top of page

Summer Reading Program

Dear TIA Parents,
             The staff of The Islamic Academy for Peace hopes you and your children will enjoy spending the summer months together. Whether you are traveling abroad or just exploring your own backyard, there are so many wonderful adventures to be had. In particular, this is one of the best times to read with your children and to instill in them a love for literature.
​
             We encourage you to check out as many books from your local library as you can. Our lists give you a starting point. Most librarians can assist you in locating these books as well as by offering suggestions for further reading. In addition, the public libraries typically offer a variety of reading programs during the summer.
 
             For each grade level, we have included a variety of books. Please encourage your child to read at least 3 books from among the list. Remember, children learn by example, so check out a book for you too! Have a great summer!
​
TIA Staff

Students Transitioning from Pre-K
to Kindergarten

Books with a Predictable Pattern

  •  Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin

  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

  • Good Night Noon by Margaret Wise Brown

 

Books with Rhyming

  • Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw

  • Splat by Mary Margaret Perez-Mercado

  • Dr. Seuss Books including

  •  Fox in Sox

  •  There’s a Wocket in My Pocket

 

Books with a Plot Children are able to follow

  • Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox

  •  Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard, James Marshall

  •  Good Night Noon by Margaret Wise Brown

 

Books with Classic Children’s Storie

  • Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McClosky

  •  The Tortoise and the Hare by Arthur Rackham

  •  Love you Forever by Robert Munsch

Students Entering Grade 1


Picture Books:

  • One Afternoon by Yumi Heo

  •  Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton

  •  My Map Book by Sara Fanelly

  •  It Takes a Village by Jane Cowen-Fletcher

  •  We Can Do It by Laura Dwight

  •  Anansi and the Spider by Gerald McDermott

  •  One Hundred is a Family by Pam Munoz Ryan

  •  New Shoes for Sylvia by Johanna Hurwitz

  •  Road Builders by B. G. Hennesey

  •  Mel's Diner by Marissa Moss

  •  Work Song by Gary Paulson

  •  America the Beautiful by Katherine Lee Bates

  •  The Great Monarch Butterfly Chase by R.W. N. Prior

  •  Around the Pond: Who's Been Here? by Lindsay Barrett George

  •  World Water Watch by Michelle Koch

  •  Homeplace by Anne Shelby

  •  Treasure Nap by Juanita Havill

  •  The Goat in the Rug by Geraldine

  •  Tell Me a Story, Mama by Angela Johnson

  •  Happy Holidaysaurus by Bernard Most

  •  Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King by Jean Marzollo

  •  Honest Abe by Edith Kunhardt


  • Books by Specific Authors

  • Jan Brett - The Umbrella

  •  Little Critter - Gina and Mercer Mayer

  •  Vera B. Williams - A Chair for my mother

  •  Don Freeman - A Pocket for Corduroy

  •  Arnold Lobel - Frog and Toad Series

  •  Kevin Henkes - Chrysanthemum, Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse, Owen

  •  Ezra Jack Keats - Jennie’s Hat, Peter’s Chair, Whistle for Willie

  •  William S. Steig - Brave Irene, Doctor DeSoto, Sylvester and the

  • Magic Pebble

  •  Bernard Waber - Ira Says Goodbye, Ira Sleeps Over, Lyle, Lye

  • Crocodile

Students Entering Grade 3

Picture Books

  • A Chair for My Mother

  • Ira's Sleepover

  • Stellaluna- Janell Cannon

  • The Curious Garden- Peter Brown

  • A Zoo in the Sky: A Book of Animal Constellations- Jacqueline Mitton

  • Same, Same but Different- Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw

  • A True Book: Extreme Places- Katie Marisco (series)

  • Sweet Music in Harlem- Debbie Taylor

  • Every Month is a New Year-: Celebrations Around the WorldMarilyn Singer

  • Sonya Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx- Jonah Winter

  • Moon- Alison Oliver

  • The Journey of the One and Only Declaration of IndependenceJudith St. George

  • Biographies: athletes, scientists

  • Chapter Books by Specific Authors:

