Special Collections
Grade 2-3 Common Core Text Exemplars
Description: These books exemplify the level of complexity that Common Core State Standards require students to engage with. While the choices serve to help educators select texts of similar complexity, quality, and range, this not a required reading list. #teachers
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Wild Tracks!
by Jim ArnoskyWhen children learn to recognize and read animal tracks they're actually mastering an ancient language of shapes and patterns--and gaining knowledge of the natural world.
This is the perfect gift for a budding naturalist, animal lover, or artist. Jim Arnosky has been honored for his overall contribution to literature for children by the Eva L. Gordon Award and the Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Award for nonfiction. Many of his books have been chosen as ALA Notable Books, including Drawing from Nature, a Christopher Award-winner. Wild Tracks! is Jim's 100th book for children. Image descriptions present.
Where Do Polar Bears Live?
by Sarah L. ThomsonLet's-Read-and-Find-Out about Polar Bears. The Arctic might be a bit too chilly for you or me to live there, but it is the perfect home for polar bears. The fur between the pads of their paws keeps them from slipping on the ice. Their skin and blubber are like a warm blanket. But the earth is getting warmer and the ice is melting. Where will the polar bears live? How can we help protect their home? Read and find out!
[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 2-3 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
What the World Eats
by Faith D'Aluisio and Peter MenzelSitting down to a daily family meal has long been a tradition for billions of people. But in every corner of the world this age-old custom is rapidly changing. From increased trade between countries to the expansion of global food corporations like Kraft and Nestle, current events are having a tremendous impact on our eating habits. Chances are your supermarket is stocking a variety of international foods, and American fast food chains like McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken are popping up all over the planet. For the first time in history, more people are overfed than underfed. And while some people still have barely enough to eat, others overeat to the point of illness.
To find out how mealtime is changing in real homes, authors Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio visited families around the world to observe and photograph what they eat during the course of one week. They joined parents while they shopped at mega grocery stores and outdoor markets, and participated in a feast where a single goat was shared among many families. They watched moms making dinner in kitchens and over cooking fires, and they sat down to eat with twenty-five families in twenty-one countries--if you're keeping track, that's about 525 meals!
The foods dished up ranged from hunted seal and spit-roasted guinea pig to U. N. -rationed grains and gallons of Coca-Cola. As Peter and Faith ate and talked with families, they learned firsthand about food consumption around the world and its corresponding causes and effects. The resulting family portraits offer a fascinating glimpse into the cultural similarities and differences served on dinner plates around the globe.
[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 2-3 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
The Treasure
by Uri ShulevitzA poor man, inspired by a recurring dream, journeys to a far city to look for a treasure, only to be told to go home and find it.
[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts for grades 2-3 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
Tops & Bottoms
by Janet StevensHare solves his family’s problems by tricking rich and lazy Bear in this funny, energetic version of an old slave story. With roots in American slave tales, Tops & Bottoms celebrates the trickster tradition of using one’s wits to overcome hardship.
This ebook was designed to be read vertically. For optimum reading experience, please adjust the orientation on your ereader.
This title has been selected as a Common Core Text Exemplar (Grades 2-3, Stories)
Throw Your Tooth On The Roof
by Selby B. BeelerWhat do you do when you lose a tooth? Do you put it under your pillow and wait for the tooth fairy? Not if you live in Botswana! In Botswana, children throw their teeth onto the roof. In Afghanistan they drop their teeth down mouse holes, and in Egypt they fling their teeth at the sun! Travel around the world and discover the surprising things children do when they lose a tooth.
Selby B. Beeler spent years collecting traditions from every corner of the globe for this whimsical book, and illustrator G. Brian Karas adds to the fun, filling every page with humorous detail. He perfectly captures the excitement and pride that children experience when a tooth falls out.
This title has been selected as a Common Core Text Exemplar (Grades 2-3, Informational Texts)
The Thirteen Clocks
by James ThurberIn a cold gloomy castle where all the clocks have stopped, a wicked Duke amuses himself by finding new and fiendish ways of rejecting the suitors for his niece, the good and beautiful Princess Saralinda. Includes descriptions of illustrations.
[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 2-3 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
Tales from the Odyssey
by Mary Pope OsborneOdysseus is far from home, tossed by stormy seas and cursed by an angry one-eyed giant. After twenty years of fighting monsters, angering gods and goddesses, and surviving against the odds, Odysseus returns home and faces more dangerous enemies.
