NCEA Book List

Grades PK-2

• A Spiritual Alphabet Book, Holly Bea
• A Walk Through Our Church, Gertrud Mueller Nelson
• America: A Patriotic Primer, Lynne Cheney
• But I Waaant It, Dr. Laura Schlessinger
• Easter, Gail Gibbons
• God is Here…When Bad things Happen, Martha Mary Moss, FSP and Thomas Groome
• I Learn About Jesus, Mary Elizabeth Tebo, FSP
• I’m Gonna Like Me: Letting off a Little Self-Esteem. Jamie Lee Curtis
• Impatient Pamela Asks: Why are My Feet so Huge? Mary Koski
• It’s Great to Be Catholic, Susan Heybeer O’Keefe
• Lizzy’s Do’s and Don’ts, Jessica Harper
• St. Patrick’s Day, Gail Gibbons
• The Carrot Seed, Ruth Krauss
• The Christmas Humbugs, Colleen Monroe
• The Hunter and the Animals: A Wordless Picture Book, Tomie de Paola
• The Littlest Angel, Charles Tazewell
• The Polar Express, Chris Van Allsburg
• The Snowy Day, Jack Keats
• The Story of the Pilgrims, Katharine Ross
• What You Will See in a Catholic Church, Michael Keane
• Where Does God Live? Holly Bea
• Winnie the Pooh, Friendship Day, Nancy Parent

Grades 3-5

• A Matter of Conscience: The Trial of Anne Hutchinson, Joan Kane Nichols
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll
• Around the World in a Hundred Years: From Henry the Navigator to Magellon, Jean Fritz
• Big Red, Jim Kjelgaard
• Derek Jeter: Surefire Shortstop, Bob Schnakenberg
• Fourth Grade Rats, Jerry Spinelli
• Loyola Kids’ Book of Saints, Amy Welborn
• Oh Baby! Katie Kazoo Switcheroo, Nancy E. Krulik
• Saint Edith Stein: Blessed by the Cross, Mary Lea Hill, FSP
• Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton: Daughter of America, Jeanne Marie Grunwell
• Saint Isaac Jogues: With Burning Heart, Christine Virginia Orfeo, FSP and Elizabeth Tebo, FSP
• Shiloh, Phyllis Reynolds
• Story of Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Three People, Four Days, Many Miracles, J. Janda
• Talkin’ About Bessie, Nikki Grimes
• The Last Dog on Earth, Daniel Ehrenhaft
• The Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett
• The People Could Fly, Virginia Hamilton
• What Whole You: Creativity, Jeannie Kim
• Window on the Deep: The Adventure of Underwater Explorer Sylvai Earle, Andrea Conley

Grades 6-8

• A Night to Remember, Walter Lord
• Bill Peet: An Autobiography, Bill Peet
• Celebrations: A New Anthology of Black American Poetry, Arnold Adoff, ed
• Chapters: My Growth as a Writer, Lois Duncan
• Chicken Soup for the Christian Teenage Soul: Stories of Faith, Love, Inspiration and Hope, Jack Canfield ed.
• Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul: 101 Stories of Change, Choices and Growing Up for Kids, Ages 10-13, Jack Canfield, ed
• Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: 101 Stories of Life, Love and Learning, Jack Canfield ed Father McBride’s Teen Catechism: Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Alfred McBride
• Father Michael Judge: An Authentic American Hero, Michael Ford
• Gideon’s People, Carolyn Meyer
• Grace Hopper: Navy Admiral and Computer Pioneer, Charlene W. Billings
• How do You Spell God? Rabbi Marc Gellman and Monsignor Thomas Hartman
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou
• Living the Questions Jesus Asks, John M. Vikek
• My Many Colored Days, Dr. Seuss
• No Place to be: Voices of Homeless Children, Judith Berck
• Road from Coorain, Jill K. Conway
• Rough Sketch Beginning, James Berry
• Silent Dancing: A Partial Remembrance of a Puerto Rican Childhood, Judith Ortiz Cofer
• Stopping for Death: Poems of Death and Loss, Carol Ann Duffy, ed
• Stretch Your Wings: Famous Black Quotations for Teens, Lucille Usher Freeman and Janet Cheatham Bell
• The Catholic Youth Bible, Brian Singer-Towns, ed
• Under the Eye of the Clock, Christopher Nolan

