Help your child get set for learning by encouraging reading at home these final days of summer. Scholastic Canada Ltd. provides this back-to-school reading list for youngsters and tweens. Visit dearcanada.ca and scholastic.ca for more.
PICTURE BOOKS (for preschoolers and young readers)
Clifford Collection (50th Anniversary)
By Norman Bridwell
Guess who's turning 50? Start the year off right with this collection of six classic stories starring Clifford the Big Red Dog. Featuring original artwork, this is a perfect way to introduce a new generation to wonderful stories like Clifford's Good Deeds, and Clifford Gets a Job.
A Gold Star for Zog
By Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
A back-to-school adventure from the bestselling creators of The Gruffalo and Stick Man! What do dragons learn at Madam Dragon's school? How to fly. . . How to roar. . . How to breathe fire! Zog is eager, but he's also accident prone. With each test (and each bump, bruise, or scrape), his dream of earning a gold star seems further away. But a mysterious girl keeps coming to his rescue. And when Zog faces his toughest test yet, she may be just the person to help Zog win classroom glory.
JUNIOR NOVELS (for ages 7-10)
Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers
Tra-la-laaa! The Captain is back!
In this ninth epic novel, Dav Pilkey takes readers back in time to the carefree days of kindergarten, when the worst thing our heroes, George and Harold, had to face was a sixthgrade bully named Kipper Krupp. Since they don't actually invent Captain Underpants until Grade 4, it's up to these clever kindergarteners to use their brains and outsmart the bully themselves.
Third Grade Angels
By Jerry Spinelli
Master storyteller Jerry Spinelli returns with this prequel to Fourth Grade Rats. George has just entered third grade and his teacher is holding a competition each month to see which student is best-behaved, kindest to others, and, in short, perfect. George is determined to win, but being good all the time is a lot harder than he thinks.
MIDDLE-GRADE FUN (for ages 9-13)
Infinity Ring Book One: A Mutiny in Time
By James Dashner
In this new series, history, as we know it, is broken. It's up to three teen friends to travel back in time and fix the past, in order to save the future. The first in a seven-book series, A Mutiny in Time, takes readers to dangerous moments in history, and introduces them to important historical figures. Packed with action and adventure, Infinity Ring is your next favourite series. An online game component allows readers to become a character and have further adventures in history. Check it out at www.infinityring.com.
Dear Canada and I Am Canada series
For more fiction steeped in Canadian history, be sure to check out the Dear Canada and I Am Canada series. Each book is set at a pivotal moment in Canadian history, and told through the eyes of boys and girls who are living through it. I Am Canada: A Call to Battle takes readers to the frontlines of the War of 1812, and Dear Canada: Torn Apart is set in Vancouver during the time of Japanese internment during WWII.
