Summer Reading Lists or Recommendations

here is my daughter's 3rd grade novel list

A Lion to Guard Us by Bulla, Clyde Robert
Stone Fox by Gardiner, John Reynolds
Li Lun, Lad of Courage by Trefinger, Carolyn
In the Year of the Boar... by Lord, Bette Bao
Little House on the Prairie by Wilder, Laura
The Book of Three by Alexander, Lloyd
Tuck Everlasting by Babbitt, Natalie
The Sign of the Beaver by Speare, Elizabeth G.
The Cricket in Times Square by Selden, George
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats... by O'Brien, Robert
My Side of the... by George, Jean Craighead
Call It Courage by Sperry, Armstrong
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Cleary, Beverly
The Hundred Dresses by Estes, Eleanor
Pippi Longstocking by Lindgren, Astrid
Caddie Woodlawn by Brink, Carol Ryrie
Shiloh by Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds
The Lion, the Witch and the... by Lewis, C.S.
Anne of Green Gables by Montgomery, Lucy Maud
The Door in the Wall by de Angeli, Marguerite
Ben and Me by Lawson, Robert

and my son's 4th grade novel list

A Lion to Guard Us by Bulla, Clyde Robert
Stone Fox by Gardiner, John Reynolds
Sarah, Plain and Tall by MacLachlan, Patricia
Henry Huggins by Cleary, Beverly
Charlotte's Web by White, E.B.
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Li Lun, Lad of Courage by Trefinger, Carolyn
In the Year of the Boar... by Lord, Bette Bao
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Little House on the Prairie by Wilder, Laura
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
The Sign of the Beaver by Speare, Elizabeth G.
War Comes to Willy Freeman by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
The Cricket in Times Square by Selden, George
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats... by O'Brien, Robert
My Side of the... by George, Jean Craighead
Call It Courage by Sperry, Armstrong
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
The Cay by Theodore Taylor
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Cleary, Beverly
Dragonwings by Laurence Yep
The Hundred Dresses by Estes, Eleanor
Pippi Longstocking by Lindgren, Astrid
Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Patterson
Caddie Woodlawn by Brink, Carol Ryrie
Shiloh by Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds
Old Yeller
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
The Dark Is Rising
The Lion, the Witch, and the... by Lewis, C.S.
Bud, Not Buddy
White Fang
Anne of Green Gables by Montgomery, Lucy Maud
The Door in the Wall by de Angeli, Marguerite
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Ben and Me: by Lawson, Robert
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Across Five Aprils
Catherine, Called Birdy
The War of the Worlds
The Swiss Family Robinson
The Incredible Journey

There are some books on both lists, but the lists themselves cover 3rd grade level books and then two grade levels above where my kids are at, so my son's list goes up to 6th grade material.

My daughter Kristen ( age ten) enjoyed the Hank Zipper series by Henry Winkler and also the Warriors series by Erin Hunter. The Warrior series are larger chapter books about 300 pages and she has not had any trouble with the vocabulary, the Hank Zipper series are also chapter books, but much shorter ( around 150ish pages)
I am really going to push her towards some classics this summer. We will be reading Huckleberry Finn and Wind in the Willows, we will also be reading some of the Little House on The Prairie series. I would like to find some of the books I recall from my childhood that she might enjoy regardless of whether they are below her reading level or not like The Five Little Peppers and how they grew, the Original Boxcar Children ( it was also made into a series of shorter chapter books)
Check into your local library, they usually have summer reading programs sponsored by Scholastic. Also Beverly Cleary series are great for both boys and girls, not just the Beezus and Ramona series but the Ralph Mouse books are cute. Bunnicula comes to mind, and one of my favorite reads was Charlie and the chocolate factory and Charlie and the Great Glass elevator. So MANY great children's books out there, take advantage of your local library and be sure to ask your local librarians suggestions as they can have great suggestions, they know what is checked out frequently and can be a wealth of less familiar titles that are interesting as well.

