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Summer Reading Lists for Preschool-6th Graders

We’ve talked about avoiding the summer slump by giving you suggestions to encourage reading this summer, now we’re back with an outside of the box, age-appropriate summer reading list for kiddos preschool age to 6th grade! So if you’re looking for some book suggestions before heading out to the library or book store, check out this list my kids and I came up with that will take you from classics to current favorites!

SUMMER READING LISTS: PRESCHOOL-6th GRADE

Preschool Read Alouds-

  • Follow this adorable mouse on his mini adventures in If You Take a Mouse book series by Laura Numeroff
  • Go Dog Go by Dr. Seuss is a fun rhyming book sure to become an instant hit
  • Check out the timeless classic Goodnight Moon first published in 1947 by Margaret Wise Brown
  • Get them laughing with Mo Willems' Pigeon Series and Elephant and Piggy books. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and My Friend is Sad are just two that are sure to be huge hits!
  • Oldies but goodies by Eric Carle. Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? and The Very Hungry Caterpillar are just two of his colorful and quirky books.
  • The Little Nutbrown Hare in Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney is a sweet tale of parents love for their children.

Kindergarten books they can read themselves-

  • Biscuit (My First I Can Read) books are perfect for your puppy lovin’ kid!
  • Curious George Curious About Phonics is a 12 book set of simple stories perfect for beginner readers by Catherine Hapka
  • The Berenstein Bears (I can read books) by Mike Berenstain feature their favorite characters in shorter stories great for beginner readers.
  • Make early reading a success with Bob Books by Bobby Lynn Maslen. Designed to build on each other and teach phonics.
  • Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell is a childhood favorite of mine.

First Grade (ages 6 and 7)- 

  • The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner are classic mysteries both kids and adults will love reading together.
  • Who doesn’t love Curious George books by Margaret and H.A. Rey?
  • Follow an adorable little girl that who loves all things girly with Fancy Nancy books by Jane O’ Connor.
  • Little Golden Books feature modern and classic stories of childhood treasures for all ages.
  • The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper teaches kids the value of hard work, kindness and optimism.

Second Grade-

  • Let their imagination take flight with time travel adventures in The Magic Treehouse Series by Mary Pope Osborne
  • Amelia Bedelia chapter books by Herman Parish are funny, fast-paced easy reads with adorable black and white illustrations.
  • My son hasn’t put down the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books by Jeff Kinney this summer. The sarcastic humor and comic style writing are a hit!
  • AIO Imagination Station books are faith-based historical adventures in time travel by Marianne Hering and Paul McCusker
  • The Adventures of Nathan T. Riggins series by Stephen Bly follows a boy on western adventures who always seems to find himself in one crazy situation after another.

Third Grade-

  • Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder books that are based on her life growing up as an American Pioneer.
  • A great collection of poems by Shel Silverstein in Falling Up
  • Pippi Longstocking series by Astrid Lindgren is about a little girl with red pigtails with no parents to tell her what to do.
  • The Newbery Medal winning book Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan is the first in a five book series.
  • Treasure Hunters books by James Patterson are full of adventure, action, humor and heart.

Fourth Grade-

  • Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White is a classic of children’s literature.
  • Full of magic and enchanting characters, The Indian In The Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
  • The Mandie Collection by Lois Gladys Leppard is a series about a girl who first loses her father and then finds her long lost family.
  • The American Girl History Mysteries by various authors are fiction stories with historical information at the end of each book.

Fifth Grade-

  • The Hobbit by R.R Tolkien written in 1937 long before the popular feature films. A great book to read together.
  • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark Twain’s first novel.
  • Try to crack the cases along with Encyclopedia Brown in the series written by Donald J. Sobol
  • Join Anne Shirley on her adventures on a farm outside Avonlea, Prince Edward Island in Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
  • The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis is the greatest series ever written (in our humble opinion)

Sixth Grade-

  • The New York Times bestseller The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
  • The Hardy Boys Casefiles Series by Franklin W. Dixon classic mysteries for boys and Nancy Drew Files Series by Carolyn Keene for girls
  • A Series Of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket is a collection of 13 books about orphaned siblings living with an unkind uncle.
  • The classic science fiction novel The War Of The Worlds by H.G Wells.

This list is by no means exhaustive but I hope it gives you some great ideas when searching for books at the library or bookstore this summer. (If your favorites - or discoveries - didn't make the list, share them in the comments!)