GRADE 3 SUMMER READING LIST
Summer 2006

Grade 3 Summer Reading

Weslandia by Paul Fleischman Published 1999 by Candlewick Press (MA) Hardcover, English. Find this book in our catalog Jacket Notes: School is over and Wesley needs a summer project. Having learned that every civilization has a staple food crop, he decides to plant a garden and start his own--civilization, that is. It doesn't take long for his neighbors and classmates to develop more than an idle curiosity in just how Wesley is spending his summer vacation. Full color.

My Season with Penguins: An Antarctic Journal by Sophie Webb Published 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company Hardcover, English. Find this book in our catalog Jacket Notes: Webb gives readers a vivid, frank, firsthand account of what it is like to spend a season in a land not yet affected by people yet populated for centuries by true dwellers of the Antarctic: the fearless, round-bellied, pink-footed, gliding, diving, utterly adept Adelie penguins.

Wanted...Mud Blossom by Betsy Cromer Byars Published 1993 by Yearling Books Paperback, English. Find this book in our catalog Jacket Notes: The Blossom family has an especially eventful weekend during which Junior Blossom loses the school hamster and Pap's dog Mud is put on trial for the hamster's murder! An ALA Notable Children's Book, A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, Edgar Allan Poe Mystery Writers Award, A Child Study Children's Book Committee: Children's Book of the Year, A Junior Literary Guild Selection.

The Field Guide by Tony DiTerlizzi Published 2003 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Hardcover, English. Find this book in our catalog Jacket Notes: After moving to a creepy old mansion, the Grace kids come to believe that an old book with hand-drawn pictures holds the key to all the weird things that have been going on. Illustrations.

Freddy the Cowboy by Walter R. Brooks Published 2002 by Overlook Press Hardcover, English. Find this book in our catalog Jacket Notes: Freddy the pig heads to a dude ranch and buys a pony, learns to ride, and winds up in a tussle with the rascaliest varmint there is. When Freddy learns the owner of the dude ranch is plotting to rob the bank where all of the animals keep their valuables, he aims to stop him with the help of some of his friends. Illustrations.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo Published 2006 by Candlewick Press (MA) Hardcover, English. Find this book in our catalog Jacket Notes: The Newbery Medal-winning author of "The Tale of Despereaux" returns with this story about a toy china rabbit named Edward Tulane. When he becomes lost, Edward takes an extraordinary journey and shows readers a true miracle. Illustrations.

Time Stops for No Mouse: A Hermux Tantamoq Adventure by Michael Hoeye Published 2002 by Putnam Publishing Group Hardcover, English. Find this book in our catalog Jacket Notes: This finalist for the Book Sense Book of the Year Award chronicles the story of a watch-repair mouse who finds himself in the middle of intrigue and adventure.

Homer Price by Robert McCloskey Published 1943 by Viking Books Hardcover, English. Find this book in our catalog Jacket Notes: Six episodes in the life of Homer Price including one in which he and his pet skunk capture four bandits and another about a donut machine on the rampage.

Firework-Maker's Daughter by Philip Pullman Published 1999 by Arthur A. Levine Books Hardcover, English. Find this book in our catalog Jacket Notes: REVIEW: Publisher's Weekly 10/04/1999 This comical adventure about a girl who longs to follow in her father's footsteps crackles with Pullman's (The Golden Compass; Clockwork) usual flair. Lila desperately wants to be a firework-maker like her widower father. Although he has raised her amid the dancing sparks, he wants her to have a husband rather than a vocation. With the help of her entrepreneurial friend Chulak, the personal servant to the king's talking white elephant, Lila tricks her father into revealing the secret to his profession, then bravely departs to retrieve the royal sulphur from Razvani the Fire-Fiend at the heart of a volcano.

I, Freddy by Dietlof Reiche Published 2003 by Scholastic Press Hardcover, English. Find this book in our catalog Jacket Notes: Freddy is a golden hamster of the highest order. As part of a superior breed, he'd sooner go into Eternal Hibernation than waste his life in a pet shop. With the the conviction of the brilliant, he sets out on a daring quest for freedom, literacy, and a more dignified existence. Illustrations.

Akiko: The Training Master by Mark Crilley Published 2005 by Delacorte Press Hardcover, English. Find this book in our catalog Jacket Notes: When Akiko's Smoovian friends, Poog, Mr. Beeba, Gax, and Spuckler Boach, swing by to pick her up in an astroshuttle, she's feeling bored with her "normal" life and more than ready to go--anywhere. What she doesn't know is that King Froptoppit has enrolled them all in the Intergalactic Space Patrollers Training Camp on Zarga Baffa. Every planet in the universe relies on patrollers for protection, but no one from Smoo has ever graduated. Akiko and her crew are the planet's last hope.

Enemy Spy by Wendelin Van Draanen Published 2005 by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers Hardcover, English. Find this book in our catalog Jacket Notes:   Shredderman.com just made the national news! Everyone is talking about the new cyber-superhero. Oh yeah! But now people are dying to know who is behind Shredderman.com. Reporters are snooping all over Cedar Valley! Oh no! Nolan's parents and even his sidekick, Mr. Green, think he should lay low for a while. But being Shredderman is the best thing that's ever happened to Nolan. It's so much better than being Byrd-the-Nerd. Plus, Nolan's just stumbled across what might be a real spy-ring! How can Shredderman not try to fight it?

Ballpark: The Story of America's Baseball Fields by Lynn Curlee Published 2005 by Atheneum Books Hardcover, English. Find this book in our catalog Jacket Notes: From Sibert Award honoree Lynn Curlee comes a full-color illustrated exploration of where our national pastime is played. "Curlee's illustrations communicate not just information, but also excitement and sentiment."--"The New York Times Book Review."

True Lies by George Shannon Published 1997 by Greenwillow Books Hardcover, English. Find this book in our catalog   06/01/1997 REVIEW: School Library Journal Gr 2-4--These 18 stories tell "true lies" and encourage readers to seek the truth behind what seems to be fallacy. For example, in "The Donkey and the Carrots," a donkey tied to an eight-foot rope manages to devour carrots from a cart 30 feet away. How? Sources for the tales are cited and range from the folk literature of Nigeria, Finland, the Jews of Kurdistan, to the reigns of British kings. Youngsters will relish these challenges, and teachers will appreciate their value for developing critical skills. Those who like these selections will also enjoy Shannon's Still More Stories to Solve (Greenwillow, 1994) and its predecessors. Black-and-white cartoons add energy to the tellings, and each tale is interpreted by partial page or border art. For the most part, the art and text are well integrated, but in a few cases the intensity of the art is distracting. With True Lies, Shannon adds another thoughtfully selected and well-written folkloric-puzzle book to his body of work.--Carolyn Noah, Central Mass. Regional Library System, Worcester, MA

Shipwrecked!: The True Adventures of a Japanese Boy by Rhoda Blumberg Published 2001 by HarperCollins Publishers Library Binding, English. Find this book in our catalog Jacket Notes: In the 1800s, the Japanese government had strict isolation laws. By decree, foreigners and ideas from outside Japan were forbidden. So when fourteen-year-old Manjiro and four other fishermen were shipwrecked on a small rocky island three hundred miles from shore, they wondered if they would ever be allowed to return home!

The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margaret and H.A. Rey by Louise Borden Published 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company Hardcover, English. Find this book in our catalog Jacket Notes: Follow Hans and Margret Rey's amazing story of fleeing their Paris home in 1940 as the German army advanced in this book that resembles a travel journal and includes original photos, reproduced ticket stubs, and more. Full color.