Do you have a child going into 2nd grade? Try using this great summer reading list created by the Newton Public School Library Teachers & the Newton Free Children’s Librarians because my list is likely on your library shelves. The list includes the best newly published books across all genres including picture books, easy readers, non-fiction, poetry and graphic novels. I hope this helps to keep your kids reading!
What are you reading with your child this summer? Please share!
Other Lists:
Rising Kindergarten Summer Reading List
Rising Second Grade Summer Reading List
Rising Third Grade Summer Reading List
Rising Fourth Grade Summer Reading List
Rising Fifth Grade Summer Reading List
Rising First Grade Summer Reading List
The Other Side of Town by Jon Agee
A taxi cab driver in New York City gets very confused when he picks up a guy in a goofy suit.
A Rock is Lively by Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long
Introduces readers to rocks and minerals, describing how they are created, what they can be used for, and their different forms and types.
Ocean Sunlight by Molly Bang
Explains how all life on the Earth depends, directly or indirectly, on light from the sun, and describes how all ocean life, from the tiniest plankton to great whales, including the creatures in the darkest depths, forms a web that uses sunshine.
America the Beautiful by Katharine Lee Bates
A moving celebration of “America the Beautiful” featuring artwork from ten distinguished artists and inspiring presidential quotes.
Tito Puente by Monica Brown
From musical prodigy on the streets of Harlem to five-time Grammy Award winner, Tito’s life was full of rhythm. Drums and claves, saxophones, and tambourines were all part of the fun.
The Cloud Spinner by Michael Catchpool
When the king orders a boy to make him a huge wardrobe out of the clouds in the sky, the boy warns him that it is more than he needs but the king does not listen.
Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball by John Coy
Discover the true story of how Naismith invented basketball in 1891 at a school in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Boy and Bot by Amy Dyckman
A boy and a robot strike up a friendship despite their differences.
How Things Work: In the House by Lisa Campbell Ernest
Profiles a range of common household objects–from soap and scissors to keys and toilets–to explain the basic principles of how they function.
Mr. Zinger’s Hat by Cary Fagan
This is the story of a bored little boy, who meets a man, and together they build a story.
The Year Comes Round: Haiku Through the Seasons by Sid Farrar
Twelve nature-themed haiku accompanied by lush illustrations by Caldecott Honor Winner Ilse Plume.
Seeds, Bees, Butterflies, and More! by Carole Gerber
Poems about the plant and insect world, designed to be read by two voices.
A Bus Called Heaven by Bob Gerber
An abandoned bus appears in front of Stella’s house one day, with a sign in the front marked “Heaven”, and it brings positive changes in the outlook of Stella and all who pass by in the community.
Frog Song by Brenda Z Guiberson
Discusses frog vocalizations and behavior in locations all over the world.
A Pet Named Sneaker by Joan Heilbroner
Sneaker the Snake is not only a good pet for Pete, he becomes a good student at Pete’s school and a hero at the public swimming pool.
Lemonade in Winter by Emily Jenkins
Pauline and her brother John-John set up a stand to sell lemonade, limeade, and lemon-limeade one cold, wintry day, then try to attract customers as Pauline adds up their earnings.
Molly the Pony: A True Story by Pam Kaster
Molly is abandoned during Hurricane Katrina. After she is rescued, she is attacked by a dog and must undergo a rare surgery for horses: amputation of her front leg. Now fitted with a prosthetic limb, Molly re-learns how to walk and embarks on a new mission as a therapy horse.
Auntie Yang’s Great Soybean Picnic by Ginnie Lo
A Chinese American girl’s Auntie Yang discovers soybeans, a favorite Chinese food growing in Illinois, leading her family to a soybean picnic tradition that grows into an annual community event.
Laundry Day by Maurie J. Manning
A boy travels throughout his lively neighborhood, searching for the owner of a red cloth he has found.
Maya Makes a Mess by Rutu Modan
Maya’s unique table manners turn the palace upside down when she accepts an invitation to dine with the queen.
H. O. R. S. E.: A Game of Basketball and Imagination by Christopher Myers
Two friends try to outdo each other on the basketball court in an out-of-this-world game of H.O.R.S.E.
Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds
The carrots that grow in Crackenhopper Field are the fattest and crispiest around and Jasper Rabbit cannot resist pulling some to eat each time he passes by until he begins hearing and seeing creepy carrots wherever he goes.
The Three Ninja Pigs by Corey Rosen Schwartz
In this twist on “The Three Little Pigs” tale, Pig One and Two neglect their ninja school martial arts training and are no match for the wolf, but Pig Three’s practice and dedication save the day.
The House That George Built by Wilfrid Sheed
Gershwin, in his brief but incandescent career, straddled Tin Pan Alley and Carnegie Hall, charming everyone in his orbit. Possessed of a world-class ego, Gershwin was also generous, exciting, and utterly original. Half a century later, his love songs are as moving as ever.
Bear Has a Story to Tell by Philip C. Stead
Bear, with the help of his animal friends, remembers the story he had hoped to tell before the onset of winter.
Because Amelia Smiled by David Ezra Stein
A little girl’s smile as she skips down the street in New York inspires a neighbor to send cookies to her grandson in Mexico, and the goodwill soon spreads around the world.
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse by Helen Ward
A retelling of Aesop’s well-known fable in which a country mouse visits a town mouse and they find they prefer very different ways of life.
Mac and Cheese and the Perfect Plan by Sarah Weeks
Mac finally convinces his best friend Cheese to go to the beach, but then they miss the bus.
