Entering Fourth 4 Grade

Wilmington Public Schools Recommended Reading

175 Middlesex Ave Wilmington, MA 01887 Youth Services: 978-694-2098 wilmlibrary.org/kids

RL = Approximate reading level Fiction Chapter Books Find these books in the Fiction section. Young Reader Fiction Call number is typically: J [Author’s Last Name] or Kids Fiction [Author’s Last Name]. Chapter Books *Indicates book is part of a series. Find these books in the Younger Fiction section. Call number is typically: J Younger Zombie Mommy* [Author’s Last Name] or Kids Younger Anderson, M. T. RL 4.5, 220p [Author’s Last Name]. Home from their latest Delaware crime- stopping adventures, Lily Gefelty and her Sadie and Ratz friends Katie, Jasper, and Drgnan Pghlik face Hartnett, Sonya. RL 2.6, 59p killer tarantulas and teenaged vampires when Hannah and her hands, named they try to rescue Lily’s mother, who has been Sadie and Ratz, regularly get into possessed by a menacing zombie that wants trouble, especially when younger to take over the world. brother Baby Boy is around. The one and only Ivan Lulu And The Duck In The Park Applegate, Katherine. RL 4, 305p McKay, Hilary. RL 4.2, 104p When I van, a gorilla who has lived Lulu, who loves animals, brings an abandoned for years in a down-and-out circus- duck egg to school, even though her teacher themed mall, meets Ruby, a baby has banned Lulu from bringing animals to elephant that has been added to school ever again. the mall, he decides that he must find her a better life.

Young Reader Series Books Poppy Matt Christopher sports series Avi. RL 4.5, 156p Christopher, Matt Poppy, a deer mouse, urges her family to move next to a field of corn big enough to feed Amber Brown them all forever, but Mr. Ocax, a terrifying owl, Danziger, Paula has other ideas.

The Prince of Fenway Park Baggott, Julianna. RL 4.2, 322p Ghosthunters In the fall of 2004, twelve-year-old Oscar Egg Funke, Cornelia is sent to live with his father in a strange netherworld under Boston’s Fenway Park, My Weird School where he joins the , pooka, , and Gutman, Dan other beings that are trapped there, waiting for someone to break the eighty-six year-old curse Alvin Ho that has prevented the Boston Red Sox from Look, Lenore winning a World Series.

Dragon Slayers’ Academy Because of Mr. Terupt* McMullan, Kate Buyea, Rob. RL 4.1, 269p Seven fifth-graders at Snow Hill School in Connecticut relate how their lives are changed for the better “rookie teacher” Mr. Terupt. Fiction Chapter Books continued across the country, acquiring new owners and listening to their hopes, dreams, and histories. RL = Approximate reading level

