With the start of school just over two weeks away, it’s time to get back into the habits and routines that make school days run smoothly. One of the best things a student can do to be ready for school is to pick up a book. Reading, or following along as someone reads, improves vocabulary and comprehension skills, lays a foundation for good writing, and inspires the imagination. Here, ESA teachers share their favorite books for our youngest students through upper schoolers and adults.
Recommendations are for the grade level taught unless otherwise indicated.
Kindergarten teacher Julie Miller
Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran.
“It’s the epitome of childhood play during the summer,” says Mrs. Julie.
Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel
“Simple, but timeless stories of two good friends and the support they give each other.”
Second grade teacher Emily Theriot
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
Third grade teacher Joanne Broussard
Grumpy Monkey Party Time by Suzanne Lang
Third grade teacher Leslie Tidwell
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
“A young adult novel that I adore. The characters are unique and relatable, the prose is absorbing and poetic, and the story draws you in and makes it hard to pull away!”
Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
“I was a bit of a reluctant reader when I was young, and this book helped me to love reading. The characters are strange, and the situations they get into are hilarious. This book started me on my path to loving weird stories and weird people.”
Lower school language arts teacher Coty Eastin
Recommendations for upper elementary students
Ida B by Katherine Hannigan
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Pax by Sara Pennypacker
Lower school math teacher Deb Cochran
Recommendation for upper elementary students
City of Ember series (People of Sparks, Diamond of Darkhold and The Prophet of Yonwood) by Jeanne DuPrau
Lower School librarian Claire Alvarado
Recommendations for upper elementary students
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Wonder by R.J. Palacio
The Royal Diaries series by various authors
Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs
Poached by Stuart Gibbs
Big Game by Stuart Gibbs
Lion Down by Stuart Gibbs
Middle School English teacher Missy Gates
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Retired English teacher Susan Doré
Recommendations for adults and upper school students
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed
Original Sin (Adam Dalgliesh Mysteries Book 9) by P. D. James (or anything by P.D. James)
The Nightingale: A Novel by Kristin Hannah
Cade Campus Chaplain Reese Fuller
Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan
“The ideal summer read for any middle schooler - quirky (and sometimes absurd) short stories accompanied with great art about growing up in suburbia. No heavy lifting involved. Just enjoyment.”
English department chair and upper school teacher Dr. Delecia Carey
My Ántonia by Willa Cather (1918)
“One of the most important American novels of the twentieth century. It is beautifully written, and it depicts the importance of migration to American ideals. The narrator, Jim, tells the story of his childhood friend, Antonia, as they grow up together on the prairies of the midwest. It should be accessible to students from grades 6-12. Cather was a woman ahead of her time by about a hundred years; I love to think about what she would have accomplished had she been publishing in the early twenty-first century instead of the early twentieth century.”
Upper school English teacher Scott Jordan
All the Light We Cannot See by Frederick Doerr
“Beautiful writing and fiction with two colliding storylines from France and Germany in WWII. For juniors or seniors.”
We hope these suggestions inspire you to make time to read every day!