Grades PK-2

• A is for America: An American Alphabet, Devin Scillian
• A Terrible Thing Happened: A Story for Children Who Have Witnessed Violence or Trauma, Margaret M. Holmes
• Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride: Based on a True Story, Pam Munoz Ryan
• Angelina Ballerina, Katherine Holabird
• Caterpillar’s Wish, Mary Murphy
• Corduroy, Don Freeman
• Cosmos Zooms, Arthur Howard
• Everything on a Waffle, Polly Horvath
• Jessica’s X-Ray, Pat Zonta
• Martin’s Big Words, Doreen Rappoport
• Painted Chest, Judith Christine Mills
• Sleepy Angel’s First Bedtime Story, Tara Malanga and Susan Heyboer O’Keefe
• St. Francis in San Francisco, Jack Wintz, OFM
• The Delany Sisters Reach High, Amy Hill Hearth
• The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins, Barbara Kerley
• The Little House, Virginia Lee Burton
• The Little Prairie House, Laura Ingalls
• The Lord’s Prayer, Lois Rock
• The Missing Piece, Ahel Silverstein
• The Story of Ferdinand, Munro Leaf

Grades 3-5

• After the Funeral, Jane Loretta Winsch
• Ahyoka and the Talking Leaves, Peter Roop and Connie Roop
• Animals Who Have Won Our Hearts, Jean Craighead George
• Earth from Above for Young Readers, Yann Arthus-Bertrand
• Flight: The Journey of Charles Lindbergh, Robert Burleigh
• Into the Woods: John James Audubon Lives His Dreams, Robert Burleigh
• Journey to Christmas: A Yuletide Story for Children of All Ages, Wayne Skinner
• Not Just Tutus, Rachel Isadore
• Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy’s Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard, Mawi Asgedom
• On the Ice… Mario Lemieux, Matt Christopher
• Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, Eleanor Coerr
• Sarah, Plain and Tall, Patricia McLaughlin
• So You Want to be an Inventor? Judith St. George
• Tales from Gold Mountain, Paul Yee
• The Boy Who Sailed with Columbus, Richard Seaver
• The Keeping Quilt, Patricia Polacco
• The Lost Children, Paul Goble
• The Man Behind the Magic: The Story of Walt Disney, Katherine and Richard Greene
• The Moon of the Alligators, Jean Craighead George
• The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane, Russell Freedman

Grades 6-8

• A Gathering of Flowers: Stories about Being Young in America, Joyce Carol Thomas, ed
• Barrio Boy, Ernesto Galarza
• Chattanooga Sludge, Molly Bang
• Corazon Aquino, Howard Chua-Eoan
• Dead Birds Singing, Marc Talbert
• Halsey’s Pride, Lynn Hall
• I Will Remember You. What to Do When Someone You Love Dies: A Guidebook Through Grief for Teens, Laura Dower
• Julie, Jean Craighead George
• Land of Hope, Joan Lowery Nixon
• Last Summer with Maizon, Jacqueline Woodson
• Listen for the Singing, Jean Little
• Mama, Let’s Dance, Patricia Hermes
• Picking Up the Pieces, Patricia Calvert
• Remembering Mog, Colby Rodowsky
• Satchmo’s Blues, Alan Schroeder
• The New Americans, Brent and Melissa Ashabranner
• The Yearling, Marjorie Kennan Rawlings
• Voices from the Fields: Children of Migrant Farm Workers Tell Their Stories, Beth S. Atkin
• Voyage of the Lucky Dragon, Jack Bennett
• Yellow Raft in Blue Water, Michael Dorris

Grades PK-2

• Duckling Days, Karen Wallace
• Giraffes Can’t Dance, Giles Andreae
• Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Cheyenne Cisco
• Good Job, Little Bear, Martin Waddell
• Jumbo’s Lullaby, Laura Krauss Melmed
• Leo the Lop, Stephen Cosgrove
• Little Bunny’s Sleepless Night, Carol Roth
• Look and See What God Gave Me, Sally Anne Conan
• Love Is, Wendy Anderson Halperin
• Love You Forever, Robert Munsch
• Love You Until, Lisa McCourt
• Make Way for Ducklings, Robert McCloskey
• Me, Myself and I, Diaz, Fernando
• Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Virginia Lee Burton
• My Monster Mama Loves Me So, Laura Leuck
• Puppy Love, Christine Simpson
• Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born, Jame Lee Curtis
• The Lion and the Mouse, Cheyenne Cisco
• The Little Shepherd, Sally Anne Conan
• The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams Bianco
• Violets and Vegetables, Anne Miranda
• What Bear Cubs Like to Do, Deborah Eton
• You Are My Love, Maryann E. Cusimano
• You are Special, Max Lucado

