Carden Academy

Quality Education Since 1973
Summer Reading


Carden Academy has established a mandatory Summer Reading Program. Each grade level will be assigned a list of books that must be read before the opening day of school. Your child should read books selected from the grade level they will be entering in the Fall.

These are required assignments. If these are not turned in by the late submission date, the student will be required to meet with an administrator to make arrangements to fulfill the assignments.

- Students entering Kindergarten do not require book reports. The books you read may be those of your choice. We recommend that you read to your child on a regular basis.

- Students entering grade level 1-5 are required to write 3 book reports.

- Students entering grades 6-8 are required to write 3 book reports. The student will choose which book report will be graded and averaged in with other grades pertaining to the first trimester. All 3 book reports must be turned in to the Literature teacher.


Summer Reading List


Kindergarten Suggestions
Madeline Series - Ludwig Bemelmans
Make Way for Ducklings - Robert McCloskey
Blueberries for Sal - Robert McCloskey
Where the Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble - William Steig
A Child’s Garden of Verses - Robert Louis Stevenson

Entering Grade 1 - choose 3
Patrick’s Dinosaurs - Carol Carick
May I Bring a Friend? - Beatrice Schenk De Regniers
Drummer Hoff - Barbara Emberley
Oliver - Syd Hoff
The Case of the Scaredy Cats (I Can Read Book Series Level 2) - Crosby Bonsall
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble - William Steig

Entering Grade 2 - choose 3
A to Z Mysteries: The Talking T. Rex - Ron Roy
Teach Us, Amelia Bedelia - Peggy Parish
Nate the Great - Marjorie Sharmat
Horrible Harry’s Secret - Suzy Kline
Arthur and the Cootie-Catcher - Marc Brown
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Circus Clown - David A. Adler

Entering Grade 3 - choose 1 from each group

Group 1
The Hardy Boys Series - Franklin W. Dixon
The Nancy Drew Series - Carolyn Keene
My America: Colonial Period Series - Patricia Hermes
My America: Westward Expansion Joshua’s Diary Series - Patricia Hermes

Group 2
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator - Roald Dahl
How to Eat Fried Worms - Thomas Rockwell
The Boxcar Children Series - Gertrude Chandler Warner

Group 3
The Magic School Bus Series - Joanna Cole
The Magic Tree House Series - Mary Pope Osborne
Amber Brown Series - Paula Danziger
Amelia Bedelia Series - Peggy Parish


Entering Grade 4 - choose 1 from each group

Group 1
By the Great Horn Spoon! - Sid Fleischman
Bandit’s Moon - Sid Fleischman
Jim Ugly - Sid Fleischman

Group 2
The Journal of Wong Ming-Chung, A Chinese Miner - Laurence Yep
Seeds of Hope: The Gold Rush Diary of Susanna Fairchild - Kristiana Gregory
Patty Reed’s Doll: The Story of the Donner Party - Rachel K. Laurgaard
Valley of the Moon: The Diary of Maria Rosalia de Milagros - Sherry Garland

Group 3
The Stowaway: A Tale of California Pirates - Kristiana Gregory
Island of the Blue Dolphins - Scott O’Dell
Carlota - Scott O’Dell


Entering Grade 5 - choose 3
Hoot - Carl Hiaasen
Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon - Dhan Gopal Mukerji
Esperanza Rising - Pam Munoz Ryan
Adam of the Road - Elizabeth Janet Gray
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L’Engle
Ida B - Katherine Hannigan

Entering Grade 6 - choose 3
Peter and the Starcatchers - Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson
The Teacher’s Funeral: A Comedy in Three Parts - Richard Peck
A Long Way From Chicago - Richard Peck
The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Kite Rider - Geraldine McCaughrean
Around the World in Eighty Days - Jules Verne
Where the Red Fern Grows - Wilson Rawls

Entering Grade 7 - choose 3
The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton
The War Within: A Novel of the Civil War - Carol Matas
Al Capone Does My Shirts - Gennifer Choldenko
When Zachary Beaver Came to Town - Kimberly Willis Holt
Small Steps - Louis Sachar
The Seer of Shadows - Avi

Entering Grade 8 - choose 3
The Properties of Water - Hannah Roberts McKinnon
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Daniel’s Story - Carol Matas
Sherlock Holmes Series - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux



Book Report Formats

Entering Grade 1 PDF

Entering Grade 2 PDF

Entering Grades 3-8 PDF
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