Drop-Everything Reads
Favorite read-aloud titles for families of D.E.A.R. readers, compiled by Reach out and Read, the National Education Association, and Reading Rockets.
For families with soon-to-be readers (Ages 4 and under)
- Brown, Margaret Wise – Goodnight moon; pictures by Clement Hurd
- Burton, Virginia Lee – Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel : story and pictures
- Crews, Donald – Bigmama’s
- Eastman, P. D. (Philip D.) – Are you my mother?
- Hurwitz, Johanna – New shoes for Silvia
- Johnson, Crockett – Harold and the purple crayon
- Parish, Peggy – The Amelia Bedelia treasury : three books
- Sendak, Maurice – In the night kitchen
- Steig, William – Pete’s a pizza
- Williams, Vera B – “More more more” said the baby : 3 love stories
For families with up-and-coming readers (Ages 5 to 7)
- Barrett, Judi – Cloudy with a chance of meatballs
- Blume, Judy – Tales of a fourth grade nothing
- Carlson, Natalie Savage – The family under the bridge
- Cleary, Beverly – Ramona the pest
- Estes, Eleanor – The hundred dresses. Illustrated by Louis Slobodkin
- Gannett, Ruth Stiles – Elmer and the dragon
- Geringer, Laura – A three hat day
- Lobel, Arnold – Days with Frog and Toad
- Platt, Kin – Big Max and the mystery of the missing giraffe
- Rockwell, Thomas – How to eat fried worms
- Scieszka, Jon – The true story of the 3 little pigs
- Wiseman, Bernard – Morris goes to school
For families with growing readers (Ages 8 to 11)
- Conrad, Pam – My Daniel
- Curtis, Christopher Paul – Bud, not Buddy
- Konigsburg, E. L – From the mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
- Paterson, Katherine – Lyddie
- Raskin, Ellen – The Westing game
- Rodgers, Mary – Freaky Friday
- Spinelli, Jerry – Maniac Magee
- Stevenson, Robert Louis – Treasure Island
- White, E. B. (Elwyn Brooks) – Charlotte’s web
- Yep, Laurence – Dragonwings
For families with sophisticated readers (Ages 12 and up)
- Adams, Richard – Watership Down
- Byars, Betsy Cromer – The pinballs
- Creech, Sharon – Ruby Holler
- Dahl, Roald – Boy : tales of childhood
- Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds – Shiloh
- Nix, Garth – Sabriel
- Peck, Richard – A long way from Chicago : a novel in stories
- Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel) – The hobbit, or, There and back again