  • Nancy Drew series

  • A to Z Mysteries

  • Magic Tree House- Mary Pope Osbourne

  • I Survived series- Lauren Tarshis

  • Biographies: athletes, scientists

  • Shilo- Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Students Entering Grade 2


Picture Books

  • Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringgold

  • The Berenstain Bears books by Stan and Jan Berenstain

  • Books by Jan Brett

  • Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs & Old MacDonald had an

  • Apartment House by Judy Barrett

  • Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles

  • The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson

  • The Patchwork Quilt by Flourney/Pinkney

Chapter Books:

  • Amelia Bedilia by Peggy Parish

  • Books by Tomia DePaola

  • Books by Cynthia Rylant including the Henry and Mudge Series

  • Horrible Harry by Suzy Kline

  • Cam Jansen (series) by David A. Adler

  • Frances Books by Russell Hoban

  • Jigsaw Jones Mysteries by James Priller

  • Oliver Moon by Sue Mongredien

Dear Parents & Students,

             The staff of The Islamic Academy for Peace hopes you and your family will enjoy spending the summer months together. Whether you are traveling abroad or just exploring your own backyard, there are so many wonderful adventures to be had. In particular, this is one of the best times to explore the wonderful world of literature.

​

              We encourage you to check out as many books from your local library as you can. Our lists give you a starting point to help you plan a quality reading program for the entire summer. Most librarians can assist you in locating these books as well as by offering suggestions for further reading. In addition, the public libraries typically offer a variety of reading programs during the summer.

​

              For each grade level, we have included a variety of books. Encourage your family to read along with you; or perhaps they check out a book for themselves too! Either way, have a great summer!

​

TIA Staff

Students Entering Grade 4

All students entering fourth grade are encouraged to read two books and
three short nonfiction stories as part of their summer reading.
Each student is also encouraged to read the book, Lemonade Wars.
Students can read the three nonfiction stories: “Labor Day”, “Lakes”,
and “Thunderstorms”.
Students can also read one other book from the list below.
Animals On The Edge : Science Races To Save Species Threatened With
Extinction by: Sandy Pobst
Lincoln : A Photobiography, Illustrated With Photographs And Prints
by: Russell Freeman
Shipwreck At The Bottom Of The World : The Extraordinary True Story
Of Shackleton And The Endurance by: Jennifer Armstrong
Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by: Deborah Hopkinson
The Tarantula Scientist by: Sy Montgomery

Students Entering Grade 5


Students entering the 5
th grade are encouraged to read the following
chapter books over the summer.
* Janitor’s Boy by: Andrew Clements
* The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis
* The 7 Wonders of Sassafras Springs by Betty Birney
* The Double Life of Pocahontas by: Jean Fritz
* My Side of the Mountain by: Jean Craighead George
* Shiloh by: Phyllis Naylor
* Series of Unfortunate Events (Series) by: Lemony Snicket

Optional reading from any of the following books

  • The Secret School by: Avi

  • The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by: Avi

  • The Wanderer by: Sharon Creech

  • Matilda by: Roald Dahl

  • A Wrinkle in Time by: Madeline L’Engle

  • The Whipping Boy by: Sid Fleischman

  • Bearstone by: Will Hobbs

  • The Phantom Tollbooth by: Norton Juster

  • Kira-Kira by: Cynthia Kadohata

  • Owls in the Family by: Farley Mowat

  • The Borrowers (Series) by: Mary Norton

  • Black Storm Comin’ by: Diane Lee Wilson

Students Entering Grade 6


Read the following books:
"The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
"Wonder" by R.J. Palacio
"Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen
“House of Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the
Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis
“Rosa Parks: My Story” by Rosa Parks with Jim Haski

Students Entering Grade 7

"Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson
“The War that Saved My Life” by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
"A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle
“Brown Girl Dreaming” by Jacqueline Woodson
“Out of My Mind” by Sharon M. Draper

Students Entering Grade 8

Born to Fly by Steve Sheinkin
Hidden Figures (Young Readers' Edition) by Margot Lee Shetterly
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Par

bottom of page