Amberly Media Center

Kindergarten

• Freymann. Fast Food.
• Timmers. Who Is Driving?
• Willems. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

First Grade

• Montes. Los Gatos Black on Halloween.
• Ancona. Pablo Remembers.
• Pilkey. The Hallo-Wiener.

Second Grade

• Yolen. Commander Toad and the Dis-Asteroid.

Third Grade

• “Green Ghosts” in Yolen. Here There Be Ghosts.
• Also mentioned Bruce Coville’s books, The Ghost Wore Gray, The Ghost in the Third Row, and The Ghost in the Big Brass Bed.

Kindergarten

• Arnosky. Every Autumn Comes the Bear.
• Ehlert. Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf.
• Fleming. Time to Sleep.
• Shecter. When Will the Snow Trees Grow?

 First Grade

• Van Allsburg. The Stranger.

 Second Grade

• Yolen. Commander Toad and the Dis-Asteroid.

“Are you a gifted child looking for Special Opportunities?”

Eleven-year-old Reynie is one of several children who answer this unusual newspaper ad only to find that the tests they must take are stranger still. In the end only four children pass the tests: Reynie, Sticky, and Constance. Their mission: to spy on what goes on at a private school that may be up to no good.

If you like the odd characters and plots of the Series of Unfortunate Events or books by Roald Dahl, or you like figuring out the puzzles in Artemis Fowl or books by Blue Balliett, you’ll love finding out if Reynie and his friends can figure out what is really going on at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened.

Kindergarten

• Shannon. No, David!
• Shannon. David Goes to School.
• Bruel. Who Is Melvin Bubble?

First Grade

• Davidson. Princess Justina Albertina.
• Burningham. Edwardo, the Horriblest Boy in the Whole Wide World.

Second Grade

• McEwan. Rufus the Scrub Does Not Wear a Tutu.

Here’s another addition to the “what to read next” list. The first book in Angie Sage’s Septimus Heap series is called Magyk and readers shouldn’t worry that the title character appears to be dead right from the start. Many of the characters are not exactly who they seem to be in the beginning. If your favorite parts of the Harry Potter books were Diagon Ally and life with Weasley family, you’ll love the mysterious old castle setting of this book and the off-beat character of Aunt Zelda.

The book begins with a mysterious abandoned baby who turns out to be the princess who has been rescued from an asassin sent by a dark wizard to murder both the queen and the princess. Jenna is raised by the Heap family (both poor and large like the Weasleys), but must escape to the country when another assassin comes for her and the ExtraOrdinary Wizard Marcia (a bit like Dumbledore with more fashion sense). With the help of Nikko Heap, the Heap’s Aunt Zelda (think of Mrs. Weasley with a lot more magic), and another mystery child, the soldier named Boy 412, Jenna not only escapes but finds the magical tools to fight back against the dark wizard, DomDaniel.