The Big House The Tale of Despereaux: Being The Coman, Carolyn. RL 5, 220p Story Of A Mouse, A Princess, Some When Ivy and Ray’s parents are sent to jail, Soup, and a Spool of Thread and left in the custody of their parent’s DiCamillo, Kate. RL 4.5, 267p accusers, they decide to look for evidence that The adventures of Despereaux Tilling, a small will “spring” their parents. mouse of unusual talents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a The case of the case of mistaken princess, and a devious rat determined to bring identity them all to ruin. Barnett, Mac. RL 4.6, 179p Steve Brixton, a fan of Bailey Brothers The Gollywhopper Games detective novels, is mistaken for a real Feldman, Jody. RL 4, 332p detective and must elude librarians, police, and Twelve-year-old Gil Goodson Mr. E as he seeks a missing quilt containing competes against thousands of coded information. other children at extraordinary puzzles, stunts, and more in hopes Frindle of a fresh start for his family, which Clements, Andrew. RL 4.8, 105p has been ostracized since his father was When he decides to turn his fifth-grade falsely accused of embezzling money. teacher’s love of the dictionary around on her, clever Nick Allen invents a new word and Operation Redwood begins a chain of events that quickly moves French, Susannah T. RL 4.6, 353p beyond his control. In northern California, Julian Carter-Li and his friends old and new fight to save a grove of James and The Giant Peach redwoods from an investment company that Dahl, Roald. RL 4.8, 146p plans to cut them down. A young boy escapes from two wicked aunts and embarks on a series of adventures with six In A Glass Grimmly: Companion to a giant insects he meets inside a giant peach. Tale Dark & Grimm Gidwitz, Adam. RL 4.8, 314p The Magician’s Elephant Frog joins cousins Jack and Jill in leaving their DiCamillo, Kate. RL 5.5, 201p own stories to seek a magic mirror, When ten-year-old orphan Peter Augustus encountering such creatures as giants, Duchene encounters a fortune teller in the , and along the way. Based in marketplace one day who tells him that his part on tales from the Brothers Grimm and sister, who is presumed dead, is in fact alive, Hans Christian Andersen. he embarks on a remarkable series of adventures in an attempt to find her. Turtle In Paradise Holm, Jennifer L. RL 3.7, 188p The Miraculous Journey of Edward In 1935, when her mother gets a job Tulane housekeeping for a woman who does not like DiCamillo, Kate. RL 4.8, 198p children, eleven-year old Turtle is sent to stay Edward Tulane, a cold-hearted and proud toy with relatives she has never met in faraway rabbit, loves only himself until he is separated Key West, Florida. from the little girl who adores him and travels Fiction Chapter Books continued Where The Mountain Meets The Moon Lin, Grace. RL 5.5, 278p RL = Approximate reading level Minli, an adventurous girl from a poor village, buys a magical goldfish, and then joins a Guinea Dog* dragon who cannot fly on a quest to find the Old Man of the Moon in hopes of bringing life Jennings, Patrick. RL 3.7, 200p to Fruitless Mountain and freshness to Jade When his mother brings home a guinea pig River. instead of the dog he has always wanted, fifth- grader Rufus is not happy until the rodent starts acting exactly like a dog. The Sixty-Eight Rooms* Malone, Marianne. RL 5.6, 272p Emmy and The Incredible An adventure about the Thorne Rooms, sixty- eight miniature rooms made by Mrs. James Shrinking Rat Ward Thorne in the 1930s, and a magic key Jonell, Lynne. RL 4.7, 346p that allows a person to shrink down small When Emmy disc overs that she enough to explore the rooms’ secrets. and her formerly loving parents are being drugged their evil nanny with rodent potions that can change people in Ten Ways To Make My Sister frightening ways, she and some new friends Disappear must try everything possible to return things to Mazer, Norma Fox. RL 3.7, 148p normal. Sprig no longer gets along with her older sister, Dakota, but they pull together during their The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate father’s extended business trip to Afghanistan, sharing concerns about his safety, an elderly Kelly, Jacqueline. RL 5.3, 340p neighbor’s health, fights with their best friends, In central Texas in 1899, eleven-year-old Callie and boys. Vee Tate is instructed to be a lady by her other, learns about love from the older three of her six brothers, and studies the natural world Who Cut The Cheese?* with her grandfather, the latter of which leads Nesbo, Jo. RL 4.9, 458p to an important discovery. New adventures await Doctor Proctor, Lisa, and Nilly as they try Dying To Meet You* to protect Oslo, Norway, from invading aliens, enormous snakes Klise, Kate. RL 4.4, 147p in the sewers, seven-legged Peruvian sucking In this story told mostly through letters, spiders, and sinister waffle irons. children’s book author, I. B. Grumply, gets more than he bargained for when he rents a quiet place to write for the summer. The Spindlers Oliver, Lauren. RL 3.9, 246p Scumble Accompanied by an eccentric, human-sized rat, Liza embarks on a perilous quest through Law, Ingrid. RL 5.3, 400p an underground realm to save her brother Mibs’s cousin Ledge is disappointed to Patrick, whose soul has been stolen by the discover that his “savvy” by the magical power evilest of creature--the spider-like spindlers. unique to each member of their family is to make things fall apart, which endangers his uncle Autry’s ranch and reveals the family secret to future reporter Sarah.

