My Second and Third Grade Book List

Finally! The updates you have been waiting for:OUR 4th YEAR OF HOMESCHOOL: 2nd GRADE and 3rd GRADE (2005-6)!
Do you have kids that are younger than 3rd and 2nd Grade? Go see my previous book lists. They are linked on my Homeschool Series post by year/grade level.



Below are the books we read when my children were in Second and Third Grade during the 2005-6 school year. In case you are just "tuning in", our kiddos were 6 and 8 at the time. Both of the kids could already read very well. Many of the books on this list are well over an average 3rd grade level. Some are encyclopedia type books which we either read parts of or all of - depending on the unit and level of interest. There are some that we skimmed for photographs and subtitles of interest and only read small bits of (most of this type are listed as such in italics).

Our curriculum dictates that we should have an ongoing "family reader" (usually a chapter book) for each unit study, and then I require most school days that the children read two or three library books a day on their own or to each other. As they get older and the books get thicker, we sometimes only read a portion of a chapter book instead. There are 259 books listed here. As the books get thicker, the list gets shorter. I did NOT include any PREVIOUSLY read books in this list (and there were MANY). That means that all of my book lists should NOT contain duplicate books (even though the children often re-check books or re-read some at home in our personal library).

Many of these books can be read at a much older age level as well, so don't let the grade level fool you. The grade in the title of this post just happens to be the grade they were in when WE read them. You can read them any time you like (I'm not a kid, and I enjoyed many of them!).

The books that we enjoyed the MOST are bolded. Many of those were so good that we went out and bought our own copy to add to our library at home. I didn't write down the reasons why we loved them. Some times it was content, others it was illustrations, and sometimes both. The kids love revisiting those books; and if we don't have them at home, they don't hesitate to re-check them at the library. The rest of the books which are NOT bolded are probably great, too (I either didn't remember them very well, the children read them without my help and didn't comment about them, or they just weren't a FAVORITE). Don't think that just because the book is not bolded, it isn't a good book! Our favorites are subjective and you should read these for yourself to find out what your family's favorites are!

Books that had objectionable content (according to our worldview - which is Christian in nature) are conveniently listed in red. These are books that went above and beyond truth and logic to preach evolution or erase the line between fact and theory. We read a lot about evolution and do not mind having some of it in books. I draw the line when there is a preachy tone or if things rub me the wrong way (such as in some DK science books that preach about the cross of Christ being myth or mythology). Another reason it may be red is if it had sexual, spiritually dark or adult themes (such as in one of the movies below). If you aren't a Christian and you don't have a problem with evolution or early exposure to sensuality, you can read them/watch them without issue. For my Christian readers, they are labeled in red as a service to other like-minded moms.
If you enjoy using our book lists and ideas here at Sprittibee's Homeschool Blog, please consider dropping some spare change in the tip jar - no donation too small! We could use a few dollars to buy more books with since most of these are LIBRARY books we checked out! Another way you can support my blog is to order the books you want through my Amazon store! You can check out my little Amazon book store up at the top of this blog by clicking the bookstore link, or clicking the text in this sentence! Many of our favorites are there and sorted by category. If you purchase them through our referral, my kids might eventually get a free book for their library. It's a win-win situation! You get great books, we get a few pennies for telling you about them.

