Summer 2010 Reading List for Grade 3

 

FICTION

 

Adler, David A.  Cam Jansen and the Chocolate Fudge Mystery.

When Cam Jansen and her friend Eric uncover a mystery while selling fudge door-to-door to raise money for the local library, Cam uses her photographic memory to foil a crime.

 

Barrett, Judi.  Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. 

Life is delicious in the town of Chewandswallow where it rains soup and juice, snows mashed potatoes, and blows storms of hamburgers--until the weather takes a turn for the worse.

 

Bishop, Clare Huchet.  Twenty and Ten.

Twenty school children hide ten Jewish children from the Nazis during the occupation of France during World War II.

 

Byars, Betsy.  The Seven Treasure Hunts.

Two boys make up a series of treasure hunts for each other, with disastrous and hilarious results.

 

Child, Lauren.  Clarice Bean Spells Trouble.

Clarice Bean attempts to help a friend in need by following the rules of fictional spy Ruby Redfort.

 

Clements, Andrew.  Jake Drake, Class Clown and other books in the Jake Drake series.

Jake has a new mission in life; to be so funny that even his new student teacher, Miss Bruce, will laugh.

 

Danziger, Paula.  Amber Brown Is Not A Crayon.

The year she is in the third grade is a sad time for Amber because her best friend Justin is getting ready to move to a distant state.

 

Etra, Jonathan and Spinner, Stephanie.  Aliens for Breakfast.

Richard joins an intergalactic special agent in a fight to save Earth from the Dranes.

 

Frazee, Marla  A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever.

Friends James and Eamon enjoy a wonderful week at the home of Eamon's grandparents during summer vacation.

 

Friedman, Ina R.  How My Parents Learned to Eat.

An American sailor courts a Japanese girl and each tries, in secret, to learn the other's way of eating.

 

Greene, Stephanie.  Queen Sophie Hartley. 

Sophie, the middle child in a family of five talented siblings, learns how to assert herself and to appreciate her own talents.

 

Harper, Charise Mericle. Just Grace Goes Green.

Grace can do a lot of things ... but can she save the planet? Or at the very least, can she help her best friend Mimi get her favorite stuffed animal back?

 

Hesse, Karen.  Sable.

Tate Marshall is delighted when a stray dog turns up in the yard one day, but Sable, named for her dark, silky fur, causes trouble with the neighbors and has to go.

 

Holme, Jennifer.  Babymouse: Volume 1: Queen of the World.

These delightful, clever graphic novels unveil a new heroine!  Making mundane chores and school activities into full-blown heroic adventures, Babymouse greets every obstacle – her locker, fractions, waking up, taking out the trash – by imagining she is a superhero conquering villains and monsters who come her way.  If you enjoy this book, you can read the rest of the Babymouse series.

 

Hurwitz, Johanna. 

Aldo Ice Cream.

Nine-year-old Aldo discovers the pleasures of doing volunteer work to help the older citizens of the community and the satisfactions of earning his first money on his own for unselfish reasons.

Aldo Peanut Butter.

Peanut and Butter, the two dogs Aldo gets for his eleventh birthday, create chaos inside the house while his parents are out of town and get accused of tearing up the neighbor's lawn.

Hurray for Ali Baba Bernstein.

The further adventures and misadventures of 9-year-old Ali Baba Bernstein.

Much Ado About Aldo.

Because of a school project, eight-year-old Aldo decides to give up eating meat.

 

Kline, Suzy.  Herbie Jones and the Class Gift.

Disaster strikes when Annabelle trusts Herbie Jones and Raymond with the job of picking up the class's gift to their teacher.

 

Look, Lenore.  Ruby Lu, Brave and True.

In this short chapter book, Asian American Ruby Lu, almost eight, is enthusiastic about her younger brother Oscar, about magic, and, in the end, about everything – even Chinese school on Saturdays.

 

McDonald, Megan.  Judy Moody Declares Independence.

After learning about the American Revolution on a family trip to Boston, Massachusetts, Judy Moody makes her own Declaration of Independence and tries to prove that she is responsible enough to have more freedoms, such as a higher allowance and her own bathroom.

 

Mills, Claudia.  How Oliver Olson Changed the World.

Oliver shows his overprotective parents that he is capable of doing great things without their help.

 

Mills, Claudia.  7 x 9 = Trouble!

Third grader Wilson Williams struggles to learn his multiplication tables, stay ahead of his math whiz kindergarten brother, and convince his parents that he needs a pet.  Comical illustrations complete this gentle and funny package.

 

Pennypacker, Sara.  Clementine’s Letter! and other “Clementine” books.

Clementine's beloved teacher, Mr. D'Matz, might be leaving them to go on a research trip. In his place, he's left a substitute with a whole new set of rules that Clementine just can't figure out.

