BOOK LISTS

Complex Picture Books (ages 4 to 8) – Great for read alouds/sparking good

discussions
- Grandfather Gandhi, by Arun Gandhi
- The Last Kappa of Old Japan, by Sunny Seiki
- Fly Free, Fly Free
- Silent Lotus
- How Full is your Bucket?
- The Secret River, by Marjorie Rawlings
- Zen Ties, by Jon Muth
- Owl Moon
- The Daruma Doll, by Sunny Seiki
- Amos and Boris, by William Steig
- Norman the Doorman, by Don Freeman
- Excuses, Excuses, by Anushka Sankar
- The Why Why Girl, by Mahashweta Devi
- Kali and the Rat Snake, by Zai Whitaker
- Bon Bibi’s Forest, by Sandhya Rao
- Each Kindness, by Jacqueline Woodson
- The Adventures of Riley (series, Science), by Amanda Lumry
- Tacky in Trouble (series, humor), by Helen Lester
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GATEWAY BOOKS --- For Girls:

These are introductory chapter books designed to get kids excited about
reading
Ramona Quimby, age 8 (series on Ramona and her sister Beezus), by Beverly
Cleary
Rainbow Magic series – by Daisy Meadows
The Folk of the Faraway Tree series (three imaginative books) by Enid Blyton
The Wishing Chair Series (three books) by Enid Blyton
The Magic Treehouse series
The Hole books, From Duckbill publishers (Enjoyable series for young readers)
Arthur chapter book series, by Marc Bronw

GATEWAY BOOKS – For Boys

Henry Huggins (series about Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy) by Beverly Cleary
Ralph S. Mouse (series about a mouse and his motorcycle) by Beverly Cleary
The Beast Quest books (a very formulaic series that many young boys love –
good way to hook young boys on reading.)
The Wishing Chair Series (three imaginative books) by Enid Blyton
Horrid Henry series, by Francesca Simon
The Magic Tree House series
The Sideways stories from Wayside School (very humorous series) – by Lois
Sacher
Arthur chapter book series, by Marc Brown
The Hole books, from Duckbill publishers (series for young readers)
All About Sam (series) by Lois Lowry
CHAPTER BOOKS

Ages 7 to 12:
- Books by Beverly Cleary - Ramona Quimby series (great for girls), Henry Huggins
series, Ralph S.Mouse series
- Books by Kate Di Camillo - Because of Winn Dixie, Edward Tulane
- Books by Jamila Gavin - The Whistling Monster and other stories, Three Indian
Goddesses, other titles
- The Harry Potter series
- The Percy Jackson series
- The Little House on the Prairie (series), By Laura Ingalls Wilder
- The Spiderwick Chronicles
- Angus and Sadie, by Cynthia Voigt (great animal story for kids)
-James Herriot’s Treasury for Kids
-Charlotte's Web, by E.B.White (and other books by E.B.White)
- Freckle Juice, by Judy Blume
-The Chocolate Touch, by Patrick Catling
- All Roald Dahl books
- Sarah, Plain and Tall, by Patricia MacLachlan
-White Fur Flying, by Patricia MacLachlan
- Ella Enchanted, by Gail Levine
- George and the Big Bang, by Stephen Hawking (series of three books)
- The Magic School bus books (good Science chapter books for younger kids)
- Sherlock Sam (series), by Low and Jimenez
-Moin and the Monster (series) by Anushka Sankar
- How to Train your Dragon (series) – by Cressida Cowell
- Lego Movie Junior Novel – by Kate Howard
-The Year of Billy Miller – by Kevin Henkes
- Detectives in Togas
- Six Spellmakers in Dorabji Street
-Toad Rage Series, by Morris Glietzman
- Grandma’s Bag of Stories, by Sudha Moorthy (and other titles by S.Moorthy)
- Classic Indian Tales
-The Magic School bus series (Science)

