Entering 3rd:

PLUS,
Read for
20 minutes
a day. 

OR

Janitor's Boy
by Andrew Clements

OR

Gooseberry Park
by Cynthia Rylant

PLUS,
Read for
30 minutes
a day.

Directions for Flush pizza project:

1.  Obtain a medium-sized unused pizza box.
2. Cut a construction paper circle that will fit inside your box.
3. Use a ruler to draw lines on your circle to make 6 equal sections--just as a pizza would be cut.
4. Write about and colorfully illustrate 6 scenes from the book--one on each "slice" and glue the "pizza" inside the box.
5. On a second piece of construction paper, illustrate and color any scene from the book. Include the author's name and the title of the book. Write clearly and neatly. After you finish your drawing, glue it to the top of the pizza box, preferably covering the restaurant's name.
6. Bring your "pizza-rific" project to school on the first day or to Open House. Your 5th grade teachers will be all smiles when you "deliver" your book project. They can't wait to dig in!

Everybody Was A Baby Once and Other Poems
Allan Ahlberg

The Emperor Lays
An Egg
Brenda Guiberson

Calvin Coconut: Dog Heaven
Graham Salisbury

When his teacher asks him to write a persuasive argument about something
he really wants, fourth-grader Calvin creates a unique way to express his desire for a dog.

Over My Dead Body:
43 Old Cemetery Road, Book 2
Kate Klise

In this story told mostly through letters, busybody Dick Tater tries to ban Halloween and ghost stories, as well as to break up the popular writing team of I. B. Grumply, ghost Olive C. Spence, and eleven-year-old illustrator Seymour Hope.

Odd and the Frost Giants
Neil Gaiman

An unlucky twelve-year-old Norwegian boy named Odd leads the Norse gods Loki, Thor, and Odin in an attempt to outwit evil Frost Giants who have taken over Asgard.

The Very Little Princess
Marion Dane Bauer

When she goes to her grandmother's house for the first time, Zoey finds a tiny china doll that comes alive in her hands and believes that she is a princess and that Zoey is her servant.

Oggie Cooder, Party Animal!
Sarah Weeks

Neither a long list of rules, nor the inability to find the perfect gift--Cheddar Jam--nor being locked in a bathroom with a juggling bear will keep quirky fourth-grader Oggie Cooder from attending neighbor Donnica Perfecto's birthday pool party.

The Flight of the Phoenix:
Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist
R. L. LaFevers

In 1928, when timid ten-year-old Nate learns that his parents have been lost at sea, he joins his father's cousin on a flight to Arabia where they must oversee the death and rebirth of the phoenix, thus beginning his training as a "beastologist.

The Unfinished Angel
Sharon Creech

In the ancient stone tower of the Casa Rosa, in a tiny village high in the Swiss Alps, life for one angel has been the same, well, for as long as she (or he?) can remember. Until Zola arrives, a determined American girl who wears three skirts all at once. For neighbors who have been longtime enemies, children who have been lost, and villagers who have been sleepily living their lives: hold on. Zola and the angel are about to collide.

The Dream Stealer
Sid Fleischman

There is a bandit who comes in the night. He does not want pretty silver earrings or dangly gold necklaces, not diamonds or rubies. What does he want? Listen, I will tell you. He wants dreams. He is supposed to take only nightmares--the dreams of monsters and phantoms--but he's grown scared. He's been taking the good dreams instead. But one night he steals from the wrong girl. Susana is clever. She is wily. She is brave. And she wants her dream back!

Any Which Wall
Laurel Snyder

In the middle of an Iowa cornfield, four children find a magic wall that enables them to travel through time and space.

The Cats of Roxville Station
Jean Craighead George

Thrown into a river by a cruel human, a young tiger-striped cat fights to survive amid feral cats and other creatures near Roxville train station, aided by Mike, an eleven-year-old foster boy who is not allowed to have a pet.

Masterpiece
Elise Broach

After Marvin, a beetle, makes a miniature drawing as an eleventh birthday gift for James, a human with whom he shares a house, the two new friends work together to help recover a Durer drawing stolen from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Buffalo Music
Tracey E. Fern

After hunters kill off the buffalo around her Texas ranch, a woman begins raising orphan buffalo calves and eventually ships four members of her small herd to Yellowstone National Park, where they form the beginnings of newly thriving buffalo herds. Based on the true story of Mary Ann Goodnight and her husband Charles.

What to Do About Alice:
How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World,
and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy!
Barbara Kerley

A brief biography in pictures and simple text of Alice Roosevelt, the spirited daughter of Theodore Roosevelt and his first wife.

