First Grade Supplemental Reading List

Bible Stories and Catholic Stories:

  • First Children’s Bible (available at www.setonbooks.com)
  • First Book of Saints (available at www.setonbooks.com)
  • Catholic Stories for Boys and Girls, Volume 1 (available at www.neumannpress.com)
  • Stories Told By Mother Teresa, by Drummond, Le Joly & Chaliha
  • Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland, by Tomie dePaola
  • Saint Francis, by Brian Wildsmith (detailed illustrations, simple text)
  • Mary: The Mother of Jesus, by Tomie dePaola
  • Old Testament Rhymes, Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson (available at www.neumannpress.com)
  • A Child’s Rule of Life, Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson (available at www.neumannpress.com)

Dictionary:

  • The American Heritage First Dictionary, Houghton Mifflin (available at www.setonbooks.com)

Recommended Anthologies:

  • American Cardinal Readers, Book One (www.neumannpress.com) (Book One contains twenty-three stories about family life and Bible stories to read to your child.)
  • What Your First Grader Needs to Know (available at www.coreknowledge.org)
  • Listen, My Children: Poems for First Graders (available at www.coreknowledge.org)
  • Read and Learn with Classic Stories, Grade 1 (ISBN: 1-56189-682-9 available at www.teacherspecialty.com)
  • The Children’s Book of America, edited by William J. Bennett
  • Beatrix Potter: The Complete Tales (The Original and Authorized Edition – F. Warne & Co.)
  • The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh, and The Complete Poems of Winnie the Pooh, by A. A. Milne
  • Paddington Treasury, by Michael Bond
  • Great Children’s Stories: The Classic Volland Edition, illus. by F. Richardson (www.barnesandnoble.com)
  • Let’s Play: Traditional Games of Childhood, Camilla Gryski

Foreign Languages and Cultures:

Grammar:

  • Fantastic! Wow! and Unreal! : A Book About Interjections and Conjunctions (Ruth Heller’s Language Series)
  • Behind the Mask : A Book About Prepositions, by Ruth Heller
  • Cache of Jewels and Other Collective Nouns, by Ruth Heller
  • Many Luscious Lollipops : A Book About Adjectives, by Ruth Heller
  • Merry-Go-Round : A Book About Nouns, by Ruth Heller
  • Mine, All Mine : A Book About Pronouns, by Ruth Heller
  • Up, Up and Away: A Book About Adverbs, by Ruth Heller

Poems:

  • The Rooster Crows: A Book of American Rhymes and Jingles, by Maud and Miska Petersham
  • The Owl and The Pussycat, by Edward Lear, illustrated by Jan Brett
  • Over the River and Through the Wood, by Lydia Maria Child, illustrated by Brinton Turkle
  • Wynken, Blynken, and Nod, by Eugene Field, illustrated by Johanna Westerman
  • Johnny Appleseed, poem by Reeve Lindbergh, illustrated by Kathy Jakobsen
  • The Night Before Christmas, Moore – (Classic Illustrated Edition available at www.chroniclebooks.com)

Tales and Legends:

  • How Many Spots Does a Leopard Have? and Other Tales, retold by Julius Lester
  • In a Circle Long Ago: A Treasury of Native Lore from North America, retold by Nancy Van Laan
  • The Story of Jumping Mouse, retold and illustrated by John Steptoe
  • The Story of Johnny Appleseed, retold and illustrated by Aliki

Aesop’s Fables:

Be aware that several versions of these fables exist in modern children’s books.

Grade 1 Phonetic Readers:

Easy Readers:

Zaner-Bloser Non-Fiction Literacy books: Upper Emergent Level

Ray’s Readers; Emergent Science; Upper Emergent Science; Plane Geometry; More Geometry; National Holidays; My Family; My Friends; My Community. (www.zaner-bloser.com)

Dorling Kindersley Level 2 Readers

Photographs and historical facts. Titles Include: Firefighters; Bugs! Bugs! Bugs; Slinky, Scaly Snakes; Animal Hospital; The Little Ballerina; Munching, Crunching, Sniffing, and Snooping; The Secret Life of Trees; Winking, Blinking, Wiggling and Waggling; Astronaut – Living in Space; Twisters; Holiday! Celebration Days around the World; The Story of Pocahontas; Pony Show; Journey of a Humpback Whale; (Volcano) Eruption; Survivors; Dinosaur Dinners; Horse Show; The Story of Columbus. (www.dk.com)

Dr. Seuss Beginner Books

The simple stories containing phonetic word patterns enforce phonetic concepts. First Grade level titles include:  Hop On Pop; The Cat in the Hat; Green Eggs and Ham; Fox in Socks; One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish; I Can Read with My Eyes Shut; I Wish That I Had Duck Feet; Oh, Say Can You Say; Oh the Thinks You Can Think; There’s No Place Like Space; On Beyond Bugs; Fine Feathered Friends: All About Birds; Is a Camel a Mammal? All About Mammals; Ten Apples Up on Top (by Theodore LeSeig) (www.seussville.com)

Picture Book Theme: Pond Animals

  • Look Closer: Pond Life, Dorling Kindersley (www.dk.com)
  • Amazing Frogs and Toads (Eyewitness Juniors www.dk.com)
  • Frogs and Toads and Tadpoles, by Allan Fowler (Rookie Read About Science series – Children’s Press)

Picture Book Theme: Sea Animals

  • Look Closer: Coral Reef, Dorling Kindersley (www.dk.com)
  • Look Closer: Shoreline, Dorling Kindersley (www.dk.com)
  • Look Closer: Tide Pool, Dorling Kindersley (www.dk.com)
  • Amazing Fish (Eyewitness Juniors www.dk.com)
  • Life in a Tide Pool, by Allan Fowler (Rookie Read About Science series – Children’s Press)
  • Humphrey the Lost Whale: A True Story, by Wendy Tokuda
  • Baby Whale’s Journey, by Jonathan London
  • Jonah and the Whale (Bible Story)

Picture Book Theme: River Animals

  • Look Closer: River Life, Dorling Kindersley (www.dk.com)
  • Fish is Fish, by Leo Leonni

Classic Books:

  • Classic Short Stories Adapted by Paul Galdone (Clarion Books).  Titles include: The Elves and the Shoemaker; Jack and the Beanstalk; Little Red Hen; Rumplestiltskin; The Three Bears; The Three Little Pigs; The Gingerbread Boy.
  • Hailstones and Halibut Bones, poems by Mary O’Neill
  • Raggedy Ann Stories, by Johnny Gruelle (unabridged edition)
  • Raggedy Andy Stories, by Johnny Gruelle (unabridged edition)
  • Stuart Little, E.B. White
  • The Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit, retold by Julius Lester

Recommended Publishers:

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