Reading Themes - > READ-ALOUD FAVORITES for 2^nd GRADERS

Great Stories to Share with 2^nd Graders & 2^nd Grade Classrooms

BALONEY, HENRY P. By Jon Scieszka  [Picture Book SC]
A transmission received from outer space in a combination of different Earth languages tells of an alien schoolboy's fantastic excuse for being late to school again.

CAMILLE AND THE SUNFLOWERS: A STORY ABOUT VINCENT VAN GOGH By Laurence Anholt  [Picture Book AN]
A young French boy and his family befriend the lonely painter who comes to their town and begin to admire his unusual paintings.

COOK-A-DOODLE-DOO! By Janet Stevens  [Picture Book ST]
With the questionable help of his friends, Big Brown Rooster manages to bake strawberry shortcake that would have pleased his great-grandmother, Little Red Hen.

DIRTY COWBOY By Amy Timberlake  [Picture Book TI]
Telling his faithful dog to make sure nobody touches his clothes but him, a cowboy jumps into a New Mexico river for a bath, not realizing just how much the scrubbing will change his scent and confuse his dog.

EDWARD IN THE JUNGLE By David McPhail  [Picture Book MC]
Edward loves to read about Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, and one afternoon he becomes so absorbed in his book that he finds himself deep in Tarzan's jungle.

GIRL WONDER: A BASEBALL STORY IN 9 INNINGS by Deborah Hopkinson  [Picture Book HO]
In the early 1900s, Alta Weiss, a young woman who knows from an early age that she loves baseball, finds a way to play, even though she is a girl.

HOW I BECAME A PIRATE By Melinda Long  [Picture Book LO]
Jeremy Jacob joins Braid Beard and his pirate crew and finds out about pirate language, pirate manners, and other aspects of their life.

JUMANJI By Chris Van Allsburg  [Caldecott Picture Book VA]
Left on their own for an afternoon, two bored and restless children find more excitement than they bargained for in a mysterious and mystical jungle adventure board game.

LEGEND OF MACKINAC ISLAND By Kathy-Jo Wargin  [Folklore/Fairytales W]
Retells the story of the great turtle Makinauk that enlists the aid of other animals to help create the special place known as Mackinac Island.

LEGEND OF SLEEPING BEAR By Kathy-Jo Wargin  [Folklore/Fairytales W]
In this retelling of an Ojibwe Indian tale, a mother bear loses sight of her two cubs as they all attempt to escape a forest fire by swimming across Lake Michigan.

MAGIC HOCKEY STICK By Peter Maloney  [Picture Book MA]
When her parents win Wayne Gretzky's hockey stick at a charity auction, a young girl begins playing with it and becomes her team's star.

MICAWBERBy John Lithgow  [Picture Book LI]
Micawber, a squirrel fascinated by art, leaves a museum with an art student and secretly uses her supplies to make his own paintings.

MISS SMITH’S INCREDIBLE STORYBOOK By Michael Garland  [Picture Book GA]
When the new teacher, Miss Smith, reads to her class, Zack and his classmates are amazed to find that the storybook characters come to life.

PARTS by Tedd Arnold [Picture Book AR]
A five-year-old boy thinks his body is falling apart until he learns new teeth grow and hair and skin replace themselves. Also read, MORE PARTS [Picture Book AR]

REMARKABLE FARKLE MCBRIDE By John Lithgow  [Picture Book LI]
The musical prodigy Farkle McBride tries a number of instruments before discovering that conducting the orchestra makes him happy.

SECRET SHORTCUT By Mark Teague [Picture Book TE]
On Monday, Wendell and Floyd were late for school (They had nearly been captured by space creatures, they told their teacher). In an effort to make it to school on time they take a secret shortcut, which leads to unexpected adventures!

SWAMP ANGEL By Anne Isaacs [Picture Book IS]
Along with other amazing feats, Angelica Longrider, also known as Swamp Angel, wrestles a huge bear, known as Thundering Tarnation, to save the winter supplies of the settlers in Tennessee. A terrific Tall Tale!

SYLVESTER AND THE MAGIC PEBBLE By William Steig  [Caldecott Picture Book ST]
In a moment of fright Sylvester the donkey asks his Magic pebble to turn him into a rock but then cannot hold the pebble to wish himself back to normal again!

TEACHER FROM THE BLACK LAGOON By Mike Thaler  [Picture Book TH]
On the first day of school, a boy expects only the worst when he discovers that his new teacher is the "monstrous" Mrs. Green! A hilarious story that helps alleviate students’ fears about new teachers. Enjoy other stories in the “Black Lagoon” series by Mike Thaler.

TIKKI TIKKI TEMBO By Arlene Mosel  [Folklore/Fairytales M]
Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-char bari ruchi-pip peri pembo! Children love hearing this classic story about the boy with the long name who fell down the well. This re-creation of an ancient Chinese folktale has hooked legions of children, teachers, parents and librarians, generation after generation!

TOGOBy Robert J. Blake  [Picture Book BL]
In 1925, a Siberian husky named Togo, who loves being a sled dog, leads a team that rushes to bring diphtheria antitoxin from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska.

WHAT! CRIED GRANNY: AN ALMOST BEDTIME STORY By Kate Lum  [Picture Book LU]
It’s Patrick’s first sleepover at his Granny’s house. What is a boy to do when he can’t go to bed because something is missing? And . . . what will the boy’s Granny do when she discovers that the missing something is a BED! With her ladylike purse slung over one arm, and a loaded toolbox in the other, this amazingly resourceful Granny proves she can do whatever it takes, with hilarious results!