There
are many great books out there for our young readers. I compiled a list of some books I think are fabulous for
grades 3, 4, and 5.
**Also
remember when you are choosing a book from the list, use the five finger test or
strategies to find a “just-right” book.
Although these are good books, they might not be “just right” for
you.
(Annotations for the book lists were found on the following two websites: www.mybps.org and www.amazon.com .)
Grade 4
Baseball Saved Us
By,
Ken Mochizuki
A young Japanese boy and his family search for a purpose during time spent in an internment camp. The young boy tells how his father brought baseball to the camp and how it helped the boy endure humiliation and injustice.
Thank
You, Mr. Falker
By
Patricia Polacco
Trisha is a great drawer but doesn’t think she can read very well. This begins to change when a new teacher, Mr. Falker, saves her and proves that she can learn to read.
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
By,
Eleanor Coerr
Sadako is eleven when she develops leukemia, the dreaded radiation disease caused from the atom bomb dropped in Hiroshima when she was only two years old. Her friend, Chizuko, brings a golden paper crane and reminds Sadako of the story about the gods that will grant her wish to be healthy again when she has folded 1000 paper cranes.
The
Hundred Dresses
Maddie is uncomfortable when her best friend Peggy teases Wanda Petronski about the 100 dresses Wanda says she has at home. Why does Wanda, who lives with her father and brother, wear the same faded dress every day?
By,
John R. Gardiner
Ten-year-old
Willy is determined to give his grandfather a reason to live so he helps him by
harvesting, selling, and stocking up on the crops for the winter… but he still
needs $500 for taxes. Even though
everyone tells him not to, Willy enters the National Dog Sled Race where he and
his dog Searchlight are up against Stone Fox and his team of five Samoyed sled
dogs.
I’m
Jose and I’m Okay
By,
Holzwarth, Werner, & Yatiyawa Studios
Jose is an eleven-year-old orphan living in Bolivia who finds himself in three distinct situations. In each situation, he must prove himself and get out one way or another. This book is a compilation of three short stories that expose the trials of life through the eyes of Jose.
James
and the Giant Peach
James receives strange crystals and accidentally spills them by a peach tree, which makes a peach on the tree grow until it’s enormous! James crawls inside into the gigantic fruit, to find talking bugs and worms as big as he is. When the peach breaks from the tree and rolls down to the ocean, James and his friends embark upon an adventure!
From
the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
When
Claudia plans to run away from home, she and her brother Jamie decide to stay at
the Metropolitan Museum of Art! They
come across a statue owned previously by Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and are in
awe of its beauty. Thus begins
their adventures at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Night
of the Twisters
Based on the 1980 disaster when a series of tornadoes devastated a Nebraska town, Dan, his best friend, and baby brother seek shelter on their own and help the community rebuild.
The
Cricket in Times Square
When Chester Cricket arrives in the Times Square subway station in a picnic basket, he is befriended by Harry the cat, Tucker the mouse, and a boy named Mario whose parents run an unsuccessful newsstand. His new friends teach him how to survive in NYC and Chester, in turn, helps bring business to Mario’s family’s newsstand.
Grade
3
Angel
Child—Dragon Child
By,
Michele Maria Surat
Ut
is a Vietnamese girl who is attending school in the United States and lonely for
her mother she left behind in Vietnam.
Ut makes an unexpected, new friend who presents her with a wonderful
gift.
The
Chocolate Touch
By,
Patrick Skene Catling
At
first, John was excited that everything he touched turned into chocolate. Now at last he could have all the chocolate he wanted.
Chocolate toothpaste was delicious; chocolate bacon and chocolate eggs were even
better. But soon he began to get awfully thirsty, and before the day was over
John realizes that his sweet dream come true might have its bitter side.
The
Colors of Us
By,
Karen Katz
Seven-year
old Lena and her artist mother discover the different shades of people’s skin.
Lena recognizes that all of the shades are different, yet beautiful and a
shade of the same color.
The
Legend of Bluebonnet
By
Tommie dePaola
This
story is a legend, based on Comanche Indians and retells the story of how the
bluebonnet, the state flower of Texas, came to be.
**A "Reading Rainbow" Review Title. An American Bookseller Pick of the List Book. A Booklist Children's Editors' Choice. A NCSS Notable Children's Trade Book.
Miss
Rumphius
By,
Barbara Cooney
As a child great-aunt Alice Rumphius decided that when she grew up she would go to faraway places, live by the sea in her old age, and do something to make the world more beautiful--and she does all those things, the last being the most difficult of all.
Molly’s
Pilgrim
By, Barbara Cohen
A
touching story which tells how recent immigrant, Molly helps her third-grade
class realize that it takes all kinds of pilgrims to make Thanksgiving what it
is.
Mufaro’s Beautiful
Daughters
By, John Steptoe
Mufaro’s
daughters, Manyara and Nyasha are equally beautiful however with two different
temperaments.
When
the king decides to take a wife he invites all the daughters of his land to
appear before him. Mufaro declared
proudly that only the king could choose between Nyasha and Manyara. Manyara, of
course, didn't agree, and set out to make certain that she would be chosen.
Too
Many Tamales
By,
Gary Soto
As Maria and her parents prepare the tamales for Christmas, Maria believes she has lost her mother’s diamond ring in the mixture of ingredients! When she realizes this potential tragedy, she and her cousins eat all twenty-four tamales that Maria and her parents made, hoping to find the ring. This is a story of taking responsibility and it depicts an aspect of the Latino-American culture.