Staff recommendations for children at a second grade reading level.
Staff Picks
Can you draw simple things like trees, fish and candy? Yes? Then you can make your own comic books! This hilarious book will show you how.
When Akimbo and his park ranger father unintentionally capture a lion cub near an African game park, Akimbo wants to keep the cub. Look for more Akimbo titles.
Eszterhas, Suzi. Eye on the wild.
Follows the life of a bear family as a newborn brown bear cub grows, plays, and learns how to take care of itself.
Magic tree house series; #1
Eight-year-old Jack and his younger sister Annie find a magic tree house, which whisks them back to an ancient time zone where they see live dinosaurs.
When Ms. Albert teaches a lesson on kindness, Chloe realizes that she and her friends have been wrong in making fun of new student Maya's shabby clothes and refusing to play with her.
This inspiring story is about an extraordinary woman who changed America forever because she wouldn't take no for an answer.
A heroic collection of information about dragons and other fantastic creatures by a variety of authors.
A is for Amber
Amber is nervous about starting second grade with a new teacher, but despite being in the same class as mean Hannah Burton, things turn out just fine.
Morgan needs lots of luck not only to train the dog he just received for his birthday but also to win the friendship of his new neighbor.
A most unusual new student who loves to be the center of attention entertains her teacher and fellow second graders by telling absolutely true stories about herself, including how she got her name. Look for more Gooney Bird titles.
Manushkin, Fran. Katie Woo.
Katie wants to be helpful, and so she starts making dinner on her own.
Sneaky Pony series
When eight-year-old Keeker gets a pony, she is faced with the challenge of winning the animal's trust and friendship, and they both come to understand the phrase "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours."
Thirteen humorous traditional Jewish tales, each accompanied by an appropriate saying.
Seriously silly stories
A funny twist on Little Red Riding Hood. Good Little Wolfie is teased and humiliated by the Big Bad Girl, until Old Granny Wolf teaches the brute a lesson.
After Mercy the pig snuggles to sleep with the Watsons, all three awaken with the bed teetering on the edge of a big hole in the floor. Look for more Mercy Watson titles.
My Weird School
What's up with Miss Daisy? She can't spell, doesn't understand math, and cannot read or write. It's a good thing her students are up to the task of teaching. First in the series My Weird School.
Nate the Great interrupts his backyard vacation to find his friend's lost grocery list before lunch. (Look for other stories about Nate the Great.)
A collection of funny poems and paintings about animals and insects.
Stinky, a monster who lives in a swamp, gets upset when a boy named Nick starts hanging around his swamp, and so he tries to scare Nick away.
An I can read book
While traveling west with her family in 1850, a young girl makes a patchwork quilt chronicling the experiences of the journey and reserves a special patch for her pet hen Josefina.
Provides instructions for a variety of tricks, advice on making costumes and props, and presenting your act to an audience.
Prince Henrik makes a plan to find a wife who is nothing like his royal brother's wife, who he thinks is too sensitive.
As Mr. Gaskitt takes a series of jobs and Mrs. Gaskitt keeps winning prizes, their nine-year-old twins, Gus and Gloria, follow a substitute teacher who seems too good to be true.
An I can read book
A collection of six stories about a family of shockingly silly people.
Stories addressed to dogs and written from a dog's point of view, featuring such topics as a burglar, bones, and running free. Look for more Three Stories titles.
As they wait out a tornado in their storm cellar, a family listens to their farmhand tell stories about the dog that was blown into his life by another tornado when he was a boy.
A wealthy man in a Japanese village, who everyone calls Ojiisan, which means grandfather, sets fire to his rice fields to warn the innocent people of an approaching tsunami.
Viking easy-to-read. Level 2
When Cam Jansen and her friend Eric go to a birthday party, she uses her photographic memory to solve the puzzle of the dinosaur count.
Zig and Wikki arrive on earth to search for a pet for Zig's class assignment. Will they make it off the planet in one piece?