 

Scieszca, Jon.  Viking It & Liking It and other books in the Time Warp Trio series.

Thanks to their magical book, Fred, Sam, and Joe inadvertently travel through time to 1000 A.D. where they sail with Leif Erikson, attempt to escape from his evil cousin, and try to find a way back to their own time.

 

Stewart, Sarah.  The Journey.

A young Amish girl tells her “secret friend,” her diary, about all the wondrous experiences she has on her first trip to the city.

 

Tamar, Erika.  Soccer Mania.

Nine-year-old Pete and his friends, who enjoy playing pick-up soccer, get registered as an official team and discover the negative aspects of competition.

 

Viorst, Judith.  Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Recounts the events of a day when everything goes wrong for Alexander.  Also try Viorst’s other books about Alexander.

 

Warner, Sally.  Super Emma.

Third-grader Emma becomes a reluctant heroine when she defends a friend from the class bully.

 

Wilder, Laura Ingalls.  Little House In The Big Woods.  

A year in the life of two young girls growing up on the Wisconsin frontier, as they help their mother with the daily chores, enjoy their father's stories and singing, and share special occasions when they get together with relatives or neighbors.

 

NONFICTION

 

Adler, David.  Lou Gehrig:  the Luckiest Man Alive.

This book traces the life of the Yankees' star ballplayer, focusing on his character and his struggle with the terminal disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

 

Aliki.  Mummies Made In Egypt.

Describes the techniques and the reasons for the use of mummification in ancient Egypt.

 

Aliki.  Wild and Woolly Mammoths.

An easy-to-read account of the woolly mammoth, a giant land mammal that has been extinct for over 11,000 years.

 

Ballard, Robert.  Exploring the Titanic.

Describes the large luxury liner, which sank in 1912, and the discovery and exploration of its underwater wreckage.

 

Barton, Chris.  The Day-Glo Brothers: the true story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s bright ideas and brand-new colors.

Illustrations and easy-to-follow text describe how brothers Bob and Joe Switzer invented fluorescent paint and colors; and explains how fluorescence works.

 

Bishop, Nic.  Nic Bishop Spiders.

Bishops amazing trademark images show the beauty and otherworldliness of spiders. Simple, engaging text conveys basic information about spiders as well as cool and quirky facts. A double-gatefold opens to reveal a stop-action sequence showing a spider leaping.

 

Chin-Lee, Cynthia.  Amelia to Zora: Twenty-Six Women Who Changed the World.

From Amelia Earhart, pilot and adventurer, to Zora Neal Hurston, writer and anthropologist, readers learn about the hardships and triumphs of 26 amazing women and discover what inspired each one to change the world around her.

 

DePaola, Tomie.  The Quicksand Book.

Discusses the composition of quicksand and rescue procedures.

 

Gibbons, Gail.  Planet Earth, Inside Out.

Examines planet Earth from its red-hot core to the highest mountain peaks, and explains how scientists think the Earth was formed and how it has changed over billions of years.

 

Grover, Wayne.  Dolphin Adventure:  A True Story.

A diver describes how he encounters and gains the trust of a family of dolphins and saves the life of their baby.

 

Fritz, Jean.  Why Don’t You Get A Horse, Sam Adams?

A brief biography of Samuel Adams describing his activities in stirring up the revolt against the British and how he was finally persuaded to learn to ride a horse.

 

Golenbock, Peter.  Teammates.

Describes the racial prejudice experienced by Jackie Robinson when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers and became the first black player in Major League baseball and depicts the acceptance and support he received from his white teammate Pee Wee Reese.

 

Houston, Gloria.  My Great-Aunt Arizona.

An Appalachian girl, Arizona Houston Hughes, grows up to become a teacher who influences generations of schoolchildren.

 

Krull, Kathleen.  Wilma Unlimited:  How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman.

A biography of the African American woman who overcame polio and became the first woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympics.

 

Lewis, J. Patrick.  Riddle-icious.

A collection of twenty-eight poems which are riddles and rhymes.

 

Markle, Sandra.  Outside and Inside Sharks.

Describes the inner and outer workings of sharks, including their diet, anatomy, and reproduction.

 

Prelutsky, Jack.  A Pizza the Size of the Sun.

A collection of humorous poetry on a variety of topics.

 

Ride, Sally.  To Space and Back.

Describes in text and photographs what it is like to be an astronaut on the space shuttle. Includes a glossary of terms.

 

Simon, Seymour.  Sharks.

A photo essay describing the habits and characteristics of sharks.

 

Simon, Seymour.  Volcanoes.

Explains, in simple terms, the characteristics of volcanoes and describes some famous eruptions and their aftermath.

 

Simon, Seymour.  Mountains.

Introduces various mountain ranges, how they are formed and shaped, and how they affect vegetation and animals, including humans.

 

 

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