My Dog, My Hero
Betsy Byars

A panel of three judges has to decide which dog out of eight finalists deserves to win the title of My Hero.

Love That Dog
Sharon Creech

A young student, who comes to love poetry through a personal understanding of what different famous poems mean to him, surprises himself by writing his own inspired poem.

Bunnicula Meets Edgar Allan Crow
James Howe

An overly alarmed Chester the cat predicts a gruesome fate for the pets in the Monroe household when a writer of juvenile horror fiction and his bird companion stay overnight.

Martin Bridge Onwards and Upwards
Jessica Scott Kerrin

Martin's summer is off to an unharmonious start when his best friends Alex and Stuart are grounded for accidentally damaging Polar Pete's ice-cream truck and to complicate matters Laila Moffat joins the Junior Badgers, much to Martin's chagrin.

Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything
Lenore Look

After Ruby Lu's deaf cousin, Flying Duck, and her parents come from China to live with her, Ruby finds life challenging as she adjusts to her new family, tries to mend her rocky relationship with her friend Emma, and faces various adventures in summer school.

Gooney the Fabulous
Lois Lowry

Gooney Bird Greene takes charge of a class project as she and her fellow students in Mrs. Pidgeon's second grade class learn about fables by each making up their own based on an animal that begins with the same letter as their first name.

Clementine's Letter
Sara Pennypacker

Clementine's beloved teacher, Mr. D'Matz might be leaving for the rest of the year to go on a research trip to Egypt. The only solution, she decides, is to hatch a plan to get Mr. D'Matz back even if itmeans ruining his once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Sideways Stories From Wayside School
Louis Sachar

Humorous episodes from the classroom on the thirtieth floor of Wayside School, which was accidentally built sideways with one classroom on each story.

Meet the Gecko
Wendy Van Draanen

Nolan Byrd, alias Shredderman, sets out to help the young star of his favorite television show expose a slanderous reporter.

Jack Plank Tells Tales
Natalie Babbitt

Failing in his career as a pirate, Jack Plank comes ashore to seek other lines of work, each of which also proves unsuitable, but at least he's able to entertain his boardinghouse companions with his occupational exploits.

Poppy
Avi

Poppy the deer mouse urges her family to move next to a field of corn big enough to feed them all forever, but Mr. Ocax, a terrifying owl, has other ideas.

Frindle
Andrew Clements

When he decides to turn his fifth grade teacher's love of the dictionary around on her, clever Nick Allen invents a new word and begins a chain of events that quickly moves beyond his control.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Kate DiCamillo

Edward Tulane, a cold-hearted and proud toy rabbit, loves only himself until he is separated from the little girl who adores him and travels across the country, acquiring new owners and listening to their hopes, dreams, and histories.

Half Magic
Edward Eager

Four children looking forward to an ordinary summer enjoy a series of fantastic adventures by double-wishing on an ancient coin.

Satch and Me
Dan Gutman

With his ability to travel through time using vintage baseball cards, Joe takes Flip with him to find out whether Satchel Paige really was the fastest pitcher ever.

The Year of Miss Agnes
Hill Kirkpatrick

Ten-year-old Fred (short for Frederika) narrates the story of school and village life among the Athapascans in Alaska during 1948 when Miss Agnes arrived as the new teacher.

Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat
Lynne Jonell

When Emmy discovers that she and her formerly loving parents are being drugged by their evil nanny with rodent potions that can change people in frightening ways, she and some new friends must try everything possible to return things to normal.

Rowan of Rin
Emily Rodda

Because only he can read the magical map, young, weak, and timid Rowan joins six other villagers to climb a mountain and try to restore their water supply, as fears of a dragon and other horrors threaten to drive them back.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret:
A Novel in Words and Pictures
Brian Selznick

When twelve-year-old Hugo, an orphan living and repairing clocks within the walls of a Paris train station in 1931, meets a mysterious toyseller and his goddaughter, his undercover life and his biggest secret are jeopardized.

Castle in the Attic
Elizabeth Winthrop

A gift of a toy castle, complete with silver knight, introduces William to an adventure involving magic and a personal quest.

How to Build Your Own Country
Valerie Wyatt

This book teaches readers the basics of building a nation and highlights events
that have shaped countries throughout history.

Just the Right Size:
Why Big Animals are Big and Little Animals are Little
Nicola Davies

This book uses cartoon-style art and geometry to explain the relationship
between an animal's size and its abilities.

Nic Bishop's Spiders
Nic Bishop

Photographs and text provide basic information about various kinds of spiders.

