D.E.A.R. reading list

Drop-Everything Reads
Favorite Read-Aloud Titles for Families of D.E.A.R. Readers
Compiled by children’s reading experts from Reach Out and Read, NEA, and Reading Rockets

For Families with Soon-to-be Readers
(Age 4 and under)

Amelia Bedelia’s Family Album by Peggy Parish

Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman

Baby Says by John Steptoe

Bigmama’s by Donald Crews

black is brown is tan by Arnold Adoff

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak

New Shoes for Sylvia by Johanna Hurwitz

Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton

“More More More,” Said the Baby by Vera B. Williams

Pete’s a Pizza by William Steig For Families with Up-and-Coming Readers
(Age 5 to 7)

Big Max by Kin Platt

Chato’s Kitchen by Gary Soto

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett

Days with Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel

The Fairy’s Mistake by Gail Carson Levine

The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson

How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

Morris Goes to School by B. Wiseman

My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett

Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume

A Three Hat Day by Laura Geringer

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by John Scieszka For Families with Growing Readers
(Age 8 – 11)

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White

Dragonwings by Lawrence Yep

Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

Heidi by Johanna Spyri

Lyddie by Katherine Paterson

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

My Daniel by Pam Conrad

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin For Families with Sophisticated Readers
(Age 12 and older)

Boy by Roald Dahl

The Cry of the Wolf by Melvin Burgess

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck

The Mennyms by Sylvia Waugh

The Pinballs by Betsy Byars

Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech

Sabriel by Garth Nix

The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer

Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Watership Down by Richard Adams Start a Series!

Artemis Fowl

The Borrowers

Chronicles of Narnia

Little House

Magic School Bus

Marvin Redpost

Redwall

Series of Unfortunate Events

WarriorsFor Families Who Prefer Reading Silently
These read-aloud titles make great silent reads as well! Then after D.E.A.R. time, everyone can share their reading experience. Or create a D.E.A.R. theme that gets family members reading books about the same topic. Focus on fiction, nonfiction or a mix!

More Drop-Everything Reads
Multi-Cultural Read-Aloud Titles for D.E.A.R. Families

This list was compiled by the Quicklists Consulting Committee of the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association.

Ages 0-4

Bebe Goes Shopping by Susan Middleton Elya

Bee-Bim Bop! by Linda Sue Park

Hands Can by Cheryl Willis Hudson

Jazz Baby by Lisa Wheeler

Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems

My Grandma = Mi Abuelita by Ginger Foglesong Guy

Peekaboo Morning by Rachel Isadora Ages 5-7

The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice N. Harrington

Little Mama Forgets by Robin Cruise

Little Red Riding-Hood by Jerry Pinkney

Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale by Carmen Deedy

My Father’s Shop by Satomi Ichikawa

Oscar’s Half Birthday by Bob Graham

Ages 8-11

Clementine series by Sara Pennypacker

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

Indian Shoes by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything by Lenore Look

Rules by Cynthia Lord

The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin

Younguncle Comes to Town by Vandana Singh Ages 12 & Up

Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

If A Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata

The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

---

Additional resources –

James Patterson has always believed that the first step to getting kids reading is to give them a book that they can’t put down!

United Through Reading – Reading Together Unites Families