Summer Vacation Has Started....

School is finally over and it is time to start having fun, but don't forget to read this summer.  Unsure what to start with?  Checkout some of these great chapter and picture books about summer vacation.  Whether you spend your summer at summer school, searching for aliens, hiding from the police, or hanging out at the pool; there is a book that you will enjoy! 
 
Chapter Books

 

1) Summer at Forsaken Lake by Michael D. Beil
2) The sasquatch escape by Suzanne Selfors
3) Horse camp by Nicole Lea Helget

1) Rebel McKenzie by Candice F. Ransom
2) Ten good and bad things about my life (so far) by Ann M. Martin
3) My summer of pink and green by Lisa Greenwald

1) Seaglass summer by Anjali Banerjee2) How to survive a totally boring summer by Alice DeLaCrois
3) Here's how I see it: here's how it is by Heather Henson

 

1) One crazy summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
2) Tracing stars by Erin E. Moulton
3) Summer of the gypsy moths by Sara Pennypacker

1) The absolute value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine
2) Glory be by Augusta Scattergood
3) The summer of May by Cecelia Galante

1) Minn and Jake's almost terrible summer by Janet S. Wong
2) Life and crimes of Bernetta Wallflower by Lisa Graff
3) Lawn boy by Gary Paulsen

1) A million miles from Boston by Karen Day
2) My life as a book by Janet Tashjian
3) The summer before boys by Nora Raleigh Baskin

1) Tortilla sun by Jennifer Cervantes
2) As simple as it seems by Sarah Weeks
3) The last best days of summer by Valerie Hobbs

1) The get rich quick club by Dan Gutman
2) Summer of the wolves by Polly Carlson-Voiles
3) The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

1) Moxy Maxwell does not love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford
2) Umbrella summer by Lisa Graff
3) The lemonade war by Jacqueline Davies

1) The summer of moonlight secrets by Danette Haworth
2) Nature girl by Jane Kelley


Picture Books

1) Zoomer's summer snowstorm by Ned Young
2) Mama, it is summer yet? by Nikki McClare
3) A couple boys have the best week ever by Marla Frazee

1) The boy who wouldn't swim by Deb Lucke
2) Four friends in summer by Tomie DePaola
3) The night before summer camp by Natasha Wing

1) Grandma summer by Harley Jessup
2) Summer beat by Betsy Franco

Have fun this summer, and keep reading!

 

Summer Reading Booktalks at Wampus

This week the Children's Librarians are visiting the Wampus School to promote Summer Reading.  While there, they are presenting fun chapter books to read over the summer.  Below are the list for the 3rd and 4th grade classes of the books presented.  If the book is not available you can place a hold on the title.  While you wait for the book to come in, check out some of the other books by the same author.

3rd Grade:

Great Critter Capers: the Great Cat Conspiracy by Katie Davies

 

1) The Great Hamster Massacre, book 1
2) The Great Rabbit Rescue, book 2
3) The Great Dog Disaster, book 4

A First Kids Mystery: the Case of the Rock 'n' Roll Dog by Martha Freeman

 

1) The Case of the Diamond Dog Collar, book 2
2) The Case of the Ruby Slippers, book 3
3) The Case of the Piggy Bank Thief, book 4
4) The Case of the Missing Dinosaur Egg, book 5

 

 

4th Grade

 

Ungifted by Gordon Korman

 

1) Everest (Trilogy)
2) Dive (Trilogy)
3) Swindle (Series)
4) Schooled

 

Romeo and Juliet Code by Phoebe Stone

 

1) Romeo Blue (Sequel to Romeo and Juliet Code)
2) Deep down popular
3) The Boy on Cinnamon Street

 

 



 

 

Getting ready to go to sleepaway camp?

School is almost over and summer is right around the corner.  If you are getting ready to leave for sleepaway camp, then check out one of these great chapter books to get ready for a summer of fun and excitment away from home.  Titles that are part of a series are indicated in the description.  Each of these titles can be read without having read the previous books in the series.


