RECOMMENDED READING MASTER LIST FOR LITERATURE: PK-4th

Is there literature missing that is worth reading? Of course. Are there things included that can be skipped? Sure.

But I firmly believe that if your student follows this reading list, they will know much of what they need to know to succeed and will become a  relatively well-educated individual. They will make connections between many of these great works of literature and they will be able to join the conversation that's been taking place for thousands of years.

            Of course, we all have different reading abilities and attention spans, so I've marked the absolute essentials with an asterisk (*). If your student wants more material, read BOTH options when given a choice, read the others in a series (marked by ff), or add another Shakespeare play to each year. If you want a stronger classical emphasis to your homeschool, I've marked additional resources with a cross (+).

            I've tried to make each year a combination of challenging and more relaxing reads for your student. Of course, the first few years may need to be all read-alouds. And audiobooks count! Feel free to use selections from a year or two lower or higher than your student's level, according to the abilities of your student, especially if you're starting the list in situ.

Lastly, a warning:

I have included a few titles that have fallen into disfavor in recent years. At this time, I believe that their value outweighs the instances of outdated language or stereotypical illustrations. I am working on rereading all of these to verify their importance to this list.

PRE K (<5)

*Jamberry – Bruce Degen

*King Bidgood's in the Bathtub  AND The Napping House – Audrey Wood

 Where is My Duckling? – Nancy Tafuri

*Who Took the Farmer's Hat? – Joan Nodset

 Doctor DeSoto – William Steig

*We're Going on a Bear Hunt – Michael Rosen

*Blueberries for Sal – Robert McCloskey

*More, More, More Said the Baby – Vera Williams

 Is Your Mama a Llama? – Deborah Guarino

*Bread and Jam for Frances ff – Lilian Hoban

 The Snowy Day – Ezra Jack Keats

*Caps for Sale – Esphyr Slobodkina

*May I Bring a Friend? – Beatrice Schenk de Regniers

*Madeline ff – Ludwig Bemelmans

 The Tiger Who Came to Tea – Judith Kerr

 Mr Gumpy's Motor Car – John Burningham

 What Do You Say, Dear? – Sesyle Joslin

*The Doorbell Rang – Pat Hutchins

*Millions of Cats – Wanda Gag

 Corduroy – Don Freeman

*Mother Goose – a collection of at least 50

*Folk Tale Collection (picture books – at least 10) – Paul Galdone

K (5-6 years)

*Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter

*Billy and Blaze Collection (or at least 6 individual vols) – C W Anderson

*Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel AND The Little House AND Katy and the Big Snow – Virginia Lee Burton

*Make Way for Ducklings – Robert McCloskey

 The Story About Ping – Marjorie Flack

 Where the Wild Things Are – Mercer Mayer

*Miss Rumphius – Barbara Cooney

 Roxaboxen – Alice McLurran

*The Story of Ferdinand – Munro Leaf

 Ox Cart Man – Donald Hall

 A New Coat for Anna – Harriet Ziefert

*Andy and the Lion – James Daugherty

 Mirette on the High Wire ff – Emily Arnold McCully

 The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Grey Bridge – Hildegarde H Swift

*Annie and the Old One – Miska Miles

*They Were Strong and Good – Robert Lawson

*A House is a House for Me – Mary Ann Hoberman

 Berlioz the Bear – Jan Brett

 My Father's Dragon ff – Ruth Stiles Gannett

*Aesop's Fables – a collection of at least 30

*American Tall Tales – Adrien Stoutenburg OR American Tall Tales – Mary Pope Osborne

+East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon – Peter Christen Asbjornsen & Jorgen Engebretsen Moe OR

1ST (6-7 years)

*Complete Thomas the Tank Engine – Rev Wilbert Awdry

*Mr Popper's Penguins – Florence and Richard Atwater

 Rabbit Hill ff – Robert Lawson

*A Bear Called Paddington ff – Michael Bond

 Pippi Longstocking ff – Astrid Lindgren

*Little House in the Big Woods – Laura Ingalls Wilder

*James Herriot's Treasury for Children

 Stuart Little OR The Trumpet of the Swan – E B White

 The Enormous Egg – Oliver Butterworth

*The Courage of Sarah Noble OR The Bears of Hemlock Mountain – Alice Dalgliesh

*The Big Wave – Pearl Buck

 Homer Price – Robert McCloskey

*The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – C S Lewis

*The Year of Miss Agnes – Kirkpatrick Hill

*Twenty and Ten AND All Alone – Claire Huchet Bishop

 Kildee House – Rutherford Montgomery

 The Moffats ff – Eleanor Estes

 The Secret Valley OR A Lion to Guard Us OR Viking Adventure – Clyde Robert Bulla

*Famous Myths and Legends – Christine Chaundler

+Favorite Fairy Tales Told in Germany/France/Spain/Norway, etc – Virginia Haviland