I realize that you are in Arizona, but you could still look up the list for "Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl" in Georgia. If you have ever heard of Brain Bowl or something similar, it is along those lines, except the kids read from a list of books throughout the year, and then have a single day competition based on questions derived from the books on the list. The list changes every year. Most of them are award winners of one kind or another. The kids eligibility to compete in the Bowl starts in 4th grade, so there should be some books your 3rd grader could read as well I would imagine. And it goes up through middle school, so for certain your 6th grader could find some books.

I googled it and only found the list of books via a school website. You could probably look around online and find last year's list also. Here is this year's list:
2011-2012 Georgia Book Nominees

Return To Sender by J. Alvarez
Anything But Typical by N. Baskin
Waiting For Normal by L. Connor
Out Of My Mind by S. Draper
Mockingbird by K. Erskine
Scat by C. Hiaasen
Swindleby G. Korman
Where The Mountain Meets The Moon by G. Lin
All Shook Upby S. Pearsall
Mostly True Adventures Of Homer P. Figg by W. Philbrick
After Ever After by J. Soonenblick
Countdown by D. Wiles
One Crazy Summer by R. Williams-Garcia
Strange Case Of Origami Yodaby T. Angleberger
Extra Credit by A. Clements
Dying To Meet You by K. Klise
Fantastic Secret Of Owen Jester by B. O’Connor

Here's a link to last year's book list:
http://www.murray.k12.ga.us/gms/Buttons/Helen%20Ruffin%20...

Go to your local public library. They usually have summer reading programs you can sign your kids up for. If you do sign them up for it, they usually give out prizes for reaching your reading goal and they have little special days. I have lived in a few different cities and each one has a different way they run their program. But they should at least beable to provide you with a list of books that they reccommend.

Another idea is to ask your kids teachers. They should beable to provide you with some suggestions too, and they know what level your kids are reading at now so they may have some really good ideas.

This is the reading list I'm using for our 8yr old.

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=130844043608340

nice classics and fables

My daughter (age 9, finishing 3rd grade) will be participating in a Battle of the Books (sounds like the same thing Victoria W mentioned) next year. She has already rec'd her reading list which contains 50 titles. I'd suggest googling "Battle of the Books".

Next, ask the school librarian or a children's librarian at your local library.

Good luck!

Why don't you check out the ALA website? They have lists of all the award winning books for this year and previous years.

You could also try www.bookadventure.com This is a free online program where they read a book, then take a quiz on it. They have several ways to look for books to read and they are categorized by subject, grade level, etc. I sometimes check the list for my kids' age and then go to the library website to see if they have it on the shelf. Then we take our list to the library. Good luck!

P.S. My favorite authors are Barbara Kingsolver, Ken Follett, Lee Smith and recently I've discovered Ridley Pearson's adult books (after loving his Peter and the Starcatchers series with Dave Berry).

I go to Barnes and Noble even if I'm not purchasing to see what's new or on the hot list. Then we see if they're available at the library.

My son just finished 5th grade but reads on a college level so I pretty much let him read what ever he is interested in. Right now he is reading a series of Star Wars books from the adult section. Our library has a great teen section with the current "must reads" and the classics as well. Someone mentioned the Hank Zipzer books and my son has read them all and loved them. He also enjoyed Al Capone Does my Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko. It has a more mature content (about alcatraz) but still was a good read. Since both my son and I read all the time, I usually haunt the used book stores for good selections. If in the Phx area, Bookmans at 19th Ave and Northern and Thrifty Joes at 59th Ave and Bell have great selections of children's and adult books. Find the topic they want to read about - my son loves history, greek mythology, and volcanoes and find non fiction as well as fiction. Have fun this summer and happy reading.

Our school system has lists of recommended reading for summer, so ask your kids' school. For the 6th grade especially, there may be books your child is actually required to read over the summer before middle school starts.

Try your local library. Our library has a summer reading program. Kids read a certain minimum number of books and then receive a prize (in our system it's a terrific coupon book that's very useful and fun). These programs are all over the place at public libraries and usually come with lists of recommended, quality books. Ask the children's librarian. Even if your library does not have a kids' reading program for summer, the librarian can recommend books by the bucketload.

I agree with you on Scholastic -- the forms that come home are mostly junk and the "books" are so tied in to TV and film that it's nothing more than a marketing tool. Sad.