Reading Lists · Elementary (K–5)

Second Grade Reading List

Second grade: first chapter books and American history stories, with fairy tales and continued Bible reading.

Core

  1. The Bible · Anonymous · grades K–12Bible stories continue, with more of the narrative read and retold by the children.
  2. The Courage of Sarah Noble · Alice Dalgliesh · grades K–2A brief colonial-era story about keeping up courage in hard places.
  3. Sam the Minuteman · Nathaniel Benchley · grades K–2An easy reader that introduces the opening of the American Revolution.
  4. Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie · Peter and Connie Roop · grades K–2A true story of a lighthouse keeper's daughter who keeps her duty through a storm.
  5. Little House in the Big Woods · Laura Ingalls Wilder · grades K–2Pioneer family life, work and faith, told for young readers.
  6. The House at Pooh Corner · A. A. Milne · grades K–2Gentle humor and friendship in a read-aloud classic.
  7. My Father's Dragon · Ruth Stiles Gannett · grades K–2A short adventure chapter book that young readers can tackle on their own.
  8. The Velveteen Rabbit · Margery Williams · grades K–2A tender story about love that makes something real.
  9. Fairy Tales (Selection) · Hans Christian Andersen · grades 2–5Andersen's literary fairy tales, which often close with Christian consolation.
  10. Grasshopper on the Road · Arnold Lobel · grades K–2An easy reader in which Grasshopper meets creatures who let one habit swallow everything else.

Stretch

For strong readers or extra time.

  • Just So Stories · Rudyard Kipling · grades K–5Kipling's rich vocabulary stretches young listeners.
  • The Blue Fairy Book · Andrew Lang · grades K–5Longer fairy tales for stronger readers.
  • Sarah, Plain and Tall · Patricia MacLachlan · grades K–2A short, quiet novel about a frontier family and a new mother.
  • Psalm 23 · Attributed to David · grades K–12A psalm worth memorizing, if it was not learned earlier.

The sequence follows the general pattern of classical Christian schools: nursery rhymes, fables, fairy tales and Bible stories in the early grades; myths, Greek, Roman and medieval stories in the logic years; and the Great Books and theology in the rhetoric years. These are suggestions, not any publisher's or school's official list. Core titles are the main reading for the year; Stretch titles suit stronger readers or extra time. Each title sits within the grade range given on its library page; check a work's notes for content parents and teachers may want to know about.