Reading Rockets offers a wealth of reading strategies, lessons, and activities designed to help young children learn how to read and read better. Our reading resources assist parents, teachers, and other educators in working with struggling readers who require additional help in reading fundamentals and comprehension skills development.
2004 Holiday Buying Guide
Recommended Books for 8-9 Year Olds
Look below for seven great books we've selected for kids in second to third grades to read on their own. You'll also find seven additional recommended books that a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, babysitter, or friend can read with 8-9 year olds to pique their interest, expose them to more advanced vocabulary, encourage discussion, or simply to share quality time with a caring adult.
Books to read on their own
As mysterious things happen in and around their Chicago school, Petra and Calder use their knowledge of the painter Vermeer, their intuition, and their problem solving skills to retrieve a stolen painting. The book's Illustrations contain clues that are revealed only upon close (and multiple) examinations. This quirky mystery is sure to please fans of E.L. Konigsburg's From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.
Gooney Bird, the new student in Mrs. Pidgeon's 2nd grade class, arrives without a parent but full of confidence. She makes it clear that she likes to be "right smack in the middle of everything." Could her seemingly outrageous stories be — as Gooney Bird asserts — true? Fact is much more intriguing when seen through the eyes of an imaginative storyteller!
This story of a true and faithful dog so touched the people of Japan that a statue of Hachiko was erected in the train station where the dog went daily for almost ten years after his master’s death. Told from the point of view of a young boy, the book includes an afterword that provides additional details about this true story.
This riveting tale is based on the true-life story of a girl who struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig during an exhibition game in 1931. How Jackie came to love baseball and become a talented and determined player provides a fascinating glimpse of the young woman and the period in which she lived.
How Theodore Geisel, a dreamer and doodler from Springfield, Massachusetts, came to be Dr. Seuss, is reveled through a concise text and selected early work by the artist. This book provides a rare glimpse into the personal life of the innovative children's book author and illustrator.
Otto, a gentle giant, is understandably upset when a fellow named Jack steals his pet hen. When Otto descends the beanstalk to retrieve it, he encounters several boys named Jack (who readers may recognize from other tales!) – until he finds the right Jack and makes an equitable deal. Humor abounds in the text and illustration of this fractured fairytale.
While sitting on the log in the meadow, Mr. Franklin asks young Bet to read aloud. Little does she realize that she’ll soon befriend a small mole. This rollicking story includes a bit of magic, a hint of history, and an atmospheric setting that together reveal the essence of friendship.
Books to read with you
When an orphaned boy fulfills an ancient prophesy and becomes a dragon rider to help Firedrake find the Rim of Heaven, he finds more than just adventure. The fantastic journey is filled with characters from folklore, and the classic struggle between good and evil makes a spirited good read aloud.
This boy's curse begins when his teacher suggests that the "poetry of science" can be heard everywhere. From Moore to Frost, familiar poems are parodied and turned into science verse. Again art and illustration are inseparable as are the laughs in this offbeat look at science.
The Great Sphinx has amazed and intrigued since it was first created some 4,500 years ago. Those secrets that have been revealed, and others that remain cloaked in mystery, are the subject of this well written, handsomely illustrated, and thoroughly engaging book.
From the architects' plans to the tower's completion, a New York skyscraper is created step by step. Clear text is presented on several layers of detail and is coupled with crisp, informative, full color photographs to document this fascinating process.
A brief history of classical ballet opens this handsome, richly told collection of seven stories from ballets. Each story is introduced with information on the production and time period in which the ballet was first performed.
This oversized volume is filled with specific information about each state as well as general information on how to use physical and political maps. It's a great way to explore the U.S. or learn more about the region in which you live. Clear photographs effectively introduce highlights from different regions.
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