Reading Representation Grades 3-4

The books on this list have been curated for grades 3-4 by Guilford Free Library and Guilford Public Schools librarians. These titles showcase characters from a wide range of backgrounds, ethnicities, abilities, and family structures, affirming everyone’s presence and value in society while also being good stories that children enjoy! Reading stories from different perspectives inspires empathy, fostering self-love as well as a greater connection with others. This project is also presented by the Guilford Anti-Bias Anti-Racist (ABAR) Alliance, a collaborative partnership of educators, parents, and caregivers who work to further inclusion, equity, and tolerance within Guilford Public Schools. Learn more at www.GuilfordCtABAR.com .
 

Showing 1 - 20 of 21  There are a total of 78 valid entries on the list.

1. Ban this book

Book cover for "Ban this book"
Star rating for Ban this book
Author:
Gratz, Alan, 1972-
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, OverDrive eAudiobook
Description:
"In Ban This Book by Alan Gratz, a fourth grader fights back when From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg is challenged by a well-meaning parent and taken off the shelves of her school library. Amy Anne is shy and soft-spoken, but don't mess with her when it comes to her favorite book in the whole world. Amy Anne and her lieutenants wage a battle for the books that will make you laugh and pump your fists as they start...

2. A boy called Bat

Book cover for "A boy called Bat"
Star rating for A boy called Bat
Author:
Arnold, Elana K.
Average Rating:
5 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook, Media Player, OverDrive eBook
Description:
When his veterinarian mom brings home a stray baby skunk that needs rehabilitation before it can be placed in a wild animal shelter, Bat, who has autism, resolves to prove that he is up to the challenge of caring for the skunk permanently.

3. Flora & Ulysses

Book cover for "Flora & Ulysses"
Star rating for Flora & Ulysses
Author:
DiCamillo, Kate
Formats:
CD Audiobook, Hoopla eBook
Description:
It begins, as the best superhero stories do, with a tragic accident that has unexpected consequences. The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, but self-described cynic Flora Belle Buckman, who has read every issue of the comic book Terrible Things Can Happen to You!, is just the right person to step in and save him. What neither can predict is that Ulysses (the squirrel) has been born anew, with powers of strength, flight, and misspelled...

4. Flora & Ulysses: the illuminated adventures

Book cover for "Flora & Ulysses"
Star rating for Flora & Ulysses
Author:
DiCamillo, Kate
Average Rating:
5 stars
Formats:
Book, OverDrive eAudiobook, Readalong
Description:
Rescuing a squirrel after an accident involving a vacuum cleaner, comic-reading cynic Flora Belle Buckman is astonished when the squirrel, Ulysses, demonstrates astonishing powers of strength and flight after being revived.

5. Fuzzy

Book cover for "Fuzzy"
Star rating for Fuzzy
Author:
Angleberger, Tom
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
When Max (Maxine Zealster) befriends her new robot classmate Fuzzy, she helps him navigate Vanguard Middle School and together they reveal the truth behind the Robot Integration Program.

6. Fuzzy mud

Book cover for "Fuzzy mud"
Star rating for Fuzzy mud
Author:
Sachar, Louis, 1954-
Average Rating:
5 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Media Player, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
"Two middle-grade kids take a shortcut home from school and discover what looks like fuzzy mud but is actually a substance with the potential to wreak havoc on the entire world"--

7. A handful of stars

Book cover for "A handful of stars"
Star rating for A handful of stars
Author:
Lord, Cynthia
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook
Description:
When her blind dog slips his collar, twelve-year old Lily meets Salma Santiago, a young Hispanic girl whose migrant family are in Maine for the blueberry-picking season, and, based partly on their mutual love of dogs, the two forge a friendship while painting bee boxes for Lily's grandfather--but as the Blueberry Queen pageant approaches Lily and Selma are confronted with some of the hard truths of prejudice and migrant life.

8. The jumbies

Book cover for "The jumbies"
Star rating for The jumbies
Author:
Baptiste, Tracey
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
Eleven-year-old Corinne must call on her courage and an ancient magic to stop an evil spirit and save her island home.

9. Macy McMillan and the rainbow goddess

Book cover for "Macy McMillan and the rainbow goddess"
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Author:
Green, Shari, 1963-
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eAudiobook, Media Player, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
Olivia has been Macy McMillan's best friend ever since Macy transferred to Hamiliton Elementary from Braeside School for the Deaf. But then their sixth grade teacher assigned that embarrassing family tree project, and Olivia made a joke about Macy's father, and now neither girl is speaking--signing--to the other. It couldn't have happened at a worse time. With her mother getting married and an ugly For Sale sign jammed into their yard, Macy could...

