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Author: Andrew Clements
Level: 4th -7th
Frindle is a novel about a boy named Nick who is entering the fifth grade.  He loves to distract teachers by asking "time-wasting" questions that usually take most of a class-period.  He realizes that being in fifth grade, and having Mrs. Granger for a language arts teacher will not be so easy.  Mrs. Granger feels it's very important to learn new words and expand your vocabulary.  When Mrs. Granger catches Nick trying his "time-wasting" tactics on her, she gives him a report to write, and explains to him that words mean what people decide they mean, and that's how language is born.  He decides to make up a new word himself - changing the word "pen" to "frindle".  He eventually gets everyone to say frindle instead of pen.  This infuriates Mrs. Granger and punishes anyone in the school that says the word "frindle".  She demands that Nick get people to stop using the word, but Nick explains that they all swore an oath to say frindle instead of pen.  Mrs. Chandler then hands an envelope with a letter inside to Nick.  She gets him to sign and date the envelope so when she is ready to give it to him, he knows when it was written.  Word gets out that that everyone is using the new word, and soon reporters are questioning Nick's parents.  Someone creates pens with the word frindle on it, and they sell like hotcakes.  Nick is interviewed on television for creating this new word.  Nick receives royalties for the money earned from all of the sales.  10 years later, Nick is in college and receives a package in the mail.  It is a new dictionary with a note telling him to turn to page 541.  He finds the word "frindle" in the new dictionary.  In the package he finds the letter that Mrs. Granger made him sign.   It's the letter Mrs. Granger made him sign years earlier.  In the letter, Mrs. Granger congratulates him and says she planned to send it to him as soon as his new word was added to the dictionary.

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Author: Roald Dahl
Level: 3rd-4th
James and the Giant Peach is a fantastic, fictional adventure about a boy who lives with his two mean Aunts after his parents pass away.  He runs outside after being yelled at by one of them and he meets an old man.  The old man gives him a bag full of magical objects. He says to follow the instructions and magical things will happen.  James drops the bag and the objects fall out and burrow into the ground.  Out of the ground grows a giant peach.  His mean Aunts build a fence around it hoping to attract people who will pay to see it up close.  James sneaks out one night to see the peach and finds a hole.  He crawls inside the hole and discovers some amazing creatures living inside the peach.  James and his newly discovered friends go on an amazing adventure when the peach breaks away from it's roots and rolls into the ocean.  Their journey ends in New York City when the peach lands on the top of the Empire State Building.  James and his friends become famous for the tale of their adventures inside the peach.  Bravery, overcoming differences of opinion for the greater good, are important lessons in this novel.

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Early Chapter Books (2nd-3rd grade):John Newbery Award 

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Early Chapter Books (2nd-3rd grade):John Newbery Award 

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Author: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Shiloh is an emotional story about a boy named Marty who finds a dog in the woods near his home.  He can tell that the pup has been abused, and realizes that he belongs to his grumpy neighbor, Mr. Travers.  He names him Shiloh, and hides him by keeping him penned up on his property, but then another dog attacks and hurts Shiloh.  Marty has no choice but to come clean about keeping the dog hidden and is forced to return him to his abusive neighbor.  Marty convinces Mr. Travers to let him do 20 hours of labor on his property in exchange for keeping the dog, and eventually saves Shiloh and brings him home.
Standing up for what you believe in, helping others when they are in need, and learning that lying is never the answer, even if you have good intentions, are important lessons that could be learned from this novel.

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Early Chapter Books (2nd-3rd grade):John Newbery Award 

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Early Chapter Books (2nd-3rd grade):John Newbery Award 

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Author: Katherine Paterson
This novel explores an unlikely friendship that blossoms between a boy and a girl.  Jess is a very quiet, introverted boy.  Leslie shows Jess that it's okay to show your true self, and to explore your imagination.  Together they create an wonderful, imaginary place called Terabithia.
Learning self acceptance, and accepting others who might be different than you are, and also dealing with losing someone close to you are some concepts that can be taught with this novel.

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Early Chapter Books (2nd-3rd grade): John Newbery Award 

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Early Chapter Books (2nd-3rd grade): John Newbery Award 

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Author: Kate Dicamillo
This novel tells the story of a young girl named Opal.  Her preacher father moves her to a new town where she feels very lonely.  She misses her mom - who left her when she was a little girl.  Opal befriends a stray dog who she finds tearing through a Winn-Dixie market.  She names the dog Winn-Dixie.  They roam the new town together, and Winn-Dixie helps encourage Opal to meet the people there.  She meets very different sorts of people, and decides to throw a party, bringing complete strangers together.  By each being a friend to Opal, the townsfolk learn to befriend each other.  Then a storm comes during the party, and Winn-Dixie gets scared and runs away.  This upsets Opal in a huge way because she relied so much on Winn-Dixie and feels abandoned by her, just like she was abandoned by her mother.  Opal's father reminds her that he loves her and that she has many new friends that love her too and that she'll be okay.  They find Winn-Dixie was hiding under her bed the whole time.  Because of Winn-Dixie teaches us about being a good friend, taking the time to listen to and help others.  It also teaches how to cope with losing someone close to you, and about allowing friends and family to help get you through difficult times.