Drop-everything Reads
Favorite Read Aloud titles for families of D.E.A.R. readers

Compiled by children’s reading experts from Reach Out and Read, NEA, and Reading Rockets

For Families with Soon-to-be Readers
(Age 4 and under)

  • Amelia Bedelia's Family Album by Peggy Parish
  • Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman
  • Baby Says by John Steptoe
  • Bigmama's by Donald Crews
  • black is brown is tan by Arnold Adoff
  • Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
  • Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
  • In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
  • New Shoes for Sylvia by Johanna Hurwitz
  • Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
  • "More More More," Said the Baby by Vera B. Williams
  • Pete's a Pizza by William Steig

    For Families with Up-and-Coming Readers
    (Age 5 to 7)

  • Big Max by Kin Platt
  • Chato’s Kitchen by Gary Soto
  • Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett
  • Days with Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel
  • The Fairy's Mistake by Gail Carson Levine
  • The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson
  • How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
  • The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
  • Morris Goes to School by B. Wiseman
  • My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
  • Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
  • Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
  • A Three Hat Day by Laura Geringer
  • The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by John Scieszka

    For Families with Growing Readers
    (Age 8 – 11)

  • Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
  • Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
  • Dragonwings by Lawrence Yep
  • Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers
  • From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
  • Heidi by Johanna Spyri
  • Lyddie by Katherine Paterson
  • Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
  • My Daniel by Pam Conrad
  • Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
  • The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

    For Families with Sophisticated Readers
    (Age 12 and older)

  • Boy by Roald Dahl
  • The Cry of the Wolf by Melvin Burgess
  • The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
  • The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
  • A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck
  • The Mennyms by Sylvia Waugh
  • The Pinballs by Betsy Byars
  • Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech
  • Sabriel by Garth Nix
  • The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer
  • Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
  • Watership Down by Richard Adams

    Start a Series!

  • Artemis Fowl
  • The Borrowers
  • Chronicles of Narnia
  • Little House
  • Magic School Bus
  • Marvin Redpost
  • Redwall
  • Series of Unfortunate Events

    For Families Who Prefer Reading Silently

    These read aloud titles make great silent reads as well! Then after D.E.A.R. time, everyone can share their reading experience. Or create a D.E.A.R. theme that gets family members reading books about the same topic. Focus on fiction, nonfiction or a mix!

    More Drop-everything reads: Multi-cultural read aloud titles for DEAR families!
    D.E.A.R. 2008

    This list was compiled by the Quicklists Consulting Committee of the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association.

    Ages 0-4
  • Bebe Goes Shopping by Susan Middleton Elya
  • Bee-Bim Bop! by Linda Sue Park
  • Hands Can by Cheryl Willis Hudson
  • Jazz Baby by Lisa Wheeler
  • Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems
  • My Grandma = Mi Abuelita by Ginger Foglesong Guy
  • Peekaboo Morning by Rachel Isadora

    Ages 5-7
  • The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice N. Harrington
  • Little Mama Forgets by Robin Cruise
  • Little Red Riding-Hood by Jerry Pinkney
  • Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale by Carmen Deedy
  • My Father's Shop by Satomi Ichikawa
  • Oscar's Half Birthday by Bob Graham

    Ages 8-11
  • Clementine series by Sara Pennypacker
  • Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
  • Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath
  • Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
  • Indian Shoes by Cynthia Leitich Smith
  • Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything by Lenore Look
  • Rules by Cynthia Lord
  • The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin
  • Younguncle Comes to Town by Vandana Singh

    Ages 12 & Up
  • Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos
  • Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
  • If A Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko
  • The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
  • Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata
  • The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt