Kyra Teis
Imagining Stories
About Kyra
Book Recommendations
The book recommendations below are simply what I have enjoyed reading personally, or with my daughter. For your convenience, I listed approximate reading levels by age. But I'm no expert, so take them with a grain of salt. There are many excellent sites with more sophisticated recommendations, reviews, author interviews, and other information. These are maintained by people fiercely dedicated to the field of children's literature and literacy. See my links page for a list. Two I especially like are:
Picture Books
Babies & Toddlers
Giggle-
Where's Pup? by Dayle Ann Dodds
Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin, by Lloyd Moss
Where's the Puppy? Cheryl Christian
Good Night Gorilla, Peggy Rathmann
Last Night I Dreamed a Circus, Maya Gottfried
Clatter Bash, Richard Keep
See You Soon Moon, Donna Conrad
Middle Grade
Ages 7-
Because of Winn Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo
Sahara Special, by Esme Raji Codell
Vive La Paris, by Esme Raji Codell
The Young Merlin Trilogy: Passager, Hobby, and Merlin, by Jane Yolen
Spitting Image, by Shutta Crum
Love That Dog, by Sharon Creech
The Voyage of Patience Goodspeed, Heather Vogel Frederick
The View from Saturday, E. L. Konigsburg
The Cobble Street Cousins (series), Cynthia Rylant
The Penderwicks, Jean Birdsall
Ages 10-
Sword of the Rightful King, by Jane Yolen
Olive's Ocean, by Kevin Henkes
When My Name Was Keoko, by Linda Sue Park
Breath, by Donna Jo Napoli
Zel, by Donna Jo Napoli
Bound, by Donna Jo Napoli
Whirligig, by Paul Fleischman
The Wedding Planner's Daughter (series), by Coleen Paratore
A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park
Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli
My Not So Terrible Time at The Hippie Hotel, by Rosemary Graham
Zig Zag, by Ellen Whitlinger
Sketches from a Spy Tree, by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
Reaching For Sun, by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
The Queen's Own Fool, by Jane Yolen
Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphry, by Margaret Peterson Haddix
A Door Near Here, by Heather Quarles
Hoot, Carl Hiaasen
Holes, by Louis Sachar
Maniac McGee, Jerry Spinelli
Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech
The Wanderer, by Sharon Creech
The Midwife's Apprentice, by Karen Cushman
How To Steal a Dog, Barbara O’Connor
Free Baseball, Sue Corbett
Kimchi & Calamari, Rose Kent
Bud, Not Buddy, Christopher Paul Curtis
Mack McGinn’s Big Win, Coleen Paratore
Young Adult Literature
Ages 14 and up, may contain more mature themes
Contents Under Pressure, by Lara Zeises
What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones
Razzle, by Ellen Whittlinger
The Long Night of Leo and Bree, by Ellen Whitlinger
See You Down the Road, by Kim Ablon Whitney
Out of Order, by A.M. Jenkins
The First Part Last, by Angela Johnson
Tithe, Holly Black
His Dark Materials Trilogy, by Philip Pullman
Prom, Laurie Halse Anderson
How I Live Now, Meg Rosoff
Dough Boy, Peter Marino
An Abundance of Katherines, John Green
Beige, Cecil Castellucci
What They Found: Love of 145th Street, Walter Dean Myers
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