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4th Grade Summer Reading List

Reading Tips For 4th Grade Parents

Read it, analyze it, and connect to it.   Find ways for your child to share the deeper meanings and messages in a book and relate it to their own lives. Click on the link below to connect to Parent Toolkit's Reading Tips For 4th Grade Parents. The tips offer some fun ways you can help your child become a happy and confident reader. Try a new tip each week. See what works best for your child.

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Schooling Around Treasure Fever

by Andy Griffiths Year Published: 2008 4.0 AR Level

Meet Henry McThrottle, a fifth-grader at Northwest Southeast Central School. Henry has an extremely active imagination--sometimes it's hard to tell where his imagination stops and the real world begins. His flights of fancy lead to adventures of the sort only Andy Griffiths could dream up: always hilarious, never predictable, sure to keep kids laughing and reading!

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The Lemonade War

by Jacqueline Davies Year Published: 2007 4.1 AR Level

For a full hour, he poured lemonade. The world is a thirsty place, he thought as he nearly emptied his fourth pitcher of the day. And I am the Lemonade King.

Fourth-grader Evan Treski is people-smart. He’s good at talking with people, even grownups. His younger sister, Jessie, on the other hand, is math-smart, but not especially good with people. So when the siblings’ lemonade stand war begins, there really is no telling who will win—or even if their fight will ever end. Brimming with savvy marketing tips for making money at any business, definitions of business terms, charts, diagrams, and even math problems, this fresh, funny, emotionally charged novel subtly explores how arguments can escalate beyond anyone’s intent.

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The World According To Humphrey

by Betty G. Birney Year Published: 2005 4.2 AR Level

You can learn a lot about life by observing another species. That’s what Humphrey was told when he was first brought to Room 26. And boy, is it true! In addition to having FUN-FUN-FUN in class, each weekend this amazing hamster gets to sleep over with a different student, like Lower-Your-Voice-A.J. and Speak-Up-Sayeh. Soon Humphrey learns to read, write, and even shoot rubber bands (only in self-defense, of course). With lots of friends to help, adventures to enjoy, and a cage with a lock-that-doesn’t- lock, Humphrey's life is almost perfect. If only the teacher, Mrs. Brisbane, wasn’t out to get him!

Boys and girls can't help falling in love with Humphrey! 

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Because Of The Rabbit

by Cynthia Lord Year Published: 2019 4.3 AR Level

On the last night of summer, Emma tags along with her game warden father on a routine call. They're supposed to rescue a wild rabbit from a picket fence, but instead they find a little bunny. Emma convinces her father to bring him home for the night.

The next day, Emma starts public school for the very first time after years of being homeschooled. More than anything, Emma wants to make a best friend in school.
But things don't go as planned. On the first day of school, she's paired with a boy named Jack for a project. He can't stay on topic, he speaks out of turn, and he's obsessed with animals. Jack doesn't fit in, and Emma's worried he'll make her stand out.

Emma and Jack bond over her rescue rabbit. But will their new friendship keep Emma from finding the new best friend she's meant to have?

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Shiloh

by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Year Published: 1991 4.4 AR Level

When Marty Preston comes across a young beagle in the hills behind his home, it's love at first sight—and also big trouble. It turns out the dog, which Marty names Shiloh, belongs to Judd Travers who drinks too much and has a gun—and abuses his dogs. So when Shiloh runs away from Judd to Marty, Marty just has to hide him and protect him from Judd. But Marty's secret becomes too big for him to keep to himself, and it exposes his entire family to Judd's anger. How far will Marty have to go to make Shiloh his?

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Bailey's Story: A Dog's Purpose Novel

by W. Bruce Cameron Year Published: 2013 4.5 AR Level

Every dog has work to do. Every dog has a purpose.

When Bailey meets eight-year-old Ethan, he quickly figures out his purpose: to play with the boy, to explore the Farm during summers with the boy, and to tidy the boy's dishes by licking them clean (only when Mom isn't watching). But Bailey soon learns that life isn't always so simple--that sometimes bad things happen--and that there can be no greater purpose than to protect the boy he loves.

Bailey's Story is a moving tale about a dog and his boy for young animal lovers by W. Bruce Cameron, bestselling author of the acclaimed novel A Dog's Purpose. Adorable black-and-white illustrations by Richard Cowdrey bring Bailey and his world to life. A discussion and activity guide at the end of the book will help promote family and classroom discussions about Bailey's Story and the insights it provides about humankind's best friends. 

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Bridge to Terabithia

by Katherine Paterson Year Published: 1977 4.6 AR Level

Jess Aarons' greatest ambition is to be the fastest runner in his grade. He's been practicing all summer and can't wait to see his classmates' faces when he beats them all. But on the first day of school, a new girl boldly crosses over to the boys' side and outruns everyone.

That's not a very promising beginning for a friendship, but Jess and Leslie Burke become inseparable. Together they create Terabithia, a magical kingdom in the woods where the two of them reign as king and queen, and their imaginations set the only limits.

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From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

by E. L. Konigsburg Year Published: 1967 4.7 AR Level

When suburban Claudia Kincaid decides to run away, she knows she doesn’t just want to run from somewhere, she wants to run to somewhere — to a place that is comfortable, beautiful, and, preferably, elegant. She chooses the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Knowing her younger brother Jamie has money and thus can help her with a serious cash-flow problem, she invites him along.

Once settled into the museum, Claudia and Jamie find themselves caught up in the mystery of an angel statue that the museum purchased at auction for a bargain price of $225. The statue is possibly an early work of the Renaissance master, Michelangelo, and therefore worth millions. Is it? Or isn’t it?

Claudia is determined to find out. Her quest leads her to Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the remarkable old woman who sold the statue, and to some equally remarkable discoveries about herself.

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Charlie And The Chocolate Factory

by Roald Dahl Year Published: 1964 4.8 AR Level

Charlie Bucket's wonderful adventure begins when he finds one of Mr. Willy Wonka's precious Golden Tickets and wins a whole day inside the mysterious chocolate factory. Little does he know the surprises that are in store for him!

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Best Friends And Drama Queens

by Meg Cabot Year Published: 2009 4.9 AR Level

Pine Heights Elementary School has a new student, and nobody is happier than Allie Finkle. In her mind, the arrival of Cheyenne from Canada means that she will no longer be the fourth-grade class dolt. That bright prospect fades, however, when Cheyenne suddenly becomes the dismissive standard setter for Allie's closest friend. What is a girl to do? A solid series about real-world problems.