Reading Suggestions:
There are certain timeless books whose appeal never diminishes. Here are some of Cleveland Reads' favorite classics. They will contribute to a child’s wisdom, inner world of fancy, vocabulary, code of ethics, standards, and sense of fun and beauty. Not every child will enjoy every one of these books, but every child should have the chance to see, read and hear good literature.
The following resources contributed to this list: Cleveland Public Library, Jim Trelease, Reading Rainbow and The Horn Book.
PRE-KINDERGARTEN TO AGE 8:
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Title |
Author |
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Anno’s Counting Book |
Anno, Mitsumasa |
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Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain |
Aardema, Verna |
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Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears |
Aardema, Verna |
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The Ugly Duckling |
Anderson, Hans Christian |
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East of the Sun, West of the Moon |
Asbjorsen, P.C. |
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Madeline (series) |
Bemelmans, Ludwig |
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Flat Stanley (series) |
Brown, Jeff |
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Once a Mouse |
Brown, Marcia |
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Stone Soup |
Brown, Marcia |
|
| Goodnight Moon |
|
Brown, Margaret Wise |
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The Runaway Bunny |
Brown, Margaret Wise |
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The Little House |
Burton, Virginia |
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Mike Mulligan and his Steamshovel |
Burton, Virginia Lee |
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“I can’t,” said the Ant |
Cameron, Polly |
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The Very Hungry Caterpillar |
Carle, Eric |
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Ramona the Pest (series) |
Cleary, Beverly |
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Chanticleer and the Fox |
Cooney, Barbara |
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The Story of Babar |
De Brunhoff, Jean |
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Tomie de Paolo’s Mother Goose |
De Paolo, Tomie |
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Abuela (series) |
Dorros, Arthur |
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The Cat in the Hat |
Dr. Seuss |
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The Hats of Bartholomew Huggins |
Dr. Seuss |
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Petunia |
Duvoisin, Roger |
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Are You My Mother? |
Eastman, P.D. |
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Drummer Hoff |
Emberley, Barbara |
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Angus and the Ducks (series) |
Flack, Marjorie |
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The Story about Ping |
Flack, Marjorie |
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Corduroy |
Freeman, Don |
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Millions of Cats |
Gag, Wanda |
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Three Billy Goats Gruff |
Galdone, Paul |
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Little Toot |
Gramatky, Hardie |
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The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales |
Grimm, Jakob and Willhelm |
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| Lily's Purple Plastic Purse |
|
Henkes, Kevin |
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Bedtime for Frances (series) |
Hoban Russell |
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Amazing Grace |
Hoffman, Mary |
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One Fine Day |
Hogrogian, Nonny |
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Rosie’s Walk |
Hutchins, Pat |
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Just So Stories |
Kipling, Rudyard |
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The Snowy Day |
Keats, Ezra Jack |
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Leo the Late Bloomer |
Kraus, Robert |
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The Story of Ferdinand |
Leaf, Munro |
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Frog and Toad are Friends |
Lobel, Arnold |
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Ming Lo Moves the Mountain |
Lobel, Arnold |
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Make Way for Ducklings |
McCloskey, Robert |
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When We Were Very Young |
Milne, A.A. |
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Winnie the Pooh (series) |
Milne, A.A. |
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Tikki Tikki Tembo |
Mosel, Arlene |
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Amelia Bedelia |
Parish, Peggy |
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Hubert’s Hair-Raising Adventure |
Peet, Bill |
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Kermit the Hermit |
Peet, Bill |
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The Little Engine that Could |
Piper, Watty |
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Chicken Sunday |
Polacco, Patricia |
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Peter Rabbit |
Potter, Beatrix |
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Curious George |
Rey, H.A. |
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Tar Beach |
Ringgold, Faith |
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The Three Bears and 15 Other Stories |
Rockwell, Anne |
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Little Bear |
Sendak, Maurice |
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Where the Wild Things Are |
Sendak, Maurice |
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Caps for Sale |
Slabodkina, Esphyr |
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Dr. DeSota |
Steig, William |
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Sylvester and the Magic Pebble |
Steig, William |
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Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible
No Good Very Bad Day |
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Viorst, Judith |
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The Velveteen Rabbit |
Williams, Margery |
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The House on 88th Street (series) |
