For most kids, summer means leaving behind classes and homework. But summer should not be the equivalent of a learning-free time for kids. To encourage learning in the summer months, Sylvan Learning offers a suggested reading list for grades K-12 to help parents find the right book for their child and make summer reading fun.
Elementary School
Kindergarten: Whose Mouse Are You? by Robert Krause
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Grade 1: Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin
Anansi the Spider by Gerald McDermott
Grade 2: Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle
How Much Is a Million by David M. Schwartz, Stephen Kellogg
Grade 3: Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech
A Beach for the Birds by Bruce McMillan
Grade 4: Summer Reading is Killing Me! By Jon Scieszka
So You Want To Be President? by Judith St. George and Illustrated by David Small
Grade 5: Holes by Louis Sachar
Kitchen Science by Chris Maynard
Middle School
Grade 6: Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket
My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen
Grade 7: A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom by Walter Dean Myers
Grade 8: Ender’s Game (Ender Series #1) by Orson Scott Card
Our Town by Thornton Wilder
High School
Grade 9: Empire of the Sun by J. G. Ballard
Silent Spring by Rachel L. Carson
Grade 10: Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Profiles In Courage by John F. Kennedy
Grade 11: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith and Katherine G. Balderston
Grade 12: Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Sylvan Learning offers a free reading incentive program for children in grades K-8 at bookadventure.com. With Book Adventure, children can create personalized book lists from more than 7,500 recommended titles, take quizzes on the books they’ve read at school or at home, and earn prizes for comprehension of the books they’ve read.
Also see: A Parent’s Guide to Summer in the NYC Area
10 Ways to Help Your Child Be an Excellent Reader