachlan Charest. Before You Came. Illus. by David Diaz. Katherine Tegen Books
- Pearson, Susan. How to Teach a Slug to Read. Illus. by David Slonim. Marshall Cavendish Children’s
- Savage, Stephen. Where’s Walrus? Illus. by Stephen Savage. Scholastic
- Tan, Shaun. Lost & Found. Illus. by Shaun Tan. Arthur A. Levine Books
- Trottier, Maxine. Migrant. Illus. by Isabelle Arsenault. Groundwood Books
- Tullet, Hervé and Christopher Franceschelli. Press Here. Illus. by Hervé Tullet. Chronicle Books
- Wadham, Tim. The Queen of France. Illus. by Kady MacDonald Denton. Candlewick Press
- Wardlaw, Lee. Won-Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku. Illus. by Eugene Yelchin. Henry Holt
- Wild, Margaret. Harry and Hopper. Illus. by Freya Blackwood. Feiwel & Friends
Informational picture books
- Aston, Dianna Hutts. A Butterfly Is Patient. Illus. by Sylvia Long. Chronicle Books
- Burleigh, Robert. Night Flight: Amelia Earhart Crosses the Atlantic. Illus. by Wendell Minor Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
- Drummond, Allan. Energy Island. Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Jenkins, Martin. Can We Save the Tiger? Illus. by Vicky White. Candlewick Press
- Lyon, George Ella. All the Water in the World. Illus. by Katherine Tillotson Atheneum Books for Young Readers
- Macy, Sue. Basketball Belles: How Two Teams and One Scrappy Player Put Women’s Hoops on the Map. Illus. by Matt Collins. Holiday House
- McDonnell, Patrick. Me– Jane. Illus. by Patrick McDonnell. Little, Brown
- Stockdale, Susan. Bring on the Birds. Illus. by Susan Stockdale. Peachtree
- Peña, Matt De La. A Nation’s Hope: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis. Illus. by Kadir Nelson. Dial Books for young readers
- Yezerski, Thomas. Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story. Illus. by Thomas F. Yezerski. Farrar, Straus, Giroux
Nonfiction poetry
- George, Kristine O’Connell. Emma Dilemma: Big Sister Poems. Illus. by Nancy Carpenter. Clarion Books
- Greenfield, Eloise. The Great Migration: Journey to the North. Illus. by Jan Spivey Gilchrist. HarperCollins Children’s Books
- Raczka, Bob. Lemonade, and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word. Illus. by Nancy Doniger. Roaring Brook Press
- Yolen, Jane. Birds of a Feather. Illus. by Jason Stemple. Wordsong
Nonfiction biography
- Fleming, Candace. Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Schwartz & Wade Books
- McClafferty, Carla Killough. The Many Faces of George Washington: Remaking a Presidential Icon. Carolrhoda Books
- Sullivan, George. Tom Thumb: The Remarkable True Story of a Man in Miniature. Clarion Books
Nonfiction
- Downer, Ann. Elephant Talk: The Surprising Science of Elephant Communication. Twenty-First Century Books
- Galbraith, Kathryn Osebold. Planting the Wild Garden. Illus. by Wendy Anderson Halperin. Peachtree Publishers
- Lourie, Peter. The Manatee Scientists: Saving Vulnerable Species. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Marrin, Albert. Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy. Alfred A. Knopf
- Ross, Stewart. Into the Unknown: How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air. Illus. by Stephen Biesty. Candlewick Press
- Thomson, Ruth. Terezin: Voices from the Holocaust. Candlewick Press