Ages 10 to 14:
-Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan
-The Garbage King, by Elizabeth Laird
- Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry
- The Giver, by Lois Lowry
- Skellig, by David Almond
- Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin
- Starry River of the Sky, by Grace Lin
- Holes, by Lois Sachar
- Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Patterson
- Wonder, by R.J.Pallacio
- Milkweed, by Jerry Spinelli (and other books by Spinelli, might be difficult for
kids/some disturbing WW2 content)
- Frindle, by Andrew Clements (and other books by Andrew Clements)
-Blubber, by Judy Blume (and other books by Blume)
-Behind Rebel Lines, Seymour
- A Wrinkle In Time, by Madeleine L'Engle
- Iqbal, by D'Adamo
- Books by Jamila Gavin (Coram Boy, Blood Stone, Out of India)
- The Mixed Up Files of Mrs.Basil E.Frankweiler, 
-Axiss and the Golden Medallion, by Tim Murari
- Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbit
- The Mysterious Benedict Society (series)
- The Land of Stories (series)
- The Midnight Fox, by Betsy Bryars
- Chinese Cinderella, by Adeline Yen Mah
- Boy, by Roald Dahl
- Just a Train Ride Away, by Mini Srinivasan
- Kira Kira, by Cynthia Kadohata (and other books by Kadohata)
-Red Scarf Girl, by Ji Li Jiang (about the Cultural Revolution/ some disturbing
content, but an easy read and will introduce kids to this historical period, commonly
taught in Grade 5 or 6 in the US)
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S.Lewis
- The Little Princess, by Frances Burnett
- The Puffin Mahabharatha, by Namita Gokhale
- D’Aulaires Book of Greek Myths
- The Ramayana, by R.K.Narayan
- Malgudi Days, by R.K.Narayan
- Books by Michael Morpugo (War Horse, Listen to the Moon, etc. All his titles are
good for this age group.)
- The White Giraffe (and other titles in the series), by Lauren St.John
- The Slave Dancer, by Paula Fox
-The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, by Boyne
- Bud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis
-The Watsons Go to Birmingham, by Christopher Paul Curtis
- Ela, by Sampurna Chattarji
- Bamboo People, by Mitali Perkins
-The Phantom Tollbooth
- Puffin Treasury of Modern Indian Fiction, edited by Mala Dayal

RECOMMENDED AUTHORS for ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: I would buy all titles

by each of these authors
Christopher Paul Curtis
Marc Brown
Beverly Cleary
Judy Blume
Grace Lin
Kate Di Camillo
Jamila Gavin
Cynthia Kadohata
Michael Morpurgo
Morris Gleitzman
Chris Colfer
E.L.Konigsburg
Andrew Clements
Kevin Henkes
Roald Dahl
E.B.White
Lauren St.John
Gary Paulsen
R.J.Pallacio
Patrica MacLachlan
Pam Munoz Ryan
Elizabeth Laird
Cynthia Voigt
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Lois Lowry
J.K.Rowling
Katherine Patterson
Sampurna Chattarji
Mitali Perkins
Jerry Spinelli

MIDDLE SCHOOL – Ages 11 to 15

- Looking For Alaska (and other titles) by John Greene
- Divergent
- Maze Runner series
- The Village by the Sea, by Anita Desai
- The Knife of Never Letting Go
- Night, by Elie Wiesel (good for grade 9 or strong readers in grade 8 –
memoir of an Auschwitz survivor)
- The Diary of Anne Frank
- The House on Mango Street, by Cisneros
- The Kite Runner (grade 8/9 – some disturbing content, but a great book
for this level.)
- Agatha Christie novels
- Sherlock Holmes
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
- The Outsiders, by S.E.Hinton
- Ela, by Sampurna Chattarji
- Milkweed (and other titles) by Jerry Spinelli
- Warhorse (and other titles) by Michael Morpugo
- Hatchett, by Gary Paulson
- The Giver, by Lois Lowry
- The Hunger Games (series)
- The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak
- Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech (and other titles by Creech)
- Watership Down, by Adams
- Little Women, by Alcott
- The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings
- The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
- The Absolute Ture Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
- Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry
- Tomorrow When the War Began, by John Marsden
- Shiloh, by Phyllis Naylor
- The City of Ember
- The Chocolate War
- Marcello in the Real World
- The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night
- The Stone Goddess, by Min Fong Ho (and other titles by this author)
- Animal Farm, by Orwell (Great book to teach in grade 8)
- The Golden Compass, by Phillip Pullman
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Twain
- The Miracle Worker, by William Gibson