Fiction Chapter Books continued backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery. RL = Approximate reading level “Who Could That Be At This Lawn Boy Hour?” Paulsen, Gary. RL 4.3, 88p Snicket, Lemony. RL 5.6, 258p Things get out of hand for a twelve-year-old Thirteen-year-old Lemony Snicket boy when a neighbor convinces him to expand begins his apprenticeship with S. his summer lawn mowing business. Theodora Markson of the secretive V.F.D. in the tiny dot of a town called Stain’d by Summer of The Gypsy Moths The Sea, where he helps investigate the theft of a statue. Pennypacker, Sara. RL 4.8, 275p A foster child named Angel and twelve-year-old Stella, who are living with Stella’s great-aunt The Secret Tree Louise on Cape Cod, secretly assume Standiford, Natalie. RL 4.4, 245p responsibility for the vacation rentals when Minty and her friend, Raymond, discover a tree Louise unexpectedly dies. with a hollow trunk that holds the secrets of the people in their neighborhood. They begin to watch their neighbors, to solve the mysteries of Cold Cereal the secrets and to undo a curse. Rex, Adam. RL 5, 421p A boy who may be part , twins involved in a When You Reach Me bizarre secret experiment, and a Stead, Rebecca. RL 4.6, 199p in a red tracksuit try to As her mother prepares to be a contestant on save the world from an evil cereal company the 1980s television game show, “The $20,000 whose ultimate goal is world domination. Pyramid,” a twelve-year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from an anonymous source that The Night Fairy seems to defy the laws of time and space. Schlitz, Laura Amy. RL 4.7, 117p Also available in Teen section: Teen Stead When Flory the night fairy’s wings are accidentally broken and she cannot fly, she has to learn to do everything differently. The Emerald Atlas Stephens, John. RL 4.9, 417p Kate, Michael, and Emma have passed from Splendors and Glooms one orphanage to another in the ten years Schlitz, Laura Amy. RL 5.1, 384p since their parents disappeared to protect When Clara vanishes after the puppeteer them, but now they learn that they have special Grisini and two orphaned assistants were at powers and a fearsome enemy and embark on her twelfth birthday party, suspicion of a prophesied quest to find a magical book. kidnapping chases the trio away from London and soon the two orphans are caught in a trap set by Grisini’s ancient rival. Three Times Lucky* Call Number: Teen Schlitz Turnage, Sheila. RL 3.9, 312p Washed ashore as a baby in tiny Tupelo Landing, North Carolina, Mo LoBeau, now Invention of Hugo Cabret eleven, and her best friend Dale turn detective Selznick, when the amnesiac Colonel, owner of a cafe A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a and co-parent of Mo with his cook, Miss Lana, stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden seems implicated in a murder. message from Hugo's dead father form the Fiction Chapter Books continued Freddy the Hamster Reiche, Dietlof Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally) Yee, Lisa. RL 4.1, 170p Bobby inadvertently gets into a fight with his best friend Holly, and their disagreement develops into a boys versus girls war involving Percy Jackson and the Olympians their whole fourth grade class. Riordan, Rick

Young Fredle Wayside School Voigt, Cynthia. RL 4.7, 227p Sachar, Louis Fredle, a young mouse cast out of his home, faces dangers and predators outside, makes Time Warp Trio some important discoveries and allies, and Scieszka, Jon learns the meaning of freedom as he struggles to return home. 39 Clues Various authors The Thing About Georgie Call Number: Kids Fiction Thirty Graff, Lisa. RL 4.3, 220p Georgie’s dwarfism causes Boxcar Children problems, but he could always rely Warner, Gertrude Chandler on his parents and his best friend, Jeanie the Meanie, until a Hank Zipzer surprising announcement, a new boy in school, Winkler, Henry and a class project shake things up.

Series Books RL = Approximate reading level Animorphs Applegate, Katherine Graphic Novels

Find these books in the Graphic Novels Matt Christopher sports series section. The call numbers are typically: J Graphic [Title] or Kids Graphic [Title]. Artemis Fowl Colfer, Eoin Around The World: Three

Baseball Card adventure series Remarkable Journeys Phelan, Matt. RL 5, 235p Gutman, Dan Challenged with circling the world

at the end of the nineteenth Bunnicula century, three very different adventurers -- avid Howe, Deborah and James bicyclist Thomas Stevens, fearless reporter Nellie Bly, and retired sea captain Joshua Anastasia Krupnick or All about Sam Slocum -- embark on epic journeys. Lowry, Lois Call Number: Kids Graphic Around

Charlie Bone (Children of the Red King series) Nimmo, Jenny Graphic Novels continued American Tall Tales Bigfoot Boy 1, Into The Woods Osborne, Mary Pope. RL 5.5, 115p Torres, J. RL 2, 100p A collection of tall tales about such American Rufus is visiting his Grammy and he folk heroes as Sally Ann Thunder Ann encounters a totem in the adjacent woods that Whirlwind, Pecos Bill, John Henry, and Paul turns him into a Bigfoot and he becomes the Bunyan. enemy of a wolf pack that wants the totem. Call Number: Kids 398.20973 Osborne Call Number: Kids Graphic Bigfoot Marley: A Dog Like No Other Giants Beware! Grogan, John. RL 4.8, 196p Aguirre, Jorge. RL 2.7, 202p A special adaptation of the author’s book Claudette wants nothing more “Marley & Me” for young readers, in which he than to slay a giant but her little shares the story of his golden retriever Marley, village is too safe and quiet. and tells of the love his family has for the dog. Call Number: Kids Graphic Giants Call Number: J 636.7527 Grogan