OUR SECOND and THIRD GRADE BOOK LIST
A Fish Story (Rainbow Fish & Friends) - Gail Donovan
Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Wacky Crimes - Donald J. Sobol
Hilde and Eli: Children of the Holocaust - David A. Adler
Crime Busters - Andrew Donkin
Community Helpers: Police Officers - Dee Ready
I Want to be a Police Officer - Dan Liebman
Police Officers Protect People - Carol Greene
Guns: What You Should Know - Rachel Ellenberg Schulson
Sammy: Dog Detective - Colleen Stanley Bare
Hurricane! - Corinne Demas
Rainbow Fish: Don't Cheat, Rusty - Jodi Huelin
State & Local Government - Laurence Santrey (Troll Associates)
A New True Book: Serving on a Jury - Sarah De Capua
The Supreme Court - Rae Bains (Troll Associates)
Science Fact Files: Criminal Investigation - Chris Woodford
Now You can Read Bible Stories… Jonah - retold by Leonard Matthews
Judges and Lawyers - Zachary A. Kelly
The Ultimate Bible Sticker Activity Book (Jonah section)
Breakout! Escape from Alcatraz - Lori Haskins
The Oklahoma City Bombing: Terror in the Heartland - Victoria Sherrow
Exploring the Titanic - Robert D. BallardWilliam Shakespeare & The Globe - Aliki
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark TwainPeeping Beauty - Mary Jane Auch
Akiak - Robert J. Blake
A Pig is Moving In! - Claudia Fries
Estelle and Lucy - Anna Alter
Edward and the Pirates - David McPhail
Sources of Forces: Science Fun with Force Fields - Vicki Cobb
Hank the Cowdog: The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog - John R. Erickson
Men of Iron - Howard Pyle
The Way it Works: Motion - Philip Sauvain
DK Eyewitness: Force and Motion
Runaway Radish - Jessie HaasA Road Might Lead to Anywhere - Rachel Field
Mole Music - David McPhail
True Book: Experiments with Heat - Salvatore Tocci
Split Second Science Projects with Speed: How Fast Does it Go? - Robert Gardner
Captain Toad and the Motorbike - David McPhail
The Train - David McPhail
Drawing Lessons from a Bear - David McPhail
The Rain Forest Counts - Lisa McCourt
The Dinosaur's New Clothes - Diane Goode
Nutnik, The Wolf Pup - Jean Craighead George
Have You Fed the Cat? - Michele Coxon
Pilgrim Cat - Carol Antoinette Peacock
Zat Cat - Chelsey McLaren
Tag-Along Timothy Tours Alaska - Jean Richardson
The Big Birthday Surprise: Junior Discovers Giving - Dave Ramsey
The Super Red Racer: Junior Discovers Work - Dave Ramsey
History Maker Bios: Christopher Columbus - Susan Bivin Aller
Bonny's Big Day - James Herriot
A Story, A Story - Gail E. Haley
Dick Whittington and His Cat - Marcia Brown
Spiders - Gail Gibbons
Explore-A-Maze - Robert Snedden
Motley the Cat - Mary Fredden & Susannah Amoore
Aircraft: Air Force Aircraft - Henry M. Holden
The United States Navy - Michael Green
Navy Seals: Special Operations For the U.S. Navy - Simone Payment
Star Wars Boba Fett: Maze of Deception (Clone Wars Novel)
If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 - Ann McGovern
Sheep on the Farm by Mari C. Schuh
Sheep on a Ship - Nancy Shaw
Cats on Judy - JoAnn Early Macken
Trustworthiness - Emily Lauren
I am Honest - Sarah L. Schuette
Lyle at Christmas - Bernard Waber
The Owl Who Became the Moon - Jonathan London
The Greatest Potatoes - Penelope Stowell
Sheep Asleep - Gloria Rothstein (for younger kids)
Walter the Farting Dog - William Kotzwinkle and Glenn Murray
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
The Dragon and the Unicorn - Lynne Cherry
The Magic School Bus Gets a Bright Idea: A Book About LightPut Me in the Zoo - Robert Lopshire (for younger kids)
Sheep in a Jeep - Nancy Shaw (for younger kids)Sheep - Peter Murray
Wool Gathering: A Sheep Family Reunion - Lisa WheelerThe Little Lamb - Judy Dunn
Sheep in a Shop - Nancy Shaw
Thanksgiving on Thursday - Mary Pope Osborne (Magic Treehouse #27)
Behold the Unicorns - Gail Gibbons
The Ox and the Donkey: A Christmas Story - Gunter Spang
Christmas at Mud Flat - James Stevenson
Angel Mae - Shirley Hughes
A Ride in the Crummy - Gary Hines
A Kangaroo for Christmas - James Flora
Charlie Needs a Cloak - Tomie de PaolaThe Sheep Follow - Monica Wellington
Sheep Have Lambs - Lynn Stone
The Shepherd Psalm - Maud PetershamA Shepherd's Gift - Mary Calhoun