Grades 3-5

• Amber on the Mountain, Tony Johnson
• Belle Pratter’s Boy, Ruth White
• Blister, Susan Shreve
• Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson
• Changing Places: A Kid’s View of Shelter Living, Maggie Calofsky
• Chicken Sunday, Patricia Polacco
• Deaf Child Crossing, Marlee Matlin
• Go Fish, Mary Stolz
• Halmoni and the Picnic, Sook Nyul Choi
• Heidi, Johanna Spyri
• I Meet Jesus: He Tells Me, “I Love You”, Jean Vanier
• Miracle’s Boy, Jacqueline Woodson
• Silent to the Bone, E.L. Konigsburg
• Somebody Love You, Mr. Hatch, Eileen Spinelli
• The Family Under the Bridge, Natalie Savage Carlson
• The Flip Flop Girl, Katherine Patterson
• The Moffats, Eleanor Estes
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Speare
• Train to Somewhere, Eve Bunting
• Understood Betsy, Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Grades PK-2

• A Chair for my Mother, Vera B. Williams
• A Tale from Paleface Creek, Robert F. Mormeau
• Around the Neighborhood, Carter Diaz
• Arthur Babysits, Marc Brown
• At Space Camp, Suzanne Martinucci
• Babe, The Gallant Pig, Dick King-Smith
• Boundless Grace, Mary Hoffman
• Families, Families, John Diaz
• Feathers and Fools, Mem Fox
• It’s My Birthday, Too! Lynne Jonell
• Jake Johnson: The Story of a Mule, Tres Seymour
• Madeline, Ludwig Bernelmans
• Maria’s Secret, June Toretta-Funentes
• Millions of Cats, Wanda Gag
• Moonlight Miracle, Tony Magliano
• Mother Goose Around the World, Gerner Fehlau
• Red Light, Green Light, Mama and Me, Cari Best
• The Brand New Kid, Katie Couric
• The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear, Don and Audrey Wood
• The Story of Babar, Jean de Brunhoff
• Wait for Me, Bonita Ferraro
• We Share Everything, Robert Munsch
• What if the Zebras Lost Their Stripes? John Reitano

Grades 3-5

• All-of-a-Kind Family, Sydney Taylor
• Because of Anya, Margaret Peterson Haddix
• Class President, Johanna Hurwitz
• Henry Huggins, Beverly Cleary
• If You Give a Pig a Pancake, Laura Joffe Numeroff
• Lassie Come Home, Rosemary Wells
• Locomotion, Jacqueline Woodson
• Monkey Island, Paula Fox
• Nobody’s Family is Going to Change, Louise Fitzhugh
• Remote Man, Elizabeth Honey
• Shalinar’s Song, Daniel J. Porter
• Surviving the Applewhites, Stephanie S. Tolan
• Tails of the Bronx: A Tale of the Bronx, Jill Pinkwater
• Take Two, They’re Small, Elizabeth Levy
• The Cabin Faced West, Jean Fritz
• The Hundred Dresses, Eleanor Estes
• The Impossible Journey, Gloria Whelan
• The Indian in the Cupboard, Lynne Reid Banks
• Troubles’s Child, Mildred Pitts Walter

Grades PK-2

• A Coat of Cats, Jeri Kroll
• A Picture Book of Anne Frank, David Adler and Karen Ritzill
• Angel Child, Dragon Child, Michele Maria Surat
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
• Election Day, Patricia J. Murphy
• Extraordinary Girls, Maya Ajmera
• Freedom Summer, Debbie Wiles
• From Sea to Shining Sea: A Treasury of American Folklore and Folk Songs, Amy Cohn
• Goin’ Someplace Special, Patricia McKissack
• Hurry Up, Harry, Kathleen Szaj
• Peace Begins with You, Katherine Scholes
• Singing with Momma Lou, Linda Jacobs Altman
• Sniffles, Stephen Cosgrove
• Somewhere Today a Book of Peace, Shelley Moor Thomas
• The Ant Bully, John Nickle
• The Lorax, Dr. Seuss
• The Meanest Thing to Say, Bill Cosby
• The Pokey Little Puppy, Janette Sebring Lowrey
• The Supreme Court, Quirir Patricia Ryon
• Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen, Dyanne Disalvo-Ryan
• We the Kids: The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States, David Catrow
• When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson, Pam Munoz Ryan