The Story of Ruby Bridges
by Robert ColesThe inspirational true story of Ruby Bridges.The year is 1960, and six-year-old Ruby Bridges and her family have recently moved from Mississippi to New Orleans in search of a better life. When a judge orders Ruby to attend first grade at William Frantz Elementary, an all-white school, Ruby must face angry mobs of parents who refuse to send their children to school with her. Told with Robert Coles' powerful narrative and dramatically illustrated by George Ford, Ruby's story of courage, faith, and hope continues to resonate more than 60 years later.
The Storm
by Cynthia Rylant and Preston McdanielsLife with only the sea can be lonely. Just ask Pandora and Seabold.They've lived most of their lives with the sea--Pandora in a lighthouse and Seabold on a boat--and they're each quite used to being alone. Or they were. But one day, the sea did something extraordinary: It brought Pandora and Seabold together! And even better, the sea gave them the ingredients for an adventure that neither of them had considered before-an adventure called "family."
The Stories Julian Tells
by Ann Cameron and Ann StrugnellJulian is a quick fibber and a wishful thinker. And he is great at telling stories. He can make people--especially his younger brother, Huey--believe just about anything. Like the story about the cats that come in the mail. Or the fig leaves that make you grow tall if you eat them off the tree. But some stories can lead to a heap of trouble, and that's exactly where Julian and Huey end up!
[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts for grades 2-3 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
So You Want to be President
by Judith St. George
That's a big job, and getting bigger But why not? Presidents have come in just about every variety They've been generals like George Washington and actors like Ronald Reagan; big like William Howard Taft, and small like James Madison; handsome like Franklin Pierce and homely like Abraham Lincoln; They've been born in log cabins like Andrew Jackson and mansions like William Harrison.
[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 2-3 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
Winner of the 2000 Caldecott Medal
The Sign Painter
by Allen SayIn his Caldecott acceptance speech for GRANDFATHER'S JOURNEY, Allen Say told of his difficulty in separating his dreams from reality. For him this separation was not as important as finding a meaning behind the contradictions and choices we all must make in life and their consequences.
Early one morning a boy comes into town, hungry, and looking for work. He meets a sign painter who takes him on as a helper. The boy yearns to be a painter. The man offers him security. The two are commissioned to paint a series of billboards in the desert. Each billboard has one word, Arrowstar. They do not know its meaning. As they are about to paint the last sign, the boy looks up and sees in the distance a magnificent structure. Is it real? They go to find out.
Through a simple text and extraordinary paintings, the reader learns of the temptation of safe choices and the uncertainties of following a personal dream. Here Allen Say tells a haunting and provocative story of dreams and choices for readers of all ages.
[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 2-3 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
The Search for Delicious
by Natalie BabbittGaylen, the King's messenger, a skinny boy of twelve, is off to poll the kingdom, traveling from town to farmstead to town on his horse, Marrow. At first it is merely a question of disagreement at the royal castle over which food should stand for Delicious in the new dictionary. But soon it seems that the "Search for Delicious" had better succeed if civil war is to be avoided.
Gaylen's quest leads him to the woldweller, a wise, 900-year-old creature who lives alone at the precise center of the forest; to Canto, the minstrel who sings him an old song about a mermaid child and who gives him a peculiar good-luck charm; to the underground domain of the dwarfs; and finally to Ardis who might save the kingdom from havoc.
[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 2-3 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
Sarah, Plain and Tall
by Patricia Maclachlan"Did Mama sing every day?" Caleb asks his sister Anna.
"Every-single-day," she answers. "Papa sang, too."
This Newbery Medal–winning book is the first of five books in Patricia MacLachlan's chapter book series about the Witting family. Set in the late nineteenth century and told from young Anna's point of view, Sarah, Plain and Tall tells the story of how Sarah Elisabeth Wheaton comes from Maine to the prairie to answer Papa's advertisement for a wife and mother. Before Sarah arrives, Anna and her younger brother Caleb wait and wonder. Will Sarah be nice? Will she sing? Will she stay?
This children's literature classic is perfect for fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie books, historical fiction, and timeless stories using rich and beautiful language. Sarah, Plain and Tall gently explores themes of abandonment, loss and love.