Sheep Dog - George AnconaThe Sheep Book - Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
David He No Fear - Lorenz Graham
Lamb, said the Lion, I am Here - Mark Taylor
Tell Me the Promises - Tada & DiCianni (devotional)
"and Now Miguel" - Joseph Krumgold
A Gift from the Sea - Kate Banks
Video: Division Math
Fox Outfoxed - James Marshall
Earthshake: Poems From the Ground Up - Lisa Westberg Petes
There are Rocks in My Socks!' Said the Ox to the Fox - Patricia Thomas
River Story - Meredith Hooper
Everybody Needs a Rock - Byrd Baylor
Video: Lamb Chop's Special Chanukah
A New True Book: Fossils - Allan Roberts
A Look at Rocks: From Coal to Kimberlite - Jos. Kittinger (skimmed)Wonders of the World: Gems - Stuart A. Kallen
The True Book of Rocks and Minerals - Illa Podendorf
Star Wars Boba Fett: A New Threat (Clone Wars Novel)
Rock Collecting - Roma Gans
The Big Rock - Bruce Hiscock
Seven Sillies - Joyce Dunbar (awesome art)
Madeline - Ludwig Bemelmans
The Beeman - Laurie Krebs
Smarty Pants - Maira KalmanSwitch Cat - Garry Disher
Rough Weather Ahead for Walter the Farting Dog - William Kotzwinkle
The Tale of the Pie and the Patty Pan - Beatrix Potter
Gems and Minerals - Susan Harris
Rocks and Minerals (DK Eyewitness Explorers) - Steve Parker
Be a Rock Hound - Martin L. Keer
Home-Making - J. R. Miller (read parts for devotional on child's part in family)
Prayer of Jabez for Kids - Bruce Wilkinson
The Tale of Jemima Puddle Duck - Beatrix Potter
The Tale of Two Blind Mice - Beatrix Potter
The Story of Miss Moppet - Beatrix Potter
Eyewitness Books: Horse - DK book by Juliet Clutton-Brock
The Wolfhound - Kristine L. Franklin
Video: Standard Deviants School: Geology: Program 2: Minerals
The Hayloft - Lisa Westberg Peters
Comets, Meteors and Asteroids: Rocks in Space - David J. Darling
The Rock Hound's Book - Seymour Simon (we skimmed this one)
Watts Library - Rocks, Gems, & Minerals - Trudi Strain Trueit
Bill Nye the Science Guy - Great Big Dinosaur Dig - Ian G. Saunders
Geology Rocks! - Cindy Blobaum :) BUY
Video: Standard Deviants School: Geology: Program 1: The Basics
Video: Rocks & Minerals (Science in Action)
Video: Royal Diaries: Elizabeth 1, Red Rose of the House of Tudor, England 1544 by Schoolastic
No Such Things - Bill Peet
The Planets in Our Solar Systems - Franklyn M. Branley
The Sky is Full of Stars - Franklyn M. Branley
Journey into a Black Hole - Franklyn M. Branley
Minnie and Moo and the Potato from Planet X - Denys Cazet
There's No Place Like Space! - Tish Rabe
Video: Standard Deviants School: Geology: Program 4: Sedimentary & Metamorphic Rocks
What the Moon is Like - Franklyn M. Branley
The Moon Seems to Change - Franklyn M. BranleyRotten Ralph Feels Rotten - Jack Gantos
Pompeii: Nightmare at Midday - Kathryn Long Humphrey
Kitty Riddles - Katy Hall & Lisa Eisenberg
Minne and Moo and the Musk of Zorro - Dennys Cazet
What Does a Geologist Do? - R.V. Fodor
A Book of Nighttime Poems: Still as a Star - selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Sons for the Seasons - Jarnake Highwater
The Sun is So Quiet - Nikki Giovanni
Isaac Newton - Tony Allan
Video: Standard Deviants School: Geology: Program 6: Water in Geology
Video: Standard Deviants School: Geology: Program 5: Plate TectonicsVideo: Tell Me Why: Space, Earth, Gems & Metals 1980's
Volume 1 (Books 1-4) Pony Pals - Jeanne Betancourt
Video: Holidays For Children: Easter - Schlessinger
Volume 2 (Books 5-8) Pony Pals - Jeanne Betancourt
Don't Know Much About the Presidents - Kenneth DavisMama, Across the Sea - Alex Godard
Let's Look at the Seasons: Summertime - Ann Schweninger
Long Night Moon - Cynthia Rylant
The Third-Story Cat - Leslie Baker
Video: Between the Lions "Out in Outer Space - Staring the 'OU' Sound"
Video: PBS Kids - Adventures From the Book of Virtues, 'Self Discipline' featuring 'The Magic Thread' & Other Stories
Walter the Farting Dog: Trouble at the Yard Sale - William Kotzwinkle and Glenn Murray
The Antique Store Cat - Leslie Baker
Video: Icons of Evolution - Dismantling the Myths
Video: Insectia (Vol. 1)
Mommy, Why Do We Have Easter? - Lou YoheMoons - Our Universe - Gregory Vogt
A New True Book: Earth - Dennis Fradin
Don't Know Much About Mummies - Kenneth C. Davis
