Recommended books for Grade 3-4

Why does the entire wolf pack help to raise the young of its strongest male and female? What kinds of toys do wolf cubs play with? How do mother wolves carry their cubs in their mouths without hurting them?

Sandra Markle answers these questions and more as she invites readers into the world of gray wolf cubs growing up in the wild. Her clear, accessible text and the striking color photographs capture the cubs as they explore, play, hunt, and learn the rules of their new world.

What would you do if diamonds and rubies tumbled out of your mouth every time you spoke? Well, that′s what happens to Rosella after a run with a misguided fairy in "A Fairy′s Mistake." If you were turned into a toad, would you pine after your prince as much as Parsley does in "For Biddle′s Sake?"

The road to happily-ever-after is never easy, but the masterful touch of Newbery Honor author Gail Carson Levine will keep readers laughing their way through these fresh retellings of popular fairy tales.

All six of Gail Carson Levine′s beloved PRINCESS TALES in one book!

THE FAIRY′S MISTAKE

THE PRINCESS TEST

PRINCESS SONORA AND THE LONG SLEEP

CINDERELLLIS AND THE GLASS HILL

FOR BIDDLE′S SAKE

THE FAIRY′S RETURN

Ages 7-12

To Ruby, her log-riding lumberjack pa is the most wonderful person in the world. There's nothing she'd rather do than follow in his footprints, but a lumber camp is no place for an eight-year-old girl.

So Ruby goes to school. There she discovers another passion -- the world that opens up to her in books.

When circumstances suddenly change, Ruby fears she has lost the two things she loves most. But through her struggle, she discovers in herself the courage, kindness, and talent that she always admired in her father.

What do you do when your mother takes embarrassing moments from your life and includes them in books read by kids all over the country? If you're Harvey Ryan, you hatch a plan to focus your mother on something, or someone else. So Harvey decides to set his mom up with the only eligible man he knows, the school principal. But when his plan works, Harvey quickly realizes having his mother date his principal is even worse than her being a famous author. One mother can sure cause a lot of trouble in a boy's life.

Some people collect stamps. Other people collect coins. Carol Otis Hurst's father collected rocks. Nobody ever thought his obsession would amount to anything. They said, "You've got rocks in your head" and "There's no money in rocks." But year after year he kept on collecting, trading, displaying, and labeling his rocks. The Depression forced the family to sell their gas station and their house, but his interest in rocks never wavered. And in the end the science museum he had visited so often realized that a person with rocks in his head was just what was needed.

Anyone who has ever felt a little out of step with the world will identify with this true story of a man who followed his heart and his passion.

But girls grow, and ponies stay the same size. What will Radish do with no one to teach? It takes his running away for Judy and Nina to find the perfect solution, one that keeps Radish from being outgrown ever again!

When Joe Stoshack hears about Shoeless Joe Jackson -- and the gambling scandal that destroyed the star player's career -- he knows what he has to do. If he travels back in time with a 1919 baseball card in his hand, he just might be able to prevent the infamous Black Sox Scandal from ever taking place. And if he could do that, Shoeless Joe Jackson would finally take his rightful place in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

But can Stosh prevent that tempting envelope full of money from making its way to Shoeless Joe's hotel room before the big game?

One late spring morning the American artist Jackson Pollock began work on the canvas that would ultimately come to be known as Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist).

Award-winning authors Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan use this moment as the departure point for a unique picture book about a great painter and the way in which he worked. Their lyrical text, drawn from Pollock's own comments and those made by members of his immediate circle, is perfectly complemented by vibrant watercolors by Robert Andrew Parker that honor his spirit of the artist without imitating his paintings.

A photographic reproduction of the finished painting, a short biography, a bibliography, and a detailed list of notes and sources that are fascinating reading in their own right make this an authoritative as well as beautiful book for readers of all ages.

Action Jackson is a Sibert Honor Book, a New York Times Best Book of the Year, and a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year.

Find out what your cat is really saying -- and talk back!

Jean Craighead George, Newbery Medal-winning author of over 80 books about nature and animals, demonstrates in words and photos how to communicate with that ever-mysterious, ever-lovable animal -- the cat.

Through poetry and art, this picture book captures the many voices--Spanish, Tejano, Texan, Mexican, and American--of the people who lived on the land that is now Texas.

Vietnamese folk tales retold for a modern audience. In poetry and literature the Vietnamese call themselves the "children of the dragon." Their oral tradition is a strong one and this volume includes three of the familiar teaching tales told by the elders. Readers will learn how the tiger got his stripes, why there are monsoons, and the story of the Moon Festival.

Ramona Quimby can't wait to start fourth grade. With a new baby sister to brag about, new calluses to show off, and a new best friend to get to know, everything's going to be great!

Or is it? When Ramona's spelling is atrocious, her teacher, Mrs. Meacham, is firm about her needing to improve. Then a scary incident at a friend's house leaves Ramona feeling at fault. Who knew growing up could be filled with such complicated situations?

Newbery Medal winning author Beverly Cleary's final book in the Ramona series has all of the warmth, realism, and humor of its predecessors.

Supports the Common Core State Standards