What's On Your Child's Summer Reading List?

[Daxx]

DS going into 4th grade just received his summer reading list and has to read 5 books. They made Sarah, Plain and Tall mandatory and he has to pick 4 from the following 9 books:

1. The Trouble with Tuck
2. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
3. Help, I'm a Prisoner in the Library
4. Fourth Grade Rats
5. Jigsaw Jones: The Case of Hermie The Missing Hamster
6. The Whipping Boy
7. Ramona Forever
8. The Family Under the Bridge
9. Drums at Saratoga

He's selected #2, 4, 7 and is undecided on the last book. He wanted to read the Jigsaw Jones book, but since he read it in 2nd grade, I said absolutely not!!!! I'm trying to talk him into Drums of Saratoga since I think he'll like the whole war portion. Also, if he chooses this, I could talk DH into a trip to Saratoga so he could see the places/things he's reading about! What better learning experience, huh!?!?

So, what's on your child's summer reading list?

ETA -- he also has to do book reports on the 5 books. Do your kids have to do them, or write short summaries, as well?

 

[Sthronds]

I used to teach a unit on the Whipping Boy. It's fairly short and is fairly entertaining. It is also quite deep and has some important messages. It's a good list to choose from though!

 

[carone0318]

Dd is going into 5th grade and has to read:

Summer Reading is Killing Me (I think that is the exact title)

She has some tough questions to answer about the book and then she also has to create an interview with one of the characters.

 

[chris1gill]

Well, we bought the first 28 of the Magic Treehouse series' books... DD (going into grade 3) is reading two per day, so she's read ten of them already! They've only been out a week! She has to write short little summaries on six of the books... After this I guess she will go into the Lemony Snickett series? She only has to keep track of the books, she doesn't need specific books... just the six summaries...

DS (going into grade 6) needs at least three books... One is "Bloomability", one is "There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom" & then one additional of the following:

Hatchet
The Music of Dolphins
The Westing Game
Ghost Horses
Treasure Island
Double Identity

DS has actual book reports due on the three books & he's a terrible procrastinator when it comes to book reports!

 

[Figment22]

Dd is going into 5th grade and has to read:

Summer Reading is Killing Me (I think that is the exact title)

She has some tough questions to answer about the book and then she also has to create an interview with one of the characters.

My son (now a rising 8th grader) absolutely LOVED that book! It was, without question, his favorite Time Warp Trio book. He read all the books in the series, which is great and very funny, but that was the best of the bunch.

On the original list, he only read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing which I see has already been selected so I'm no help there, sorry.

 

[JadenLayne]

I have a Freshman to be and his books are,

The Odyssey
The Miracle Worker
Tale of Two Cities
Through the Looking Glass
Alice in Wonderland

 

[Laurajean1014]

My son will be entering 5th grade and has three reading/reporting assignments.

1. Lou Gehrig (Luckiest Man in the World)
2. (Something about WAR)
3. Bridge to Temberiara

He has to write a few pages, timelines and posters on these. Not a big deal at all. We were surprised.

 

[buddy&wooz]

I'm flabbergasted by the summer reading list my son heading to 3rd grade brought home. It includes things like The Very Hungry Caterpiller and the Junie B. Jones series. There are also more age appropriate books like Beverly Cleary stories and Judy Blume's Superfudge, but I have to say if a kid is readling The Very Hungry Caterpiller then that kid is NOT ready for 3rd grade .

He has to pick one off the list and two others can be whatever we as a family choose. I have stacks of books that his brothers have read so he has plenty to choose from without looking too far, thankfully.

 

[JVL1018]

My daughter is going into 1st, this is her reading list:

http://www.bergenfield.org/summerre...nteringGradeOne/StudentsEnteringGradeOne.html

No book reports, no must reads, just recommendations.

 

[merrily]

Wow! My kids are going into 6th and 9th grades and they have never had a summer reading list or book reports to do over the summer. Is this common practice in other areas? My kids read all the time so I am not worried that they won't be "keeping up".

 

[Sthronds]

Well, we bought the first 28 of the Magic Treehouse series' books... DD (going into grade 3) is reading two per day, so she's read ten of them already! They've only been out a week! She has to write short little summaries on six of the books... After this I guess she will go into the Lemony Snickett series? She only has to keep track of the books, she doesn't need specific books... just the six summaries...

DS (going into grade 6) needs at least three books... One is "Bloomability", one is "There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom" & then one additional of the following:

Hatchet
The Music of Dolphins
The Westing Game
Ghost Horses
Treasure Island
Double Identity

DS has actual book reports due on the three books & he's a terrible procrastinator when it comes to book reports!

The Westing Game is one of my favorite books! It's a great mystery. I'm glad to see that it's on a book list.

 

[BeNJeNWaFFLe]

No kids here, but I remember having summer reading lists. Can I say, you children have some great books to choose from! My lists were never that fun.

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Superfudge are really great books.

Bridge to Terabithia is an excellent book. I still remember reading that book back in 4th grade.

JadenLayne: I recommend Alice in Wonderland. Great book for someone who doesn't mind that it is "far out there" at points. The Miracle Worker is also a very good read. Unless your son really wants to read The Odyssey, I'd pass on it. It's a classic but I wouldn't recommend it for summer reading. (Strange how the classroom reading lists haven't changed much over the years.)

