Summer Reading grades 3 and 4

List of 22 items.

• A Bad Case of the Stripes by David Shannon

  A Bad Case of the Stripes by David Shannon. Camilla Cream loves lima beans, but she never eats them. Why? Because the other kids in her school don’t like them. And Camilla Cream is very, very worried about what other people think. In fact, she’s so worried that she’s about to break out in a bad case of stripes.

• Babymouse: Queen of the World by Jennifer Holm and Matthew Holm

  Babymouse: Queen of the World by Jennifer
  Holm and Matthew Holm (or any book in the
  series)
  An imaginative mouse dreams of being queen of
  the world, but will settle for an invitation to the
  most popular girl's slumber party.

• Being Bee by Catherine Bateson

  Being Bee by Catherine Bateson
  Bee faces friction at home and at school when
  her widowed father begins seriously dating
  Jazzi, who seems to take over the house and
  their lives, but as shared secrets and common
  interests finally begin to draw them together,
  Jazzi accidentally makes a terrible mistake.

• Clementine by Sara Pennypacker

  Clementine by Sara Pennypacker (or any book
  in the series)
  While sorting through difficulties in her
  friendship with her neighbor Margaret, eightyear-
  old Clementine gains several unique
  hairstyles and also helps her father in his efforts
  to banish pigeons from the front of their
  apartment building.

• Face to Face with Frogs by Mark Moffett

  Face to Face with Frogs by Mark Moffett (or any other book in the “Face to Face” series). This series goes behind the scenes with the people who research and photograph wild animals to put the reader right in the action. Each title includes an experiment, glossary, and Facts at a Glance section.

• Frankly, Frannie: Here Comes the ... Trouble by AJ Stern

  Frankly, Frannie: Here Comes the ...
  Trouble by AJ Stern (or any Frankly, Frannie
  book in the series)
  Mayhem ensues when Frannie, thrilled to be the
  flower girl in the wedding of her best friend’s
  mother, discovers her latest calling--wedding
  planning.

• I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll

  I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll. One night, when Ethan checks under his bed for his monster, Gabe, he finds a note from him instead: “Gone fishing. Back in a week.” Ethan knows that without Gabe’s familiar nightly scares he doesn’t stand a chance of getting to sleep, so Ethan interviews potential substitutes to see if they’ve got the right equipment for the job—pointy teeth, sharp claws, and a long tail—but none of them proves scary enough for Ethan. When Gabe returns sooner than expected from his fishing trip, Ethan is thrilled. It turns out that Gabe didn't enjoy fishing because the fish scared too easily.

• Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg

  Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg (or any other book by Van Allsburg). Caldecott Honor. Left on their own for an afternoon, two bored and restless children find more excitement that they bargained for in a mysterious and mystical jungle
  adventure board game.

• Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford

  Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little
  by Peggy Gifford
  With summer coming to an end, about-to-befourth-
  grader Moxy Maxwell does a hundred
  different things to avoid reading her assigned
  summer reading book.

• Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary

  Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary (or any Ramona or Henry Huggins book).
  Ramona meets lots of interesting people in school, including Davy whom she keeps trying to kiss, and Susan whose springy curls seem to ask to be pulled.

• Secret Identity by Wendelin Van Draanen

  Secret Identity by Wendelin Van Draanen (or
  any other in the Shredderman series)
  Creating a secret identity for himself when he
  writes an exposition of a bully for the school
  newspaper, Nolan Byrd launches
  Shredderman.com, a place where truth and
  justice prevail—and bullies get what’s coming
  to them.

• Some Birthday! by Patricia Polacco

  Some Birthday! by Patricia Polacco (or any other book by this author). The entire family has forgotten Patricia’s birthday. And to make matters worse, Dad has proposed an evening trip to the Clay Pit at the edge of town— “one of the scariest places on earth.” Armed with campfire provisions and outfitted in rain gear and galoshes, Dad, Patricia, her brother Rich and cousin Billy embark on the eerie adventure. But when Dad walks off to investigate a mysterious rustling, the children are certain they've spotted the notorious Clay Pit Monster and run screaming all the way home. Belly laughs abound as Dad reveals the monster’s true identity, and then the real fun begins-a party for the birthday girl, complete with cake
  and presents.

• Spirit Animals Book 1: Wild Born by Brandon Mull

  Spirit Animals Book 1: Wild Born by
  Brandon Mull (or any other Spirit Animals
  book)
  As a dark force engulfs the land, the fate of
  Erdas has fallen on the shoulders of four young
  strangers who each have forged a rare bond with
  their spirit beasts--a bond that gives great
  powers to all of them.

• The 13-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths

  The 13-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths (or
  any book in the series)
  Follows the efforts of Andy and Terry to meet a
  latest book deadline despite numerous
  distractions in their sophisticated tree house
  home, including flying cats, giant bananas, and
  sea monsters pretending to be mermaids.

• The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

  The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. Art class is over, but Vashti is sitting glued to her
  chair in front of a blank piece of paper. The words of her teacher are a gentle invitation to express herself. But Vashti can’t draw - she’s no artist. To prove her point, Vashti jabs at a blank sheet of paper to make an unremarkable and angry mark. “There!” she says. That one little dot marks the beginning of Vashti’s journey of surprise and self discovery.

• The Familiars by Adam Jay Epstein

  The Familiars by Adam Jay Epstein
  When a scrappy alley cat named Aldwyn passes
  himself off as a magical animal companion to
  Jack, a young wizard in training, Aldwyn and
  his fellow “familiars,” a know-it-all blue jay and
  bumbling tree frog, must save the kingdom after
  the evil queen of Vastia kidnaps Jack and two
  other wizards.

• The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester by Barbara O’Connor

  The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester by
  Barbara O’Connor
  After Owen captures an enormous bullfrog,
  names it Tooley Graham, and then has to release
  it, he and two friends try to use a small
  submarine that fell from a passing train to
  search for Tooley in the Carter, Georgia, pond it
  came from, while avoiding nosy neighbor Viola.

• The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas

  The Magic Thief (or any book in the Magic
  Thief series) by Sarah Prineas
  A young thief is drawn into a life of magic and
  adventure after picking the pocket of the
  powerful wizard Nevery Flinglas, who has
  returned from exile to attempt to reverse the
  troubling decline of magic in Wellmet City.

• The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall

  The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four
  Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting
  Boy (or one of the sequels) by Jeanne Birdsall
  National Book Award for Young People’s
  Literature
  While vacationing with their widowed father in
  the Berkshire Mountains, four lovable sisters,
  ages four through twelve, share adventures with
  a local boy, much to the dismay of the boy’s
  snobbish mother.

• The Serpent Came to Gloucester by M.T. Anderson

  The Serpent Came to Gloucester by M.T. Anderson. Rhyming text tells of a sea serpent that plays off the coast of Massachusetts the summer of 1817. Upon the serpent’s return the following year, adventurers from far and near come to hunt it down. Includes a page of facts upon which the story is based.

• The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

  The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf. Ferdinand is the world’s most peaceful – and beloved – little bull. While all of the other bulls snort, leap, and butt heads, Ferdinand is content to just sit and smell the flowers under his favorite cork
  tree.

• The Thing about Georgie by Lisa Graff

  The Thing about Georgie by Lisa Graff
  In this touching story peppered with comedy,
  nine-year-old Georgie Bishop struggles to grow
  up when he isn’t getting any taller.