Summer Ball by Mike Lupica : Thirteen-year-old Danny must prove himself to a disapproving coach and against new rivals at a summer basketball camp.  This is the sequel to Travel Team.

Secrets from the sleeping bag: a blogtastic novel by Rose Cooper :  During four weeks of summer camp, Sofia Becker writes all the juiciest information in her notebook, so she can continue her blog when she returns home.  This is book three in the Blogtastic series. 

Sports camp by Rich Wallace : Eleven-year-old Riley tries to fit in at Camp Olympia, a summer camp where he is one of the youngest boys.

Spy camp by Stuart Gibbs : Twelve-year-old Ben, a student at the CIA's academy for future intelligence agents, prepares to go to spy summer camp when he receives a death threat from the evil organization SPYDER.  This is the companion novel to Spy School.

Letters from camp by Kate Klise : Sent to Camp Happy Harmony to learn how to get along with each other, pairs of brothers and sisters chronicle in letters home how they come to suspect the real intentions of the singing family running the camp.

A horse of her own by Annie Wedekind : At summer camp, Jane feels like an outsider among the cliquish rich girls who board their horses at Sunny Acres farm. When the horse she has been riding is sold to another camper, she feels even worses until her teacher asks her to help train a beautiful but skittish new horse, and the experience brings out the best in her.

Raymond and Graham, cool campers by Mike Knudson : Best friends Raymond and Graham, decide to reinvent themselves when they go to Camp Grizzly over the summer.

Jemma Hartman, camper extraordinaire by Brenda A. Ferber : Spending the summer after fifth grade at Camp Star Lake in Wisconsin, Jemma discovers the joy of sailing and learns a lesson about friendship.

Summer according to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney : When summer arrives, Humphrey, the pet hamster of Longfellow School's room 26, is surprised and pleased to learn that he will be going to Camp Happy Hollow.

Nerd camp by Elissa Brent Weissman : Ten-year-old Gabe goes to the Summer Center for Gifted Enrichment.  It is all that he dreamed it would be, but Gabe finds it hard to write about camp in letters to his cool new stepbrother, Zach, without revealing that it is a camp for nerds.

My extra best friend by Julie Bowe : Ida May is surprised and angry when Elizabeth, her old best friend, who moved away and did not answer any of her letters, shows up at summer camp with a new look and hopes of reestablishing their former friendship.  This is book five in the Friends for keeps series.

Call of the bully by Scott Starkey : Stuck at Camp Wy-Mee, not-so-brave Rodney Rathbone is forced to try to make friends, and finds himself once again in the unlikely roll of camp hero.  This is the sequel to How to beat a bully without really trying.

 

 

Charlie Joe Jackson's guide to summer vacation by Tommy Greenwald : Charlie Joe Jackson is sent to academic summer camp.  There he tries to convert all the other kids to non-academics, like himself.   This is book three is the Charlie Joe Jackson series.  

Have a great time this summer at sleepaway camp. Whether this is you first time or you are a seasoned pro, these books are sure to get you ready for summer.  Enjoy!







Picture Book Biographies

Enjoy reading picture books but are looking for something new to try... then checkout these great picture book biographies about interesting people in history.

 

1. She loved baseball: the Effa Manley story by Audrey Vernick

• Effa Manley was the first female to own a baseball team and to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

2. Mermaid queen by Shana Corey

• This is the story of one of the first professional female athletes, who introduced the world to women as competitive swimmers and is credited with the creation of synchronized swimming.

3. Stealing home: Jackie Robinson against the odds by Robert Burleigh

• This story both capture the moments before Jackie Robinson steals home plate in the first game of the World Series against the NY Yankees and tells the story of his life through brief captions. 