Odd Boy Out:
Young Albert Einstein

An introduction to the work and early life of the twentieth-century physicist
whose theory of relativity revolutionized scientific thinking.

Great Estimations
Bruce Goldstone

Learn to train your eyes and your mind to help you estimate number of objects in a group.

Quest for the Tree Kangaroo:
an Expedition to the Cloud Forest of New Guinea
Sy Montgomery

Follow a group of explorers and scientists as they travel to Papua New Guinea to find
a type of kangaroo that lives in trees.

Dinosaur Mountain:
Digging into the Jurassic Age
Deborah Kogan Ray

This is the story of Earl Douglass and his discovery of the first almost complete skeleton of an Apatosaurus, one of the largest dinosaurs ever to roam Earth.

Speaking of Art:
Colorful Quotes by Famous Painters
Bob Raczka, ed.

Art lover Bob Raczka pairs thought-provoking (and sometimes funny) quotes by famous painters with colorful examples of their best work. From Edgar Degas' The Rehearsal (1878-79) to Georgia O'Keeffe's Evening Star, No. III (1917) to Romare Bearden's Family (1986), you'll discover the works--and the wisdom--of eighteen artistic masters.

Winter's Tail:
How One Little Dolphin Learned to Swim Again
Juliana Hatkoff

Describes the rescue and rehabilitation of a young Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, named Winter, who received an artificial tail after being badly injured when caught in a crab trap.

Killer Ants
Nicholas Nirgiotis

Extraordinary facts abound in this mesmerizing picture book about the fearsome appearances, habitats, and hunting skills of killer ants.

If America Were a Village
Donald J. Smith

This book uses a simple metaphor to create a snapshot--past, present and future--to help readers imagine America as a village of 100 people, exploring their lives to help children and readers of all ages to discover a whole new vision of America.

Life in the Boreal Forest
Brenda Z. Guiberson

The boreal forest is buried in ice and snow during winter. But in summer lakes teem with fish, and bogs swarm with insects. Follow a snowshoe hare, beavers, a lynx, and other animals as they survive a year in this endangered landscape.

Your Body Battles a Broken Bone
Vicky Cobb

This book provides comic illustrations and photomicrographs that describe how the body heals a broken bone.

The Vermeer Interviews:
Conversations With Seven Works of Art
As Imagined by Bob Raczka
Bob Raczka

In this look at seven paintings by Jan Vermeer, author Bob Raczka takes on the role of interviewer and the people in the paintings become his willing subjects.

Fun With Roman Numerals
David A. Adler

Introduces the seven symbols and their values, shows how to add and subtract to make numbers. Teaches how the symbols interact and about the bar across the top and the open box that are used for larger numbers. Shows Roman numerals in real life settings: on clocks, in books, and on buildings.

Sabertooth
Patrick O'Brien

With only ancient bones--and massive teeth--to guide them, scientists are learning amazing facts about these enormous prehistoric cats.

Duel: Burr and Hamilton's Deadly War of Words
Dennis Brindell

In the early morning hours of July 11, 1804, two men stood facing each other on a New Jersey cliff side. One was the U.S. vice president, Aaron Burr, and the other was Alexander Hamilton, the secretary of the treasury. They were ready to fight to the death for honor.

A Man for All Seasons:
The Life of George Washington Carver
Stephen Krensky

Profiles the African American scientist George Washington Carver, who not only put the peanut on the map, but was also one of the first advocates of recycling.

Stand Tall, Abe Lincoln
Judith St. George

Growing up poor in the backwoods of Kentucky and Indiana, Abraham Lincoln lost his mother before he was ten. But Sally Johnston, who married Abe's father a year later, brought a library of books to their log cabin home and turned young Abe's life around. 

Wild Girl
Patricia Reilly Giff

When twelve-year-old Lidie leaves Brazil to join her father and brother on a horse ranch in New York, she has a hard time adjusting to her changed circumstances, as does a new horse that has come to the ranch.

When You Reach Me
Rebecca Stead

As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980s television game show, "The $20,000 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 seems to defy the laws of time and space.
2010 Newberry Winner

Extra Credit
Andrew Clements

The "New York Times"-bestselling author of "Frindle" pens a novel about a young girl in the sixth grade who corresponds with children in Afghanistan, and the discoveries they make about their communities and themselves.

Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of the Tree
Lauren Tarshis

A quirky and utterly logical seventh-grade girl named Emma-Jean Lazarus discovers some interesting results when she gets involved in the messy everyday problems of her peers.