10. Ms. Bixby's last day

Book cover for "Ms. Bixby's last day"
Star rating for Ms. Bixby's last day
Author:
Anderson, John David, 1975-
Average Rating:
4 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook
Description:
Loving their gifted teacher, three boys are dismayed when the teacher falls ill and leaves for the rest of the school year, a situation that compels them to share their stories while cutting class and journeying across town together on a fateful day.

11. The mysterious Benedict Society and the perilous journey

Book cover for "The mysterious Benedict Society and the perilous journey"
Star rating for The mysterious Benedict Society and the perilous journey
Author:
Stewart, Trenton Lee
Average Rating:
5 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eBook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance, all graduates of the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened and members of the Benedict Society, embark on a scavenger hunt that turns into a desperate search for the missing Mr. Benedict.

12. The mysterious Benedict Society and the riddle of ages

Book cover for "The mysterious Benedict Society and the riddle of ages"
Star rating for The mysterious Benedict Society and the riddle of ages
Author:
Stewart, Trenton Lee
Average Rating:
5 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, OverDrive eAudiobook
Description:
"After starring in three adventures, the inimitable quartet of Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance haven't had a mission together in some time. But with the arrival of a new Society member--and a new threat--they must reunite to face dilemmas more dangerous than ever before, including the return of the villainous Mr. Curtain and his Ten Men and a formidable enemy with a mystifying ability to track their every move." --

13. The red pyramid

Book cover for "The red pyramid"
Star rating for The red pyramid
Author:
Riordan, Rick
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eBook, Large Print, Media Player, OverDrive eAudiobook, OverDrive eBook
Description:
Brilliant Egyptologist Dr. Julius Kane accidentally unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes the doctor to oblivion and forces his two children to embark on a dangerous journey, bringing them closer to the truth about their family and its links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharoahs.

14. Rise of the jumbies

Book cover for "Rise of the jumbies"
Star rating for Rise of the jumbies
Author:
Baptiste, Tracey
Average Rating:
5 stars
Formats:
Book, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook
Description:
Suspicion falls on half-jumbie Corinee when local children from her Caribbean island home begin to disappear, and she is forced to go deep into the ocean to seek the help of a dangerous jumbie who rules the waves.

15. The serpent's shadow

Book cover for "The serpent's shadow"
Star rating for The serpent's shadow
Author:
Riordan, Rick
Average Rating:
5 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eBook, Large Print, OverDrive eBook
Description:
Carter and Sadie prepare for the ultimate confrontation with the chaos snake Apophis at the same time the House of Life magicians launch a civil war, compelling the Kanes to tap the power of an ancient spell.

16. Show me a sign

Book cover for "Show me a sign"
Star rating for Show me a sign
Author:
LeZotte, Ann Clare
Formats:
Book, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook, Large Print
Description:
It is 1805 and Mary Lambert has always felt safe among the deaf community of Chilmark on Martha's Vineyard where practically everyone communicates in a shared sign language, but recent events have shattered her life; her brother George has died, land disputes between English settlers and the Wampanoag people are becoming increasingly bitter, and a "scientist" determined to discover the origins of the islands' widespread deafness has decided she makes...

17. The throne of fire

Book cover for "The throne of fire"
Star rating for The throne of fire
Author:
Riordan, Rick
Average Rating:
5 stars
Formats:
Book, CD Audiobook, Hoopla eBook, Large Print, OverDrive eAudiobook
Description:
Carter and Sadie, offspring of the brilliant Egyptologist Dr. Julius Kane, embark on a worldwide search for the Book of Ra, but the House of Life and the gods of chaos are determined to stop them.

18. Trapped!

Book cover for "Trapped!"
Star rating for Trapped!
Author:
Ponti, James
Average Rating:
5 stars
Formats:
Book, Hoopla eAudiobook, OverDrive eAudiobook
Description:
Middle schoolers Florian and Margaret are determined to catch a spy who is implicating their FBI supervisor, Marcus Rivers, in a variety of crimes--even if they have to break into, and out of, the Library of Congress to do it.

19. The Vanderbeekers and the hidden garden

Book cover for "The Vanderbeekers and the hidden garden"
Star rating for The Vanderbeekers and the hidden garden
Author:
Glaser, Karina Yan
Average Rating:
4.5 stars
Formats:
Book, Hoopla eAudiobook, Hoopla eBook, Large Print
Description:
"When catastrophe strikes their beloved upstairs neighbors, the Vanderbeeker children set out to build the best, most magical healing garden in Harlem--in spite of a locked fence, thistles and trash, and the conflicting plans of a wealthy real estate developer"--

20. Vanished!

Book cover for "Vanished!"
Star rating for Vanished!
Author:
Ponti, James
Average Rating:
5 stars
Formats:
Book, Hoopla eAudiobook, OverDrive eAudiobook
Description:
In Washington, D.C., twelve-year-old Florian Bates, a consulting detective for the FBI, and his best friend Margaret must uncover the truth behind a series of private middle school pranks that may or may not involve the daughter of the President of the United States.