Recommended K-6 Summer Reading

Summer break is primarily for family, friends, and leisure. Ideally, it is a time of rest through which students are rejuvenated for the coming school year. Therefore, summer reading suggestions are intended to enhance, not burden, summer break by showing students how to spend their time wisely. Hopefully, models such as Bilbo Baggins and Benjamin Franklin inspire our students to employ their summers learning rewarding skills, practicing virtuous habits, and going on grand adventures.

Cincinnati Classical Academy’s suggested summer reading list contains high-quality reading material that will prepare your child for the coming school year. From kindergarten to second grade, books should be primarily read aloud by parents. Enjoy!

Kindergarten

Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McKloskey
The Random House of Mother Goose by Arnold Lobel
When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne
Dr. Seuss books

Rising 1st Grade

The Sword in the Tree by Clyde Robert Bulla
Curious George book (series) by H. A. Rey
Encyclopedia Brown (series) by Donald J. Sobol
Paddington Bear (series) by Michael Bond

Rising 2nd Graders

Stuart Little by E.B. White
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
The Thirteen Clocks by James Thurber
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Rising 3rd Grade

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

Rising 4th Grade

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
Guns for General Washington by Seymour Reit
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli

Rising 5th Grade

The Chronicles of Narnia (series) by C.S. Lewis
The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald

Rising 6th Grade

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Golden Fleece by Padraic Colum
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques
The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood