Reading Lists for Grades 2-6

This is a list I made for my children, to follow the picture books list posted previously. I used several Classical curriculum and catalogs, a few classical school book lists, and some "good" book lists (see the links to the left.) For each grade, I have marked the books (*) that made almost every list I consulted. I have also ranked each year's books into three categories, based on the frequency with which they appeared on lists. The "Essential Reading" books are the ones we study (write reports, use a literature guide, do vocabulary or copy work from, etc.), and the others are stocked in our home library for independent reading.

Second Grade - Essential Reading
*Box Car Children, The
Encyclopedia Brow
*Farmer Boy
*Homer Price
Hundred Dresses, The
In Grandma's Attic
Little House in the Big Woodsd
Little Pilgrim's Progress
Owls in the Family
Railway Children, The
*Winnie-the-Pooh & The House at Pooh Corner

Second grade - Extra books
Bears on Hemlock Mountain, The
Borrowers, The
Just-So Stories
Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook
Mouse and the Motorcyle, The
Thornton Burgess books
Trumpet of the Swan

Second Grade- Even More Books
Baby Island
Hitty: Her First Hundred Years
Old Mother West Wind

Third Grade - Essential Reading
*Alice in Wonderland
By the Shores of Silver Lake
*Charlotte's Web
*Courage of Sarah Noble, The
Little House on the Prairie
Long Winter, The
*Misty of Chincoteague
Mr. Popper's Penguins
On the Banks of Plum Creek
Pinocchio
Sarah, Plain and Tall
Story of the Treasure Seekers, The
Stuart Little

Third Grade - Extra Books
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew
Mary Poppins
Moffats, The
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Understood Betsy
Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The

Third Grade - Even More Books
Babe the Gallant Pig
Ballet Shoes
Cabin Faced West, The
Gone-Away Lake
Great Brain, The
I, Houdini
Paddington, A Bear Called
Whipping Boy, The

Fourth Grade - Essential Reading
*Adam of the Road
Black Beauty
Caddie Woodlawn
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Cricket in Times Square, The
Dangerous Journey
*Door in the Wall, The
*From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Heidi
*King Arthur
*Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The -- series
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM
*Robin Hood
Sign of the Beaver, The
Twenty-One Balloons
Wind in the Willows, The

Fourth Grade- Extra Books
Dr. Dolittle or The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle
Indian in the Cupboard
Lassie Come Home
Little Princess, A
Peter Pan
Princess and the Curdie, The

Fourth Grade - Even More Books
All-of-a-Kind Family
Henry Reed, inc.
Incredible Journey, The
Strawberry Girl

Fifth Grade - Essential Reading
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The
*Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The
*Anne of Green Gables
Gulliver's Travels
*Johnny Tremain
Little Men
Old Yeller
Phantom Tollbooth, The
Rascal
*Robinson Crusoe
*Secret Garden
Swiss Family Robinson
Tuck Everlasting
*Where the Red Fern Grows
*Witch of Blackbird Pond, The

Fifth Grade - Extra Books
Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates
Lad:A Dog
Little Lord Fauntleroy
My Side of the Mountain
Prince and the Pauper, The
Princess and the Goblin, The
Swallows and Amazons
Uncle Remus
Wheel on the School, The

Fifth Grade- Even More Books
Eight Cousins
Island of the Blue Dolphins

Sixth Grade - Essential Reading
Across Five Aprils
Animal Farm
Around the World in Eighty Days
*Beowulf
Bronze Bow, The
*Call of the Wild
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
*Christmas Carol, A
Diary of Anne Frank
Fahrenheit 451
Great Expectations
*Hobbit, The
*Jungle Book, The
Kidnapped
Little Women
Lord of the Rings, The
Out of the Silent Planet
*Treasure Island
*Watership Down
Yearling, The

Sixth Grade - Extra Books
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Sixth Grade - Even More Books
Call it Courage
Captains Courageous
Five Children and it
Oliver Twist

Miscellaneous Good Books Not Listed Above
Betsy-Tacy
Black Stallion, The
Henry Huggins
Justin Morgan Had a Horse
Linnets and Valerians
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
National Velvet
Pippi Longstocking
Pollyanna
Rabbit hill
Rescuers, The
Skippack School
Soup
Summer of the Swans