Peace, Locomotion
Jacqueline Woodson

Through letters to his little sister, who is living in a different foster home, sixth-grader Lonnie, also known as "Locomotion," keeps a record of their lives while they are apart, describing his own foster family, including his foster brother who returns home after losing a leg in the Iraq War.

Bird
Rita Murphy

Miranda, a small, delicate girl easily carried off by the wind, lands at Bourne Manor on the coast of Lake Champlain and is raised by the dour Wysteria Barrows, but she begins to believe rumors that the Manor is cursed and, aided by a new friend and kites secreted in an attic, seeks to escape.

Lost and Found
Andrew Clements

Twelve-year-old identical twins Jay and Ray have long resented that everyone treats them as one person, and so they hatch a plot to take advantage of a clerical error at their new school and pretend they are just one.

The Dragon's Child:
A Story of Angel Island
Laurence Yep

Dando, a young dragon who cannot fly, is captured by dangerous humans, but a kind slave-girl, an orphaned bird, and the melancholy son of the dragon's captors help him escape his imprisonment and learn to fly.

The Willoughbys
Lois Lowry

In this tongue-in-cheek take on classic themes in children's literature, the four Willoughby children set about to become "deserving orphans" after their neglectful parents embark on a treacherous around-the-world adventure, leaving them in the care of an odious nanny.

The Buddha's Diamonds
Carolyn Marsden

As a storm sweeps in, Tinh's father tells him to tie up their fishing boat but the storm scares him and he runs away, but when the damage to the boat is discovered, Tinh realizes what he must do.

Shooting the Moon
Frances O'Roark Dowell

When her brother is sent to fight in Vietnam, twelve-year-old Jamie begins to reconsider the army world that she has grown up in.

Adam Canfield, Watch Your Back
Michael Winerip

A much-welcomed snow day turns into an embarrassing nightmare for middle-grader Adam Canfield when, after being mugged by high school bullies for his snow-shoveling money, he becomes the focus of major media attention just as his co-editors at The Slash are launching a contest to out bullies at their school.

The Underneath
Kathi Appelt

An old hound that's been chained up at his hateful owner's run-down shack, and two kittens born underneath the house, endure separation, danger, and many other tribulations in their quest to be reunited and free.

Masterpiece
Elise Broach

After Marvin, a beetle, makes a miniature drawing as an eleventh birthday gift for James, a human with whom he shares a house, the two new friends work together to help recover a Durer drawing stolen from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Keeper of the Doves
Betsy Byars

In the late 1800s in Kentucky, Amie McBee and her four sisters both fear and torment the reclusive and seemingly sinister Mr. Tominski, but their father continues to provide for his needs.

The London Eye Mystery
Siobhan Dowd

When Ted and Kat's cousin Salim disappears from the London Eye ferris wheel, the two siblings must work together--Ted with his brain that is "wired differently" and impatient Kat--to try to solve the mystery of what happened to Salim.

The Graveyard Book
Neil Gaiman

The orphan Bod, short for Nobody, is taken in by the inhabitants of a graveyard as a child of eighteen months and raised lovingly and carefully to the age of eighteen years by the community of ghosts and otherworldly creatures.
2009 Newbery Winner

My One Hundred Adventures
Polly Horvath

Jane is 12 years old, and she is readyfor adventures, to move beyond the world of her siblings and single mother and their house by the sea, and step into the “know-not what.” And, over the summer, adventures do seem to find Jane.

Elijah of Buxton
Christopher Paul Curtis

Eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada--a haven for slaves fleeing the American South in 1859--uses his wits and skills to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family's freedom.

Worth
A. LeFaye

After breaking his leg, eleven-year-old Nate feels useless because he cannot work on the family farm in nineteenth-century Nebraska, so when his father brings home an orphan boy to help with the chores, Nate feels even worse.

Penny From Heaven
Jennifer L. Holm

As she turns twelve during the summer of 1953, Penny gains new insights into herself and her family while also learning a secret about her father's death.

Kira-Kira
Cynthia Kadohata

Chronicles the close friendship between two Japanese-American sisters growing up in rural Georgia during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the despair when one sister becomes terminally ill.

Rules
Cynthia Lord

Frustrated at life with an autistic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a normal existence but her world is further complicated by a friendship with a young paraplegic.

How to Steal a Dog
Barbara O'connor

Living in the family car in their small North Carolina town after their father leaves them virtually penniless, Georgina, desperate to improve their situation and unwilling to accept her overworked mother's calls for patience, persuades her younger brother to help her in an elaborate scheme to get money by stealing a dog and then claiming the reward that the owners are bound to offer.

Tadpole
Ruth White

In rural Kentucky in 1955, Serilda Collins, single mother of four lively girls, discovers that her orphaned nephew is being subjected to brutality.

