Great 2011 Summer Reads from Battle of the Books, Reading Rockets, and the Virginia Readers Choice Books

     Although I am on hiatus with the blog for summer break until August, I can't resist passing along some ideas for summer reading! If you look to the right, my Shelfari shelf shows the fifteen books that are on the 2012 Battle of the Books list for the 4th/5th grade. You can "browse" the shelves by clicking on "next" at the bottom of the shelf and you can click on the titles to see reader ratings and feedback. 


     One of my favorite sites for promoting literacy is Reading Rockets (you can read a previous post I wrote about this site by clicking here.)  Their 2011 Big Summer Read page gives suggestions for families and educators for ages 0-3, 3-6, and 6-9 year olds. The guides can be downloaded for an easy list for summer library explorations.  


    Another great source of summer reading suggestions can be found in the Virginia Readers Choice book lists. This list is sponsored by the Virginia State Reading Association. You can find out more about the books by clicking on the Primary or Elementary listings here:

Primary Lists for 2011

Elementary Lists for 2011

Titles from the Primary List:

• Otis by Loren Long (Philomel Books, 2009)

• Harry and Horsie by Katie Van Camp (Balzer & Bray, 2009)

• We Are In a Book by Mo Willems (Hyperion, 2010)

• The Odd Egg by Emily Gravett (MacMillan Children’s Books, 2010)

• Testing the Ice by Sharon Robinson (Scholastic, 2009)

• A Isn’t for Fox by Wendy Ulmer (Sleeping Bear Press, 2007)

• What Pet to Get by Emma Dodd (Scholastic, 2008)

• Machines Go To Work by William Low (Henry Holt, 2009)

• The Big Elephant in the Room by Lane Smith (Hyperion, 2009)

• How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills (Schwartz and Wade, 2010)

Titles from the Elementary List:

• The 100 Year Old Secret by Tracy Barrett (Henry Holt, 2008)

• 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass (Scholastic, 2009)

• All the Lovely Bad Ones by Mary Downing Hahn, (Sandpiper-Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008)

• Annie Glover is NOT a Tree Lover by Darleen Bailey Beard (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2009)

• Captain Nobody by Dean Pitchford (G.P. Putnam and Sons, 2009)

• Colonial Voices: Hear Them Speak by Kay Winters (Sutton, 2008)      (Find out more about Colonial Voices: Hear Them Speak in one of my previous blog post)

• The Dog Days of Charlotte Hayes by Marlane Kenedy (Greenwillow Books, 2009)

• Drita, My Homegirl by Jenny Lombard (Putnam Juvenile, 2006)

• How Oliver Olson Changed the World by Claudia Mills (FarrarStraus and Giroux, 2009)

• Wild Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff (Wendy Lamb Books, 2009)

     The staff of the Williamsburg Regional Library Youth Services Department will be happy to help you find any book, including the BOB or Virginia Readers Choice books.  The librarians are fabulous! Enjoy the remainder of the summer and keep reading!