Newbery Medal Winner
Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
The Raft
by Jim LamarcheReluctant Nicky spends a wonderful summer with Grandma, who introduces him to the joy of rafting down the river near her home, and watching the animals along the banks. [This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 2-3 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
Poppleton in Winter
by Cynthia RylantIn this easy-to-read chapter book, Poppleton the pig charms young readers with his quirky adventures and whimsical ideas! Poppleton grows an icicle garden and ends up with an icicle fence instead. He sculpts a bust of Cherry Sue without explaining his constant visits just to look at her face. And he wonders why he can't find a friend to go on a sleigh ride with. No one can go, because they're all preparing Poppleton's birthday party!
[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 2-3 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
My Father's Dragon
by Ruth Stiles GannettA boy risks his life to free a flying dragon in this beloved children’s classic and Newbery Honor Book. Elmer Elevator has always wanted to fly, and when he takes in an old alley cat out of the rain, he gets his chance. The grateful cat tells him about a flying dragon that lives on the faraway Wild Island, where it has been tied up by a bunch of cruel animals and forced to work incessantly. Not being the kind of boy who stands for such things, Elmer packs his knapsack and sets off to free the downtrodden dragon. Stowing aboard a ship and braving many dangers, Elmer will let nothing stop him from reaching Wild Island. But if he’s going to save the dragon and finally fly, he’ll have to dig deep into his knapsack and outwit all sorts of tricky creatures inhabiting the isle.
The Museum Book
by Jan MarkJan Mark takes readers through museums' multifaceted history. Numerous questions answer in the books are: What is a museum? Why would anyone amass shells, words, clocks, teeth, trains, dinosaurs, mummies...or two-headed sheep? Find out where the word "museum" comes from and what unusual items (unicorn horns? mermaids?) some early museums placed on view.
[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 2-3 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
Moonshot
by Brian Floca"We choose to go to the Moon.
We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."
--John F. Kennedy, 1961
Simply told, grandly shown, here for a new generation of readers and explorers is the story of Apollo 11. Here are the steady astronauts, the ROAR of rockets, and the silence of the Moon. Here is a challenge met, a journey made, and a view of home, seen whole, from far away.
[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 2-3 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
Winner of the Sibert Honor
A Medieval Feast
by AlikiDescribes the preparation and celebration of a medieval feast held at an English manor house entertaining royal guests.
[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts in grades 2-3 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
Martin Luther King Jr. and The March on Washington
by Frances E. RuffinOn August 28, 1963, more than 250,000 people came to the nation's capital. They came by plane, by bus, by car--even on roller-skates--to speak out against segregation and to demand equal rights for everyone. They also came to hear the words of a very special leader, Martin Luther King, Jr. Told with a wonderful immediacy, this book captures the spirit of this landmark day in American history and brings Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech to vivid life for young children.
Lincoln
by Russell FreedmanThe Newbery Medal–winning book for young readers presents &“a human portrait of a politician honorably confronting the most vexing issues of his era&” (The New York Times Book Review). Abraham Lincoln stood out in a crowd as much for his wit and rollicking humor as for his height. This Newbery Medal-winning biography of our Civil War president is warm, appealing, and illustrated with dozens of carefully chosen photographs and prints. Russell Freedman begins with a lively account of Abraham Lincoln's boyhood, his career as a country lawyer, and his courtship and marriage to Mary Todd. Then the author focuses on Lincoln&’s presidency, skillfully explaining the many complex issues he grappled with as he led a deeply divided nation through the Civil War. The book's final chapter is a moving account of his tragic death at Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865. The volume concludes with a sampling of Lincoln writings and a detailed list of Lincoln historical sites. "Few, if any, of the many books written for children about Lincoln can compare with Freedman's contribution…This is an outstanding example of what (juvenile) biography can be. Like Lincoln himself, it stands head and shoulders above its competition." —School Library Journal
If the World Were a Village
by David J. Smith.This is the new paperback edition of a beautiful and unique book, which explains facts about the world's population in a simple and fascinating way. Instead of unimaginable billions, it presents the whole world as a village of just 100 people. We soon find out that 22 speak a Chinese dialect and that 17 cannot read or write. We also discover the people's religions, their education, their standard of living, and much much more...This book provokes thought and elicits questions. It cannot fail to inspire children's interest in world geography, citizenship and different customs and cultures, whether they read it at home or at school.
Henry and Mudge
by Cynthia RylantWhen Henry asks his parents for a baby brother, they say "No!" When Henry begs to move to a street with children, his parents say "No!" When Henry asks for a dog, his parents almost say "No!" Good thing they didn't say it, because Henry and Mudge are best pals.
Other books about their adventures are available from Bookshare. [This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts for grades 2-3 at http://www.corestandards.org.]