2nd Grade Literature

I have been reading a lot of juvenile fiction, lately. Obviously, what your student reads in each grade will depend on how quickly he learns to read, but here are some suggestions for about 2nd grade:

Daniel's Duck by Clyde Robert Bulla
An easy read, this story about a young artist is charming and well illustrated.

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
The well-known story of 4 orphans trying to make it on their own. Warner tells the simple details of how the children work together to make a home for themselves in an intriguing way. I remember reading this book, as a child, and then acting it out over and over and over again. the first 18 sequels are good, too.

A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla
A more advanced book than Daniel's Duck, this one tells the story of 3 English children who, after the death of their mother, cross the Atlantic to find their father who had gone to the New World in search of opportunity for his family.

The Shoeshine Girl by Clyde Robert Bulla
This story is about an angry young girl who learns the value of hard work and the happiness that can come from it.

Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
This is the tale of a spider who spends her energy, her talent, and most of her life saving a helpless pig from death, often with no thanks or recognition. It is a beautiful portrait of selfless servanthood.

The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White
Louis the trumpeter swan is disadvantaged; he cannot trumpet like other swans, so, he can't communicate with others or attract the attention of the female swan that he wants to marry. But, instead of moping, he goes out and learns to read and write and play the trumpet and eventually becomes the most accomplished and outstanding swan of them all.

Stuart Little by E. B. White
This story has less of a moral than the other White books, but it is undeniably fun.

Who's That Stepping on Plymouth Rock, And Then What Happened, Paul Revere, and Shh! We're Writing the Constitution by Jean Fritz
Since we are studying history sequentially, one might protest that my children wont know even the basics of American history before 5th grade, which is a shame. Well, here is one way to remedy that without abandoning the benefits of a sequential history curriculum. These books, and the others in the series tell stories from early American history for the young reader. The illustrations are by Tomi de Paulo and only add to the humor and interest of the text. I enjoyed and learned from these books, and believe my children will, as well.

Books by Thornton W. Burgess
Books by Thornton W. Burgess can be difficult to track down, but I found some in my grandmother's house the other day and thought I would try them out. I read the Thorton Bird Book for Children. This is a narrative that weaves in facts about many North American birds. It tells what the birds look like, what they eat, where they nest, what they sound like, etc., all in an interesting fashion. I learned a lot reading these books and have found myself much more aware of birds now. Burgess wrote many books about many different creatures, so there are a lot to choose from. A few warnings about Burgess, though. He talks, occasionally, about Mother Nature, so kids should be told about that fallacy.


Here are some books to read to your second grader. Reading to a child should encourage him to love books. It also allows him to hear more complicated literature earlier. This is especially important with poetry. Since an early reader may not be able to produce the rhythm of poetry due to uncertain or slow reading, he misses half of the experience, but you can give him the whole poem by reading it aloud.

Favorite Poems Old and New edited by Helen Ferris
This is a huge book, with hundreds of poems. Many of them are very good, but some of them reflect unbiblical worldviews. I advise you to read through it and pick out the best poems to share with your student.

Fairy Tales by Hans Christen Anderson
I was familiar with many of these stories, but never knew that, as they were originally written, they had a lot of Christian content in them. Now, Anderson was no reformed scholar, but these stories are much richer than currently portrayed. Do watch out for some hints of works righteousness. Also, Anderson, influenced by the romantics, wrote some tales on the superiority of emotion over reason, which should be skipped. For one or both of the above reasons, I suggest skipping The Naughty Boy, Little Shuteye, The Bell, The Snow Queen, The Red Shoes, The Little Match Girl, A Thousand Years From Now, The Snowman and The Flea and the Professor.

Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
Kipling is really funny with his explanations about how different animals got some of their features.

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