Waber, Bernard |
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Harry the Dirty Dog |
Zion, Gene |
Folk Tales & Fairy Tales:
|
Title |
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Chicken Little (or Henny Penny) |
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Hansel and Gretel |
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Sleeping Beauty |
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Snow White and Rose Red |
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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs |
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The Gingerbread Boy |
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The Little Red Hen |
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The Nightingale |
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The Shoemaker and the Elves |
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The Steadfast Tin Soldier |
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The Three Bears |
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The Three Little Pigs |
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The Ugly Duckling |
|
The Wild Swans |
AGES 9 TO 13:
|
Title |
Author |
|
|
Mr. Popper's Penguins |
Atwater, Richard & Florence |
|
| The Indian in the Cupboard (series) | Banks, Lynne Reid | |
| The Secret Garden |
|
Burnett, Frances Hodgson |
|
Frindle |
Clements, Andrew |
|
|
Adventures of Pinocchio |
Collodi, Carlo |
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| Walk Two Moons | Creech, Sharon | |
| Elijah Buxton | Curtis, Christopher Paul | |
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James and the Giant Peach |
Dahl, Roald |
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The Wheel on the School |
De Jong, Meindert |
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The Twenty-One Balloons |
DuBois, William |
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The Last of the Really Great Wangdoodles |
Edwards, Julie Andrews | |
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The Hundred Dresses |
Estes, Eleanor |
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Johnny Tremaine |
Forbes, Esther |
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My Father's Dragon |
Gannett, Ruth |
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The Wind in the Willows |
Graham, Kenneth |
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| Words of Stone | Henkes, Kevin | |
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King of the Wind |
Henry, Marguerite |
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| The Adventures of Tintin (series) | Herge | |
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Across Five Aprils |
Hunt, Irene |
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The Jungle Book |
Kipling, Rudyard |
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A Wrinkle in Time |
L'Engle, Madeline |
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The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe |
Lewis, C.S. |
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Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH |
O’Brien, Robert |
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Island of the Blue Dolphins |
O'Dell, Scott |
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| Bridge to Terabithia | Paterson, Katherine | |
| Hatchet (series) | Paulsen, Gary | |
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A Day No Pigs Would Die |
Peck, Robert Newton |
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Where the Red Fern Grows |
Rawls, Wilson |
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Holes |
Sachar, Louis |
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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn |
Smith, Betty |
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| Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (series) | Taylor, Mildred | |
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The Hobbit |
Tolkien, J.R.R. |
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Mary Poppins |
Travers, Pamela |
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Charlotte’s Web |
White, E.B. |
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Stuart Little |
White, E.B. |
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Little House (series) |
Wilder, Laura Ingalls |
Mythology, Fables, & Folklore:
|
Title |
|
1001 Arabian Nights |
|
Aesop's Fables |
|
Book of Myths (Roman & Greek) |
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King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table |
|
Merry Adventures of Robin Hood |
|
Paul Bunyon and His Blue Ox Babe |
|
Pecos Bill |
Other recommendations for adolescents
Charly Skedaddle by Patricia Beatty: During the Civil War, a 12 year old boy joins the Union Army as a drummer, deserts during a battle in Virginia and encounters a hostile old mountain woman.
Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander: Jason's cat, Gareth, takes him traveling through time on nine fantastic adventures. You will see the world as you read this book.
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell: Records the courage and self reliance of an Indian girl who lived alone for 18 years on an isolated island off the California coast.
The Moves Make the Man by Bruce Brooke: An African-American boy and an emotionally troubled white boy in North Carolina form a precarious friendship.
Well-Wished by Franny Billingsley: Nuria tries to outwit a wishing well in her mysterious mountain village.
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse: In a series of poems, fifteen-year-old Billie Jo relates what it is like to live on an Oklahoma farm during the dust bowl of the 1930's.
The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman: In medieval England, a homeless girl is befriended by a sharp-tongued midwife and eventually gains the three things she wants most.
Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt: Jethro Creighton grows from a boy to a man when he must care for his family farm during the years of the Civil War.
The Giver by Lois Lowry: When Jonas becomes the receiver of memories for his community, he realizes the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin: The mysterious death of a multi-millionaire brings together an assortment of heirs who must solve the circumstances of his death before inheriting his money.
Homecoming by Cyhthia Voigt: Abandoned by their mother, four children set off to find their grandmother and start a new life.
Available titles by the following authors are also highly recommended:
Gary Soto
Jacqueline Woodson