The Dragonfly Pool
Eva Ibbotson

Tally and her friends at Dalderton Boarding School form a dance troupe and travel to Bergania, where she befriends Karil, the crown prince, and helps him flee the Nazis after his father is assassinated.

Redwall
Brian Jacques

When the peaceful life of ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes, Matthias, a young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall's inhabitants destroy the enemy.

The Mysterious Benedict Society
Paul Lee Stewart

After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for a secret mission that requires them to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.

The Thief
Megan Whalen Turner

After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for a secret mission that requires them to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.

The Sea of Trolls
Nancy Farmer

After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for a secret mission that requires them to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.

Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters,
and Other Wily Characters
Patricia C. McKissack

Side-splittingly funny, spine-chillingly spooky, this companion to a Newbery Honor-winning anthology is filled with bad characters who know exactly how to charm.

Frog Scientist
Pamela S. Turner

Tyrone Hayes works to discover the effects pesticides have on frogs and, in turn, us.

Our Farm: Four Seasons with Five Kids on One Family's Farm
Michael Rosen

A journal of one year on the Bennett farm in central Ohio. Shows how one family, with the help of relatives and friends, creates a life and livelihood on a 150-acre farm.

Wild Cats: Past and Present
John Becker

All kinds of wild cats from all over the world are explored, including their prehistoric connection to wild dogs to the present-day connection to the common house cat.

Christo and Jean-Claude:
Through the Gates and Beyond
Jan Greenberg

Covers the early life and career of Christo and Jeanne-Claude and then a focus on their 2005 installation in Central Park of over seven thousand saffron panels.

Our White House:
Looking in, Looking Out
National Children's Book and Literary Alliance

Conceived and co-created by the National Children's Book and Literary Alliance, this collection of essays, personal accounts, historical fiction, poetry, and originl art from more than 100 leading authors and illustrators offers a multifaceted look at America's history through the prism of the White House.

We Are the Ship:
The Story of Negro League Baseball
Kadir Nelson

The story of Negro League baseball is the story of gifted athletes and determined owners; of racial discrimination and international sportsmanship; of fortunes won and lost; of triumphs and defeats on and off the field. It is a perfect mirror for the social and political history of black America in the first half of the twentieth century.

When the Wolves Returned:
Restoring Nature's Balance in Yellowstone
Dorothy Hinshaw Papent

Discusses how the wolf, once returned to Yellowstone National Park, helped restore balance to the ecosystem by minimizing the predation of coyotes on smaller creatures, keeping the elk herd on the run, thereby helping more aspen and willow trees to grow, and influencing other previously misunderstood dynamics.

Ben Franklin's Almanac:
Being a True Account of the Good Gentleman's Life
Candace Fleming

This book brings together eighteenth century etchings, artifacts, and quotations to create the effect of a scrapbook of the life of Benjamin Franklin.

The Emperor's Silent Army
Jane O'Connor

Describes the archaeological discovery of thousands of life-sized terracotta warrior statues in northern China in 1974, and discusses the emperor who had them created and placed near his tomb.

This is Just to Say:
Poems of Apology and Forgiveness
Joyce Sidman

Mysterious Messages:
A History of Codes and Ciphers
Gary Blackwood

From the ingenious ciphers of Italian princes to the spy books of the Civil War to the advanced techniques of the CIA, codes and code breaking have played important roles throughout history.

Pharaoh's Boat
David Weitzman

This book describes the building of Egyptian pharaoh Cheops's funeral boat.

Extreme Scientists:
Exploring Nature's Mysteries from Perilous Places
Donna M. Jackson

Extreme scientists battle some of the Earth's most intense conditions, from hurricanes to caves to the crowns of towering redwoods, in order to save lives, preserve species, and help us to better understand the way our planet works.

The Time Book:
A Brief History from Lunar Calendars to Atomic Clocks
Martin Jenkins

This book explores what time means and how it has been measured, from the waggles of a honeybee to the workings of an atomic clock.

When I Grow Up:
A Young Person's Guide to Interesting and Unusual Occupations
Jessica Loy

Fourteen unusual careers are highlighted, with inspiring and intriguing facts behind the people and their vocations.

Name That Style:
All About Isms in Art
Bob Raczka 

When is a Planet Not a Planet:
The Story of Pluto
Elaine Scott

On August 24, 2006, a group of astronomers made a big announcement: Pluto could no longer be considered a planet. This book explains how advancements in technology have changed our understanding of the universe--and exactly how and why the number of planets in our solar system went from nine to eight.