Grades 3-5

• The Bracelet, Yoshiko Uchida and Joanna Yardley
• Chief Joseph, War Chief of the Nez Perce, Russell G. Davis
• Crispin: The Cross of Lead, Avi
• The Declaration of Independence: The Words that Made America, Sam Fink
• I Never Saw Another Butterfly: Children’s Drawings and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp, 1942-1944, Hana Volavkova
• The Journal of Ben Uchida, Citizen 13559, Mirror Lake Internment Camp, Barry Denenberg
• Juneteenth: A Celebration of Freedom, Charles A. Taylor
• Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor, Russell Freedman
• La Causa: The Migrant Farmworker’s Story, Richard Larios
• Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Fighters, Andera Davis Pinkey
• Money Hungry, Sharon Flake
• Pink and Say, Patricia Polacco
• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred D. Taylor
• They Shall Be Heard: Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Kate Connell and Alex Haley eds
• A Voice of Her Own: The Story of Phillis Wheatly, Slave Poet
• We the Kids: The Preamble to the Constitution of the U.S., David Catrow
• We Want Jobs! A Story of the Great Depression, Jan N. Jones
• Witness, Karen Hesse
• When Justice Failed: the Fred Korematsu Story, Steven A. Chin

Grades PK-2

• A Girl Named Helen Keller, Margo Lundell
• Arthur and the Sword, Thomas Malory
• Arthur Lost and Found, Marc Brown
• Brave Irene, William Steig
• Cabbage Rose, M.C. Helldorfer
• Fireboat: The Heroic Adventure of John J. Harvey, Naira Kalman
• Herb, The Vegetarian Dragon, Jules Bass
• Monster Moments, Daniel J. Porter
• New York’s Bravest, Mary Pope Osborne
• Quiet, Wyatt! Bill Maynard
• Sometimes You Just Have to Tell Somebody, Ruth V. Cullen
• St. Patrick’s Day in the Morning, Eve Bunting
• The Hallo-Wiener, Dav Pilkey
• The Little Engine that Could, Watty Piper
• The Reluctant Dragon, Kenneth Grahame
• The Saggy Baggy Elephant, Kathryn and Byron Jackson
• The Story About Ping, Marjorie Flack
• The Three Little Pigs, David Weisner
• What Does Sam Sell? Bonita Ferraro
• Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak

Grades 3-5

• Abel’s Island, William Steig
• Book of Flight, Judith E. Rinard
• Caddie Woodlawn, Carol Ryrie Brink
• Call it Courage, Armstrong Sperry
• The Children’s Book of Heroes, William Bennett
• The Children’s Homer: The Adventures of Odysseus and the Fall of Troy, Patraic Colum
• Days of Courage: The Little Rock Story, Richard Kelso
• Door in the Wall, Marguerite DeAngeli
• Esperanza Rising, Pam Munoz Ryan
• Goodbye Vietnam, Gloria Whalen
• Hatchet, Gary Paulsen
• Jesse Owens: Olympic Star, Patricia and Frederick McKissack
• Julie of the Wolves, Jean Craighead George
• The Last Princess: The Story of Princess Ka’iulani of Hawai’I, Fay Stanley
• Loser, Jerry Spinelli
• New York’s Bravest, Mary Pope Osborne
• Saint Maximilian Kolbe: Mary’s Knight, Patricia Kelly
• The School Story, Brian Selznick
• Seven Brave Women, Betsy Hearne
• A Single Shard, Linda Sue Park
• Whitney Rides the Whale with Jonah and Learns She Can’t Run Away, Therese Johnson Borchard

Grades PK-2

• Arthur and the True Francine, Marc Brown
• Because of Winn Dixie, Kate Di Camillo
• Beyond the Ridge, Paul Goble
• Franklin’s Secret Club, Paulette Bourgeois and Sharon Jennings
• Gina’s Saturday Adventure, Rosario De Bello, OP
• I Hate Goodbyes, Kathleen Szaj
• It’s Mine, Leon Lionni
• King of the Playground, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
• Let’s Be Enemies, Janice May Udry
• Lleonard the Llama that Lied, Susan Cameron
• Messy Moose, Lois Bick
• No, David, David Shannon
• Spinky Sulks, William Steig
• The Grouchy Ladybug, Eric Carle
• The Hating Book, Charlotte Zolotow
• The Paper Bag Princess, Robert Munsch
• The Quarreling Book, Charlotte Zolotow
• The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter
• Three Wishes, Lucille Clifton
• Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, Marilyn Sadler

