Teacher-Selected Books for This Month's Reading Clubs

Last updated Tuesday, April 24, 2018

May: "Fantasy, Folklore, & Fairytales"

	Kindergarten The Storybook Knight, by Helen Docherty Summary:  From School Library Journal: "Leo is a small knight who is fond of adventures — at least the ones found in books. His parents hope that the challenge of fighting a dragon with his new shield and sword will turn him into a brave, dragon-fighting knight. Leo sets off on his quest with a supply of good books, but along the way, he meets foes looking for fights. Thankfully, Leo is quick with a story to calm the angry beasts — even a dangerous dragon likes a good tale... The characters' voices are distinct and beg to be read aloud."
	1st Grade Max and the Tag‐Along Moon, by Floyd Cooper Summary:  Max loves his grandpa. When they must say good-bye after a visit, Grandpa reminds Max that the moon above them at Grandpa’s house is the same moon that will follow him all the way home. And on that swervy-curvy car ride back home Max smiles as the moon tags along, thinking of Grandpa. But when the sky darkens and the moon disappears behind clouds, Max worries that it did not follow him home after all. Yet when the clouds part and light streams through his window, he realizes that Grandpa was right —t he moon was with him all along.
	2nd Grade The Tiger Who Would Be King, by James Thurber Summary:  A short and piercing fable about a power-hungry tiger who sets out to become the king of beasts and ends up decimating the jungle into a subjectless kingdom. Nearly a century later, illustrator and printmaker JooHee Yoon brings the Thurber classic to breathtaking new life in this stunning picture-book.
	3rd Grade Miguel's Brave Knight: Young Cervantes and His Dream of Don Quixote, by Margarita Engle Summary:  Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra finds refuge from his difficult childhood by imagining the adventures of a brave but clumsy knight. This fictionalized first-person biography in verse of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra follows the early years of the child who grows up to pen Don Quixote, the first modern novel. The son of a gambling, vagabond barber-surgeon, Miguel looks to his own imagination for an escape from his family’s troubles and finds comfort in his colorful daydreams. At a time when access to books is limited and imaginative books are considered evil, Miguel is inspired by storytellers and wandering actors who perform during festivals. Margarita Engle’s distinctive picture book depiction of the childhood of the father of the modern novel, told in a series of free verse poems, is enhanced by Raúl Colón’s stunning illustrations.
	4th Grade Orphan Island, by Laurel Snyder Summary:  In the tradition of modern-day classics like Lois Lowry's The Giver comes a deep, compelling, heartbreaking, and completely one-of-a-kind novel about nine children who live on a mysterious island. On the island, everything is perfect. The sun rises in a sky filled with dancing shapes; the wind, water, and trees shelter and protect those who live there; when the nine children go to sleep in their cabins, it is with full stomachs and joy in their hearts. And only one thing ever changes: on that day, each year, when a boat appears from the mist upon the ocean carrying one young child to join them—and taking the eldest one away, never to be seen again. Today’s Changing is no different. The boat arrives, taking away Jinny’s best friend, Deen, replacing him with a new little girl named Ess, and leaving Jinny as the new Elder. Jinny knows her responsibility now—to teach Ess everything she needs to know about the island, to keep things as they’ve always been. But will she be ready for the inevitable day when the boat will come back — and take her away forever from the only home she’s known?
	5th Grade A Crack in the Sea, by H. M. Bouwman Summary:  No one comes to the Second World on purpose. The doorway between worlds opens only when least expected. The Raft King is desperate to change that by finding the doorway that will finally take him and the people of Raftworld back home. To do it, he needs Pip, a young boy with an incredible gift—he can speak to fish; and the Raft King is not above kidnapping to get what he wants. Pip’s sister Kinchen, though, is determined to rescue her brother and foil the Raft King’s plans.