 

 

4. Manfish: a story of Jacques Cousteau by Jennifer Berne

• Jacques Cousteau combined his childhood love of the sea and film to explore the vast sea and bring these discoveries into people’s living rooms and movie theaters 

5. Odd boy out: young Albert Einstein by Don Brown

• This story explores Einstein’s early years when he struggled with school and his family.

6. I, Galileo by Bonnie Christensen

• Discover Galileo’s world changing idea about our solar system and what happened to him to presenting these ideas

 

 



7. Miss Moore thought otherwise by Jan Pinborough

• This is the story of how one woman worked to give children the right to use the library and borrow books.  Before Anne Carroll Moore came along, it was believed that children did not have a place in the library. 

8. Sky high: the true story of Maggie Gee by Marissa Moss

• Maggie Gee was one of only two Chinese-American women pilots during World War II. Growing up, female pilots were rare and WWII gave Maggie her chance to serve her country while doing what she spent her childhood dreaming of.

9. Louisa May's battle: how the Civil War led to Little Women by Kathleen Krull

• Louisa’s three months serving as a nurse during the Civil War helped to create her greatest work and create a unique writing style.

 



10. An eye for color: the story of Josef Albers by Natasha Wing

• Painter, Josef Albers saw art in simple things and spent his life studying color. He changed the way the art world looked at color and the way teachers taught art.

11. A splash of red: the life and art of Horace Pippin by Jen Bryant

• This is the story of a self-taught artist, who used his memories, surroundings, and harsh struggles to create beautiful art that hang in museums today.

12. Sandy's circus: a story of Alexander Calder by Tanya Lee Stone

• When Sandy was young he was always fiddling with odds and ends.  As he grew older he moved onto wire sculptures, creating lions, horses, dogs and other creatures until he created a whole circus.  Calder traveled between Paris and New York amazing audiences and creating a new form of mobile art. 

13. Jim Henson: the guy who played with puppets by Kathleen Krull

• Discover the life of the man who created Sesame Street and The Muppet Show.  From his early childhood through his adult life discover all the moments that led to his success.

14. Different like Coco by Elizabeth Matthews

• At the age of twelve, Coco was orphaned and sent to live at an orphanage run by nuns.  There she learned to sew and used that skill to make her way through society.  With an unapologetic attitude and the desire to stand out Gabrielle Chanel made a name for herself in 20^th century Europe and throughout the world.

15. The boy who drew birds: a story of John James Audubon by Jacqueline Davies

• Before John Audubon, many scientists believed that small birds did not migrate but instead hibernated in large groups under water in the winter.  John Audubon was the first to discover that even small birds migrated in the winter.  Learn about the year of Audubon’s discovery.

16. Lost boy: the story of the man who created Peter Pan by Jane Yolen

• See how J.M. Barrie’s life from childhood through adulthood helped to shape his classic story of Peter Pan.  From his life growing up in a home filled with children and stories to his adult life befriending the Llewellyn Davies family all helped to create the magic of Peter Pan.

 

17. The Beatles were fab (and they were funny) by Kathleen Krull

• Discover Beatlemania from the beginning.  Find out how John, Paul, George, and Ringo started out and how their music crossed a continent and amazed the world.

18. Bill the boy wonder: the secret co-creator of Batman by Marc Tyler Nobleman

• While most Batman fans know who Bob Kane was, he was not the sole creator of Batman.  Learn how Batman really came to be with the assistance of Bill Finger, the original writer of the Batman comics, and why his name never ended up on a Batman comic.

19. Queen of the falls by Chris Van Allsburg

• At the turn of the nineteenth century, a retired charmed school instructor goes on the adventure of her life as she attempts to go over Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel. 

20. Stand Straight, Ella Kate: the true story of a real giant by Kate Klise

• Ella Kate started out a small child but grew to be more than eight feet tall.  What was the subject of her tears as a child became the thing that allowed her to tour the country as a star attraction on the biggest traveling show of her day.

 Enjoy!