What Happens in the Spring? - Kathleen Costello Beer
Space Scientist - The Moon - Heather Couper and Negel Henbest
Video: Pegasus and Beauty and the Beast - Narrated by Mia Farrow (Greek Mythology)
Video: Volcanoes of the Deep Sea - IMAX 2003What Makes Day and Night - Franklyn M. Branley
Wonders of the Seasons - Kieth Brandt
The Reason for the Seasons - Gail Gibbons
Video: The Waltons Season 1: Disc 7
Sunshine Makes the Seasons - Franklyn M. Branley
Winter Poems - Barbara Rogasky
Why Do We Have Different Seasons? - Isaac Asimov
The Little Island - Golden Mac Donald
About the History of the Calendar - A. E. Evenson
Video: Little Women 1949
It's Winter - Linda Glaser
Hank the Cowdog: The Case of the Missing Cat - John R. Erickson
Hank the Cowdog: The Case of the Vampire Cat - John R. Erickson
The Bravest Mouse - Maria Barbero
Swing Around the Sun - Barbara Juster Esbensen
Fall - Ron Hirschi
Who is the Beast? - Keith BakerCity of the Gods: Mexico's Ancient City of Teotihuacán - Caroline Arnold
Diary of a Worm - Doreen Cronin
The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman - Darcy Pattison
Supersnouts! - Steve Björkman
I'm Still Here in the Bathtub - Alan Katz
Space Pirates - Scoular Anderson
I Love You the Purplest - Barbara M. Joosse
DK Eyewitness: Aztec, Inca, & Maya
DK Eyewitness: Volcano & Earthquake
Volcano - Patricia Lauber
Volcanoes: Nature on the Rampage - Christy Steele
Ancient Mayan Civilization - Nancy Day
Lost Civilizations: The Mayans - Stuart K. Kallen
Ancient Greece: The Original Olympics - Stewart Ross
Bobby Bear's Sticker Book - In Fields and Forest
A True Book: Figure Skating - Larry Dane Brimner
The Disaster of the Hindenburg - Shelley Tanaka
Destroyers - Michael Green
Where Lincoln Walked - Raymond Bial
Flower Garden - Eve Bunting
A New True Book: Baby Animals - Illa Podendorf
That's What Leprechauns Do - Eve Bunting
Video: A&E's Incredible World of Cats (Vol. II)
Toby the Tabby Kitten - Colleen Stanley Bare
Exploring Winter - Sandra Markle
Winter Across America - Seymour Simon
The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson BurnettVideo: The Secret Garden 1993 (Frances Ford Copela)
Video: Olympic Skating Exhibition Highlights 1998 (CBS)
Katie's Wish - Barbara Shook Hazen
Video: 2006 Torino NBC Figure Skating Ladies' & Pairs (Olympic Winter Games)
The Olympic Winter Games - Caroline Arnold
The Story of the White House - Natalie Miller (Cornerstones of Freedom)
The Easter Story According to the Gospels of Matthew, Luke & John From the King James Bible - paintings by Gennady Spirin
Easter - Jan Pieńkowski
Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland - Tomie de PaolaSaint Patrick and the Peddler - Margaret Hodges
St. Patrick's Day - Gail Gibbons
Clever Tom and the Leprechaun - Linda Shute
St. Patrick's Day in the Morning - Eve Bunting
A Civil War Drummer Boy: The Diary of William Bircher, 1861-1865 (abridged) - edited by Shelley S. Sateren
The Rain Puddle - Adelaide HollFrom Egg to Robin - Susan Canizares (for preschool-1st Grade kids)
The Hobbit - J.R. TolkienVideo: Back to the Secret Garden 2002
The Easter Story - Brian Wildsmith
The Story of Easter - Aileen Fisher
He is Risen: The Easter Story - adapted by Elizabeth Winthrop
Video: The Secret Garden BBC Series 1995
DK Eyewitness Books: Olympics
Hank the Cowdog: The Case of the One-Eyed Killer Stud Horse - John R. Erikson
Briana, Jamaica, and the Dance of Spring - Juanita Havill
Sunflower House - Eve Bunting
The Legend of St. Nicholas - Demi
Video: Love's Enduring Promise
Charlotte's Web - E. B. White
Hank the Cowdog: The Fiddle-Playing Fox - John R. Erikson
Hank the Cowdog: Let Sleeping Dogs Lie - John R. Erikson

Up next in the series will be:
Post #2 - Second and Third Grade Homeschool Curriculum
Post #3 - Second and Third Grade Field Trips
Post #4 - Second and Third Grade Learning Enrichment
Post #5 - Favorite KONOS Memories from Second and Third Grade
Post #6 - Memories from our KONOS Rock Unit!

Check back in here every day this week for more homeschool records for second and third grades. I'm also planning to bring you a few Mother's Day morsels.

Have a super Monday!


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