Recommended Reading List - Independent Readers - Elementary

Independent readers should be provided a variety of books to choose from with some required reading and some reading choices left to the child (with guidance, of course). Reading is food for the mind. There should be a healthy diet of literature that is both challenging and fun. If your child reads only junk, they will not learn to develop a good vocabulary, critical thinking skills, and a healthy worldview. Reading classic poetry as well as classic books is highly recommended at this stage of reading development. If they only read what is easy and entertaining, they will never learn to appreciate good literature. It is up to you, as the parent, to provide a healthy balance.

I challenge every parent to read the books your children are reading. I read all of my children's books so we can discuss their content, world views, and characters as well as the character's choices throughout the book especially in light of the Word of God. Know what your children are reading!

Science

Recommended vendor: Answers in Genesis
Dinosaurs By Design Dr. Duane Gish - Hardcover
Dinosaurs of Eden by Ken Hamm - Hardcover
The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible by Paul S. Taylor - Hardcover
Life in the Great Ice Age by Michael & Beverly Oard - Hardcover
Wonders of Creation Series: Astronomy Book, Fossil Book, Geology Book, Ocean Book, Weather Book - Master Books - Excellent science books for elementary and middle school
Nature Reader - Alpha Omega Publications / Paperback

History

Recommended vendor: Greenleaf Press
Usborne books - variety of nonfiction that delight kids
The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia - Kingfisher
Childhood of Famous Americans Series - Simon & Schuster
Landmark Books - Flying Point Press
Newberry Medal Award Winners - great list on Greenleaf Press website
American Girls Collection
Carry on, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
Mummies Made in Egypt - Aliki
Tut's Mummy Lost and Found
Pyramid by David Macaulay
Ancient Greece Then and Now
The Hero Schliemann: The Dreamer Who Dug for Troy by Laura Amy Schlitz, Robert Byrd
Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad by Rosemary Sutcliff, Alan Lee
The Wanderings of Odysseus by Rosemary Sutcliff, Alan Lee
City by David Macaulay
Ancient Rome Then and Now
Augustus Caesar's World by Genevieve Foster
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
Outcast by Rosemary Sutcliff
The Eagle of the Ninth Rosemary Sutcliff
Between the Forest and the Hills by Anne Lawrence
A Medieval Feast by Aliki
Cathedral by David Macaulay
How Would You Survive in the Middle Ages? by Fiona MacDonald
The Magna Charta by James Daugherty
Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray and Robert Lawson
Anna of Byzantium by Tracy Barrett
Caedmon's Song by Ruth Ashby, Bill Slavin - Hardcover
Brendan the Navigator by Jean Fritz
Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture by Ross King
Da Vinci: Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists by Mike Venezia
Ink On His Fingers by Louise Vernon
Leonardo and the Flying Boy by Laurence Anholt
Good Queen Bess : The Story of Elizabeth I of England-Hardcover by Dianne Stanley
Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei by Peter Sis
Utopia br Sir Thomas More
Calico Captive by Elizabeth George Speare
Where was Partick Henry on the 29th of May? by Jean Fritz, Margot Tomes - Penguin Books
The Courage of Sarah Noble by
The Reb and the Redcoats by Constance Savery - Bethlehem Books
George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster
If You Lived at the Time of the American Revolution
If You Lived in Colonial Times
If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution
Miracle at Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention May - September 1787 by Catherine Drinker Bowen
Struggle for a Continent: The French and Indian Wars 1689-1763 by Betsy Maestro, Giulio Maestro
The Star Spangled Banner illustrated by Peter Spier ISBN: 0440406978
George Washington's Breakfast by Jean Fritz, Paul Galdone
Abraham Lincoln's World by Genevieve Foster
Sailing Home: A Story of a Childhood at Sea by Gloria Rand, Ted Rand
If You Lived with the Cherokees by Peter Roop
Hear That Train Whistle Blow!: How the Railroad Changed the World by Milton Meltzer
The Amazing Impossible Erie Canal by Cheryl Harness
The Story of the Statue of Liberty by Giulio Maestro, Betsy Maestro
The Great Ships by Patrick O'Brien

Easy Chapter Books

Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel
Owl At Home - Arnold Lobel
The Magic Schoolbus Chapter Books
Animal Rescuers: A Chapter Book (True Tales) by Rosanna Hansen
Talented Animals: A Chapter Book (True Tales) by Mary Packard
Little House Chapter books by Louisa May Alcott
Kids In Sports: A Chapter Book (True Tales: Sports) by Kirsten Hall
Caring Animals: A Chapter Book (True Tales) by Rosanna Hansen
The Secret of the Wooden Witness (Ready-for-Chapters) by George E. Stanley and Salvatore Murdocca
A Ballad of the Civil War (Trophy Chapter Book) by Mary Stolz and Sergio Martinez
Polar Adventures: A Chapter Book (True Tales) by Catherine Nichols
Ancient World: A Chapter Book (True Tales) by Katherine Gleason
Little Horse on His Own (Early Chapter Books (Henry Holt & Company)) by Betsy Byars and David McPhail

Fiction and Nonfiction

Magic Tree House books
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - all of her books
Chronicles of Narnia books by
The Boxcar Children Books (Paperback) by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Encyclopedia Brown Books (Paperback) by Donald J. Sobol
Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon
Nancy Drew by Nancy Keenon
Five in a Row book list
Sonlight book list