Rising 4th Grade Summer Reading List
Preventing Summer Slide
For some children, summer is a time dedicated to playing video games, sleeping in, vacationing and relaxing as much as possible before the beginning of yet another school year. Children may argue that summer should be spent taking a break from academics and enjoy doing “nothing”. As parents and educators we need to ensure that our children do not fall into what is commonly referred to as “summer slide”.
The summer slide: it sounds fun, but it can make the transition from grade to grade really difficult. Research shows that students who do not read during the summer may experience a decrease in their reading level. But guess what? Students who read regularly during the summer often improve their reading level and ability! Students can start strong in the fall if their reading habits don’t “slide” away during the summer months. Below you will find a suggested reading list that includes a variety of reading levels and different styles of books.
Chapter Books:
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson (Bette Bao Lord)
The Black Cauldron (Lloyd Alexander)
The High King (Lloyd Alexander)
Good Dog (Avi)
Poppy (Avi)
The Secret History of Tom Trueheart(Ian Beck)
If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late (Pseudonymous Bosch)
Medusa Jones (Ross Collins)
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (Kate DiCamillo)
Half Magic (Edward Eager)
The Giant Slayer (Iain Lawrence)
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (Robert C. O’Brien)
Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang (Mordecai Richler)
The Red Pyramid (Rick Riordan)
The Invention of Hugo Cabret(Brian Selznick)
Trumpet of the Swan (E.B. White)
Holes (Louis Sachar)
The Castle in the Attic (Elizabeth Winthrop)
The Postcard (Tony Abbott)
Lost and Found (Andrew Clements)
Walk Two Moons (Sharon Creech)
Hate that Cat (Sharon Creech)
The Black Stallion (Walter Farley)
Lost on a Mountain in Maine (DonnFendler)
Million-Dollar Throw (Mike Lupica)
Who Killed Cock Robin? (Jean Craighead George)
Hoot/ Flush (Carl Hiaasen)
Bridge to Terebithia(Katherine Paterson)
Canyons (Gary Paulsen)
The Boy Who Saved Baseball (John Ritter)
Island of the Blue Dolphins (Scott O’Dell)
Summer of the Monkeys (Wilson Rawls)
Night of the Twisters (Ivy Ruckman)
Owls in the Family (Farley Mowat)
Rascal (Sterling North)
A Cricket in Times Square (George Selden)
The Trouble with Tuck (Theodore Taylor)
A Dog Called Kitty (Bill Wallace)
Secret of the Andes (Anne Nolan Clark)
The Sign of the Beaver (Elizabeth George Spears)
The Egypt Game (Keatley Snyder)
The Golden Goblet (Eloise Jarvis McGraw)
Journey to America (Sonia Levitin)
A Way of His Own (T.A. Dyer)
Maroo of the Winter Caves (Ann Turnbull)
The Incredible Journey (Sheila Burnford)
Number the Stars (Lois Lowry)
The Princess and the Goblin (George MacDonald)
Caddie Woodlawn (Carol Ryrie Brink)
The Indian in the Cupboard (Lynne Reid Banks)
Chapter Book series:
Redwall(Jacque Brian)
Gregor the Overlanderseries (Suzanne Collins)
Artemis Fowl series (EoinColfer)
Young Wizards series (Diane Duane)
Eragonseries (Christopher Paolini)
The Sea of Trolls trilogy (Nancy Farmer)
Shadow Children series (Margaret Peterson Haddix)
Warriorsseries (Erin Hunter)
Pendragonseries (D.J. MacHale)
Tomorrow series (Brandon Mull)
Keepers of the Kingdom series (Ridley Pearson)
Non-Fiction Books:
A Gathering of Days (Joan W. Blos)
Cheaper by the Dozen (Frank and Ernestine Gilbreth)
Boy (Roald Dahl)
George’s Secret Key to the Universe (Lucy and Stephen Hawking)
Harriet Tubman (Ann Petry)
Honda: the Boy who Dreamed of Cars (Mark Weston)
Don’t Know Much About American History (Kenneth C. Davis)
How to the Best at Everything (Dominique Enright)
Life in the Boreal Forest (Brenda Guiberson)
The Dangerous Book for Boys (Hal and Conn Iggulden)
The Boy Who Invented TV: The Story of Philo Farnsworth (Kathleen Krull)
The Egyptian News (Langley and DeSouza)
Pyramid, City, The New Way Things Work (David MacAuley)
When Wolves Returned: Restoring Nature’s Balance in Yellowstone (Dorothy Patent)
Noah Webster: Weaver of Words (Pegi Dietz Shea)