Fox and Crow are Not Friends by Melissa Wiley
Continuing Aesop’s fable, Fox and Crow tussle over pieces of cheese, but Mama, one of the three bears, outwits them both.
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems
Once upon a time, there were three hungry Dinosaurs: Papa Dinosaur, Mama Dinosaur, and a Dinosaur who happened to be visiting from Norway. Not your average Goldilocks tale!
All the weeks for Going Into 2nd Grade Summer Math Problems are here:
Going into 2nd Grade Daily Math Problems: Week 1
Going into 2nd Grade Daily Math Problems: Week 2
Going into 2nd Grade Daily Math Problems: Week 3
Going into 2nd Grade Daily Math Problems: Week 4
Going into 2nd Grade Daily Math Problems: Week 5
Going into 2nd Grade Daily Math Problems: Week 6
Going into 2nd Grade Daily Math Problems: Week 7
Going into 2nd Grade Daily Math Problems: Week 8
Going into 2nd Grade Daily Math Problems: Week 9
Going into 2nd Grade Daily Math Problems: Week 10
Going into 2nd Grade Daily Math Problems: Week 11
Related Posts:
How to Teach 3rd Grade Kids to Program in Scratch
Best Summer Math Workbooks for Kids
Our Favorite Math Summer Workbooks
2nd Grade Free Math Website: Xtra Math
Best Math Math Apps for 2nd or 3rd Grade
10 Perfect Read Aloud Books for 3rd Grade
Summer Reading Lists and Resources for Kids
Funny Math-y Science-y Chapter Books for 3rd Grade and Up
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Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Massachusetts Book Award Long List
- Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
- Starred review from School Library Journal
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award Long List
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me
requesting several of these from our library! Thanks for sharing your library’s lists!
My pleasure MaryAnne. Please let us know which ones your kids loved. I always love the recs from kids! Those are the best!
This list has lots of our favorites on it, Mia!
Hi Erica,
You are lucky to have read a lot of these! I want to read a pile this summer. My son wants The Dark. I read it at the bookstore the other week and I thik that’s a contender for a Caldecott. Very cute and fun with a surprise twist.
LOVE Creepy Carrots and anything by Mo Willems! The Cloud Spinner is amazing, too. We are going to NYC at the end of the month, so just requested “The Other Side of Town,” and will be adding more of this list after I spend more time looking through. Thanks for putting this together!
Hi Kate C.,
My library does a fantastic job putting together these lists but the only issue is that our entire town is trying to check out the list at the same time so it’s impossible to get them unless you go to another library in a different town. We love Mo Willems too. He has never written a bad book! Creepy Carrots won a ton of awards but we need to get a copy still. How fun to read a book on NYC before going there! Have a wonderful trip!
I love this series of yours. This would be the list for my son. All great choices! We’ve joined our library’s Summer Reading Club and for his first book he chose a Goosebumps book. I tried to warn him that maybe that was a little “advanced”, but he insisted. He reads about 5 pages per day – he should be done by the end of the summer! lol I’ll have to show him this list and see if anything catches his eye. Thanks Mia!
Hi Renee,
Ooh! Hes brave. I think Goosebumps is a little scary for me but then I don’t do scary books very well.
That book “A Bus Called Heaven” sounds like an interesting topic. I saw your comment to Renee about the Goosebump books and I also didn’t want my kids reading them, but I had to give in because they got them as required reading for their second language, Afrikaans. My kids are older and I think it made learning a second language more fun for them.
Hi Christina,
It’s just me. I am a scaredy cat and find scary books and movies too frightening but I’m glad your kids like them and are not getting nightmares from them like I tend to do. My kids think this is hysterically funny about me!
Yay for these books! I’m sort of drawn to the Boy + Bot book- it looks cute.
Hi Jeanette,
Would Beckett like this list? Is he rising first grade?
Ocean Sunlight and Auntie Yang look good to me.
They all look great and we haven’t read any!
Hi Ann,
Auntie Yang caught my eye too!
It is always nice to have book lists for the kids. Thanks for sharing at the Friday Follow Along.
Thanks so much Leah! I’m a geek that way; I love book lists and have found so many wonderful books for kids by getting all the books on the library book lists over the years.
My daughter is entering the second grade this fall, but the big challenge for me is the gap between her reading level which is very advanced, and her social and emotional maturity to digest books not designed for 6 year old smarty pants. This summer she read on her own Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. She loved them because she also read dozens on books on Green mythology before, but she also keeps thinking and talking about these books. Now I can’t decide whether to give her the sequel with Roman Gods or hold out 🙂
Hi Natalie,
Try this list and see if your daughter has any interest in these sweet, old fashioned picture books. I loved the Penderwicks series. I think my daughter read All of a Kind series in 2nd grade as a read together with me. There is an American Girl Doll, Rebecca, based on this series. http://www.pragmaticmom.com/2011/08/top-10-childrens-books-best-old-fashioned-conflict-free-families/
The Half Magic series would also be a great fit for her, I think. It’s fantasy adventure but in a very old fashioned sweet way.
Thanks for the recommendations! I looked at your list and we are about 50-50 between read and unread with about 20% of book I’ve never heard about :). Anna read first books of Penderwicks and Half Magic, but I should look into their sequels to return her to a more gentle universe 🙂
Hi Natalie,
If you want to give me a few of the books she liked, I’d love to make a list for her and I’d post on it.