+D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths

+Gilgamesh the King AND The Revenge of Ishtar AND The Last Quest of Gilgamesh – Ludmila Zeman

2ND (7-8 years)

A Cricket in Times Square ff – George Selden

*Prairie School – Lois Lenski

 The Ordinary Princess – M M Kaye

 Mary on Horseback – Rosemary Wells

 Betsy-Tacy ff – Maud Hart Lovelace

*All-of-a-Kind Family ff – Sidney Taylor

 The Children of Noisy Village ff – Astrid Lindgren

*Toliver's Secret – Esther Wood Brady

 The Little White Horse – Elizabeth Goudge

*Charlotte's Web – E B White

*Half Magic ff – Edward Eager

*The Horse and His Boy – C S Lewis

*Prince Caspian – C S Lewis

 Freddy the Detective ff – William Brooks

*Farmer Boy – Laura Ingalls Wilder

*Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin OR Misty of Chincoteague ff – Marguerite Henry

 The Rescuers AND Miss Bianca – Margery Sharp

*The Princess and the Goblin AND The Princess and Curdie – George MacDonald

*Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children – Edith Nesbit OR Tales from Shakespeare – Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb (continue to use this volume for the next 3 years)

*The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood – Howard Pyle OR

+A Wonder Book AND Tanglewood Tales – Nathaniel Hawthorne

+D'Aulaire's Book of Norse Myths

+Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Anderson – a collection of at least 20

+Fifty Famous Stories Retold AND Thirty More Famous Stories Retold – James Baldwin OR Mighty Men – Eleanor Farjeon

3RD (8-9 years)

*Little House on the Prairie AND On the Banks of Plum Creek – Laura Ingalls Wilder

*The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame

 King of the Wind – Marguerite Henry

*The White Stag – Kate Seredy

 The Little Duke – Charlotte Yonge

*All Sail Set OR Call It Courage – Armstrong Sperry

*The Wheel on the School – Meindert deJong

*The Children of the New Forest – Frederick Marryat

 The Great Brain ff – John Fitzgerald

*Five Children and It – Edith Nesbit

 Roller Skates ff – Ruth Sawyer

*Sarah, Plain and Tall ff – Patricia MacLachlan

*Strawberry Girl OR Blue Ridge Billy – Lois Lenski

*Winnie-the-Pooh AND The House at Pooh Corner – A A Milne

 Miracles on Maple Hill – Virginia Sorensen

*The Jungle Book – Rudyard Kipling

 The Borrowers ff – Mary Norton

*The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – C S Lewis

*The Silver Chair – C S Lewis

 The Twenty-One Balloons – William Pene du Bois

*Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children – Edith Nesbit OR Tales from Shakespeare – Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb (continue to use this volume for the next 2 years)

*The Tale of Camelot – Howard Pyle OR

*A Midsummer Night's Dream – William Shakespeare

+Black Ships Before Troy AND The Wanderings of Odysseus – Rosemary Sutcliff

+Viking Tales – Jennie Hall

+English Fairy Tales (continue with More English Fairy Tales, optional) – Joseph Jacobs

+Celtic Fairy Tales – Joseph Jacobs

+Saints and Heroes to the End of the Middle Ages – George Hodges

4TH (9-10 years)

 The Golden Goblet – Eloise Jarvis McGraw

*Heidi – Johanna Spyri

 Brighty of the Grand Canyon – Marguerite Henry

 Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh – Robert C O'Brien

*The Railway Children – Edith Nesbit

*The Sign of the Beaver – Elizabeth George Speare

 Lassie Come Home – Eric Knight OR Lad: A Dog – Albert Payson Terhune OR Bambi, A Life in the Woods – Felix Salten

 Five Little Peppers and How They Grew ff – Margaret Sidney

 The Wolves of Willoughby Chase – Joan Aiken

*Judy's Journey OR Cotton in My Sack – Lois Lenski

*The Good Master – Kate Seredy

 Madeleine Takes Command – Esther C Brill

*The Last Battle – C S Lewis

*The Magician's Nephew – C S Lewis

*The Secret Garden OR A Little Princess – Frances Hodgson Burnett

 Treasures of the Snow OR Star of Light – Patricia M St John

*Understood Betsy – Dorothy Canfield Fisher

 The Hidden Treasure of Glaston – Eleanore M Jewett

 Son of Charlemagne – Barbara Willard

*Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children – Edith Nesbit OR Tales from Shakespeare – Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb

*The Complete Tales of the Brothers Grimm

*The Tempest – William Shakespeare

+In Search of a Homeland – Penelope Lively

+A Treasury of Irish Folklore – Padraic Colum OR The Irish Fairy Book – Alfred Percival Graves

+The Illustrated Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable

+Saints and Heroes Since the Middle Ages – George Hodges

So, there you have it! Become a subscriber and we'll send you this entire list for free!

Stay tuned for the addition of history, theology, and science selections in the near future!