Great Books for Fun, Adventure and Thrills

Picture Books

Bunting, Eve, The Wall:
A father takes his young son to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Greenberg, Jan, Chuck Close Up Close:
The true story of the American artist who has struggled with disabilities.

Polacco, Patricia, Thank You Mr. Falker:
Patricia is having trouble learning to read until her 5th grade teacher discovers her secret.

Scieszka, Jon, The Stinky Cheese Man:
A spoof of favorite fairy tales.

Talbott, Hudson, Excalibur, The Knights of the Round Table:
The continuing story of King Arthur.

Yolen, Jane, Encounter: A new version of Columbus' discovery.

Fiction and Non-Fiction

AMERICAN GIRL series (various authors):
Well-written historical fiction about the girls represented by the American Girl dolls.

APPLEGATE, KATHERINE: Animorphs:
Kids battle aliens by "morphing" into other animals. Science fiction series.

BLUME, JUDY, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing:
Peter has to cope with his two-year-old brother, Fudge. Not easy to do. What can be worse than having your younger brother eat your turtle? Also, Superfudge continues the story.

BYARS, BETSY, Disappearing Acts, Tarot Means Beware:
Herculeah Jones mysteries feature humor and excitement.

BYARS, BETSY, The Seven Treasure Hunts:
Two friends make up treasure hunts for each other with unexpected results.

BYARS, BETSY, Tornado:
A story within a story about a dog and a bad storm--both named Tornado.

CHRISTOPHER, MATT, Penalty Shot:
Hockey and growing up.

CLEARY, BEVERLY, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Runaway Ralph, and Ralph S. Mouse:
The adventures of Ralph the mouse on his motorcycle, and the friends he makes along the way.

CLEARY, BEVERLY, Otis Spofford:
Bad boy Otis is just trying to add a little excitement to his life.

CLEARY, BEVERLY, Ramona series:
From Ramona the Pest to this year's Ramona's World. Follow her adventures from Kindergarten on through school.

COVILLE, BRUCE, The Monster's Ring:
A ring from a magic shop has unexpected powers, on Halloween, no less!

DAHL, ROALD, The Twits:
Can there be a worse family than this?  

DAHL, ROALD, The BFG:
This is the Big Friendly Giant, in an adventure with the orphan Sophie you won't want to miss. Not like those other giants.  

DANZIGER, PAULA, Amber Brown series:
Amber is everybody's favorite third grader who endures the many trials of growing up. Including Amber Brown Goes Fourth: Our favorite third grader is heading to fourth.

DEAR AMERICA series (various Authors):
Journals of girls in historically accurate settings.

FLEISCHMANN, SID, The Whipping Boy:
Jemmy has to take Prince Brat's punishment, and has to put up with his hair-brained schemes to run away from home. Can there be anything worse than the job of whipping boy? Jem finds out when he escapes the palace with the prince.

FLORIAN, DOUG, Laugh-a-teria:
Funny poems about everything.

GANNETT, RUTH STILES, My Father's Dragon (and other books in the series).
Very funny adventure story about a small boy's attempts to rescue an overworked dragon!

GARDNER, JOHN, Stone Fox: The classic story of a dog race, and much more.

GRAEBER, CHARLOTTE, Mustard: The life of a beloved pet cat.

HOWE, JAMES, Bunnicula, The Celery Stalks at Midnight:
When a vampire bunny moves into the house, a detective is needed before the vampire bunny throws the household into a turmoil.

HESSE, KAREN, Sable: A great dog story.

KING-SMITH, DICK, Babe: Compare the book to the movie.

LOWRY, LOIS, All About Sam:
Very funny stories about an unforgettable person.

MARTIN, RAFE, The Rough-Face Girl:
An Indian Cinderella story with beautiful pictures.

NAYLOR, PHYLLIS REYNOLDS, Shiloh, Shiloh Season, Shiloh's Return:
A boy's struggle to save a dog from his abusive owner.

NAYLOR, PHYLLIS REYNOLDS, The Fear Place:
Alone, a boy must save his brother in the Rocky Mountain wilderness, overcoming his fears, befriended by a mountain lion.

PETERSON, P. J., I Hate Camping:
Dan doesn't want to go camping with his stepfather-to-be. He wants to go to the amusement park!

PILKEY, DAV, The Adventures of Captain Underpants:
Series of stories about the superhero whose secret identity is the elementary school principal!

ROCKWELL, THOMAS, How to Eat Fried Worms:
Be careful about the bets you make!

ROWLING, J. K., Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban:
Perfect books to share with your parents. Don't miss Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the latest in the series!

SACHAR, LOUIS, Wayside School gets a Little Stranger:
Can it get stranger? Check out the series.

SCIESZKA, JON, The Time Warp Trio: Knights of the Kitchen Table, Your Mother Was a Neanderthal; The Good, the Bad, and the Goofy; Tut-Tut, 2095, Summer Reading is Killing Me:
Three friends find ways to travel backwards and forwards in time, but the people they meet aren't always happy to see them!  

SKURZYNSKI, GLORIA, The Minstrel in the Tower:
Two kids in medieval times try to get help for their sick mother, but end up imprisoned in a tower instead!

SPINELLI, JERRY, Fourth Grade Rats:
Suds doesn't want to change from being a third grade angel into a fourth grade rat. But time goes on!

TAYLOR, MILDRED, Song of the Trees, The Friendship, The Well:
Realistic stories of the Logans, an African American family, set in the early 1900's.

WHITE, E.B., Trumpet of the Swan: Louis the trumpeter swan can't honk. His friend, Sam, helps him to adapt in this wonderful summer story.

Of course, don't neglect E. B. White's other treasures: Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little.

YOLEN, JANE, The Young Merlin Trilogy: Hobby, Passager, and Merlin.
Good introduction to the saga of King Arthur from another viewpoint.

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