 

[Makdyn]

I'm flabbergasted by the summer reading list my son heading to 3rd grade brought home. It includes things like The Very Hungry Caterpiller and the Junie B. Jones series. There are also more age appropriate books like Beverly Cleary stories and Judy Blume's Superfudge, but I have to say if a kid is readling The Very Hungry Caterpiller then that kid is NOT ready for 3rd grade .

He has to pick one off the list and two others can be whatever we as a family choose. I have stacks of books that his brothers have read so he has plenty to choose from without looking too far, thankfully.

I agree with those books not being a for 3rd grade level. My dd who is going to be in first grade reads the junie b jones books by her self. She does need help on some of the words.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Our homeschool group has a summer reading program. Completely voluntary but with Marble Slab Creamery sponsoring us offering rewards for reading. (1 scoop of ice cream for each book report and 1 topic for each additional book read).

Her "list" for 1st grade
Madeline
Brave Irene
Henry & Mudge
Curious George
The Story of Ping



For comparison to your list the 4th grade list is
Detectives in Togas
Stuart Little
Little House on the Prairie
The Cricket in Times Square
Peter Pan

Ice cream will be rewarded via coupons at our Not Back to School Party (on the 1st day public school goes back in session) and then redeemed at the "Book Ball" where we all dress up as characters from one of the books on their reading list.

Wish I had summer reading like that back when I was a kid!

ETA: For K-2nd the book report is writing down title and author and then drawing their favorite scene from the book. 3rd and up have more detailed reports to do that involve talking about the characters and what the book was about and such. I don't have that form with me, so don't know what all is on it.

 

[Crankyshank]

I always loved summer reading. It was a great way to introduce kids to great books they would likely miss out on otherwise. Of course I had some real doozies too I always peruse the summer reading section at the store and wind up reading a lot of them

The Odyssey is an odd choice for summer reading. If your DS choses to read it - it's a good book but it's not an easy read. Have him watch "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" after he reads it - it's based on the Odyssey

 

[Marseeya]

You all are going to think I'm nuts for this, but I really needed to find a good incentive to get DD to read! The school didn't give her a reading list, but I'm going to come up with one for her. This child HATES reading, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get her into it.

Anyway, I'm going to pay her $10 for every longer chapter book she reads and $5 for the shorter ones. I figure I'll probably owe her $15 by the end of summer. I'll keep track by having her give me a little summary at the end of each chapter. She needs the practice anyway.

The first book, she can choose between Harry Potter or the Disney book, Kingdom Keepers.

I also have a bunch of young adult books at home that I'm going to go through to try to find something she might enjoy. A friend of mine (former professor) is on the Caldecott committee, so she gets literally thousands of free books. A couple of months ago, she let us raid her stash, so I have a big box of books to go through.

 

[AC7179]

My daughter will be in 8th grade and she has to read The OUtsiders.

 

[paigevz]

I am so jealous! I would LOVE to have that stash!

My son has no summer anything he has to do. I have him working on pre-algebra, cursive writing and watching some of our school science videos (using his cursive to write summaries) while I'm unpacking my new room on T/TH. He reads and does his music on his own. Currently, he's reading Ember.......the first of a series on a futuristic underground city that dies and its citizens journey to find a new place to live. He has just finished all the Harry Potter books. If he likes Ember, I'll get him the other two books. If not, I still have the Madeleine L'Engle set of A Wrinkle in Time books for him. He had a hard time getting into the meat of that first book at Christmas, but I think if I can get him past there, he'll make it.

My little one is currently reviewing all his shapes, learning about L, having coloring practice, and copying shape drawings of animals/people that I'm doing for him. He's also learning to dress himself..........I never saw a kid so resistant to clothes!

I gave my second grade students 3 workbooks: math, phonics, and reading.........with short stories and then questions about each. I told them for each book they complete, they can bring it back to me on Meet the Teacher night and get a prize from my big bucket. It's the first time I've done it, so we'll see if any actually do it!

What do these schools do about new kids coming in from elsewhere? If there's any follow-up on the assignments, then the new kids won't get to participate. Or is there no follow-up?

 

[LBAK]

My DD going into 6th grade is reading:

Stargirl
Number the Stars
Tuck Everlasting

 

[holbear]

My DS is going into 4th grade. The school didn't send a list of manditory reading, but did send some ideas for reading/writing activites and a journal to record what they have done. The incentive isn't much and DS just isn't interested in participating. Now if he is interested he will read and is currently reading about 30 min. a night or more (Harry Potter), but won't pick up another book after that unless I push for it.

Barnes and Noble has a great summer reading program where the kids can get up to 2 free books for reading. http://a1055.g.akamai.net/f/1055/97...ummer_reading_kids/summer_reading_journal.pdf

I'm hoping that is a better incentive.


Marseeya, Thanks SO much for the info on the Kingdom Keepers book. I have never heard of it and I know it is something DS would be interested in. He also likes the -ology books.. Dragonology, Egyptology.. There is going to be a new one released soon.. Piratology.