Grades 3-5

• Amelia Bedelia, Peggy Parish
• Blubber, Judy Blume
• Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate Dicamillo
• Best Enemies Again, Kathleen Leverich
• Daddy Says, Ntozake Shange
• Every Living Thing, Cynthia Rylant
• The Facts and Fiction of Minna Pratt, Patricia MacLachlan
• Gavriel and Jemal: Two Boys of Jerusalem, Bert Ashabranner
• Harriet the Spy, Louise Fitzhugh
• Holes, Louis Sachar
• It Takes Courage, Chistine L. Schmitt
• Keeper of the Doves, Betsy Byars
• 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East, Naomi Shihab Nye
• Patrol: An American Soldier in Vietnam, Walter Dean Myers
• Talking about Stepfamilies, Maxine B. Rosenberg
• There’s a Girl in my Hammerlock, Jerry Spinelli
• When Pirates Came to Brooklyn, Phyllis Shalant

Grades 6-8

• Blue Heron, Avi
• December Stillness, Mary Downing Hahn
• Does Anybody Know What Planet My Parents are From? Kevin Walter Johnson

Grades PK-2

• Aunt Chip and the Great Triple Creek Dam Affair, Patricia Polacco
• The Bicycle Man, Allen Say
• Blaze and Thunderbolt, C.W. Anderson
• Bob’s Big Story Collection, Annie Auerbach
• The Clown of God, Tomie dePaola
• Curious George, H.A. Ray
• Dr. DeSoto, William Steig
• The Emperor and the Kite, Jane Yolen
• Farmer Brown Goes Round and Round, Teri Sloat
• The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein
• The Hippo in June’s Tub, Deborah Eaton
• If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Laura Numeroff
• Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Betty McDonald
• The Other Wise Man, Henry van Dyke
• The Quiltmaker’s Gift, Jeff Brumbeau
• The Rainbow Fish, Marcus Pfister
• Strega Nona Meets her Match, Tomie dePaolo
• A Symphony of Whales, Peter Sylvada
• Too Small Jill, Myka-Lynne Sokoloff
• The Trash Can Band, Lois Bick
• Zack Can Fix It, Meish Goldish

Grades 3-5

• A Day’s Work, Eve Bunting
• Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White and Garth Williams
• Fathers Are Forever: Quotations Honoring the Wisest Men We Know, Criswell Freeman
• Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women, Catherine Thimmesh
• How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning, Rosalyn Schanzer
• Inventing the Future: A Photo biography of Thomas Alva Edison, Marfe Ferguson Delano
• Never Turn Back: Father Serra’s Missions, George Guzzi
• One More Valley, One More Hill: The Story of Aunt Clara Brown, Linda Lowery
• S Is for Saints, Megan Dunsmore
• Shoeshine Girl, Clyde Robert Bulla
• Stuck on the Presidents, Lara Bergen
• Summer Wheels, Eve Bunting
• The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
• Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen, Dyanne Disalvo-Ryan

Grades 6-8

• All Things Bright and Beautiful, James Herriot
• Carver: A Life in Poems, Marilyn Nelson
• Christy, Catherine Marshall
• Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life in Discovery, Russell Freedman
• Freedom Songs, Yvette Moore
• Living the Works of Mercy: Daring Teens to Change the World, Ellen P. Cavanaugh
• Lovey: A Very Special Child, Mary MacCracken
• Maximillian Kolbe: Saint of Auschwitz, Elaine Murray Stone
• Mother Teresa, Elaine Murray Stone
• My Dear Young Friends: Pope John Paul II Speaks to Teens on Life, Love and Courage, John Vitek, ed
• My Life with the Chimpanzees, Jane Goodall
• Native American Doctor, Jeri Ferris
• People Who Make A Difference, Nicholas Ashabranner
• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens: The Ultimate Teenage Success Guide, Sean Covey
• Stars Come Out Within, Jean Little
• Teens With the Courage to Give: Young People Who Triumphed over Tragedy, Jackie Waldman, ed
• Volunteered to make a Difference, Jackie Waldman, ed
• Time to be Born, David Bell, MD
• War on Villa Street: A Novel, Harry Mazer
• War Poets, Robert Giddings

Source: Kealy, Catherine M., MA, MS and Robert J. Kealy, EdD. A Working Reading List for Catholic School Students. NCEA, 2003.