Knights of The Lunch Table Henry Aaron’s Dream Cammuso, Frank Tavares, Matt. RL 4.8, 40p Artie King just wants to ease into life at Chronicles the childhood of Henry Aaron, Camelot Middle School. He’s got new lunch describing his dream of becoming a major buddies and his science teacher, Mr. Merlyn, is league baseball player. pretty cool. But then there’s scary Principal Call Number: Kids 796.357 Aaron Dagger and big bad Joe and The Horde, a bunch of brawny bullies who rule the school. Brothers At Bat: The True Story of An Call Number: Kids Graphic Knights Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team Vernick, Audrey. RL 3.6, 39p RL = Approximate reading level Shares the story of the Acerras and their sixteen children, who had enough members to fill every position on a baseball team. Information Books Call Number: Kids 796.357 Vernick Find these books in the Non-Fiction section. Nonfiction call numbers are: J [###] [Author’s Last Name] or Kids [###] [Author’s Last Name]. A Foot In The Mouth: Poems To Speak, Sing, and Shout Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Janeczko, Paul. RL 4, 61p Collects over three dozen illustrated rhyming Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes poems, with tongue twisters and bilingual & Monsters pieces, drawn from contemporary and classic Napoli, Donna Jo. RL 5.3, 191p literary sources and anonymous authors. Presents illustrated retellings of classic Greek Call Number: Kids Poetry Collection Foot myths, sharing the stories of Zeus, Aphrodite, Apollo, Athena, Helen of Troy, Perseus, and Jazz Medusa, with sidebars for each god, goddess, Myers, Walter Dean. RL 4.4, 48p hero, and monster that link the tales to A collection of illustrated poems that celebrate constellations, history, geography, and culture, the roots and various styles of jazz music, such and including profiles, a family tree, and other as ragtime, bebop, and swing. resources. Call Number: Kids Poetry Myers Call Number: Kids 292.13 Napoli Information Books continued life and helped the country cope with the Civil War. A Pizza The Size of The Sun: Poems Call Number: Kids Biography Lincoln Prelutsky, Jack. RL 5.5, 159p A collection of humorous poetry on a variety of Abe’s Honest Words: The Life Of topics. Abraham Lincoln Call Number: Kids Poetry Prelutsky Rappaport, Doreen. RL 4.5, 44p An illustrated biography of Abraham Lincoln, Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible the sixteenth president of the United States Verse and the man responsible for seeing the country Singer, Marilyn. RL 4.1, 32p through the Civil War. A collection of short poems which, when Call Number: Kids Biography Lincoln reversed, provide new perspectives on the characters they feature. RL = Approximate reading level Call Number: Kids Poetry Singer

The Story Of The Statue Of Liberty Picture Books Maestro, Betsy. RL 4.6, 39p Find these books in the Picture Books section. Describes the creation of the huge statue given Call numbers are typically: J E [Author’s Last France to the United States and its erection in Name] or Picture Book [Author’s Last Name]. New York Harbor as a symbol of liberty. Call Number: Kids 974.71 Maestro Ten Rules You Absolutely Must Not Break If You Want To Survive The Biographies School Bus Find these books in the Biography section. Grandits, John. RL 3.2, 32p Biography call numbers are: Kids Biography Before Kyle rides a school bus for the first time, [Subject’s Last Name]. his older brother gives him a list of rules he must follow but after breaking every single one the first day, Kyle discovers the rule his brother Henry Knox: Bookseller, Soldier, left out. Patriot Silvey, Anita. RL 4.1, 40p Each Kindness Illustrations and text describe bookseller Henry Woodson, Jacqueline. RL 2.8, 32p Knox’s experiences during the American When Ms. Albert teaches a lesson on Revolution, detailing his plan to bring heavy kindness, Chloe realizes that she and her artillery from Boston to aid Fort Ticonderoga friends have been wrong in making fun of new and its success. student Maya’s shabby clothes and refusing to Call Number: Kids Biography Knox play with her.

Lincoln Tells A Joke: How Laughter Find a version of this list that links directly to Saved The President (And The the library catalog at: Country) Krull, Kathleen. RL 4.5, 32p wilmlibrary.org/kids/summer-reading/wps-2014 Explores what made Abraham Lincoln’s sense of humor so distinctive and how his ability to find humor in even the most-dire circumstances helped him survive his difficult