Getting Ready for School with Books Our Teachers Love

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!

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Episcopal School of Acadiana

Episcopal School of Acadiana is a private coeducational day school for students in grades PK3 through 12. Our mission is to instill in every student the habits of scholarship and honor.

Episcopal School of Acadiana (Lafayette Campus)

PK3 through 5th grade
721 E. Kaliste Saloom Rd. Lafayette LA, USA 70508
Phone: 337-993-2263

Episcopal School of Acadiana (Cade Campus)

6th through 12th grades
1557 Smede Rd. at Hwy. 92 Broussard, LA, USA 70518
Phone: 337-365-1416
ESA does not discriminate on the basis of physical disability, race, religion, gender, or national or ethnic origin.
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