Reading Lists · Elementary (K–5)

Fifth Grade Reading List

Fifth grade: the Iliad and Shakespeare retold for children, adventure classics, and the transition to longer books.

Core

  1. The Bible · Anonymous · grades K–12Bible reading and memory work continue.
  2. Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad · Rosemary Sutcliff · grades 5–8Sutcliff's retelling of the Iliad prepares students for Homer.
  3. The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles · Padraic Colum · grades 5–8Colum's retelling of Jason, the Argonauts and other Greek heroes.
  4. Tales from Shakespeare · Charles and Mary Lamb · grades 3–5Charles and Mary Lamb's prose retellings, a first meeting with Shakespeare's plots.
  5. The Hobbit · J. R. R. Tolkien · grades 5–8Tolkien's adventure of an unlikely hero, courage and greed.
  6. Treasure Island · Robert Louis Stevenson · grades 5–8Stevenson's pirate adventure, a model of storytelling.
  7. A Christmas Carol · Charles Dickens · grades 5–8Dickens's tale of repentance and generosity.
  8. The Silver Chair · C. S. Lewis · grades 3–5A Narnia quest about remembering and obeying Aslan's signs.
  9. The Horse and His Boy · C. S. Lewis · grades 3–5A Narnia story of providence on a journey north.
  10. The Secret Garden · Frances Hodgson Burnett · grades 3–5A neglected garden and two lonely children brought back to life.
  11. The Gettysburg Address · Abraham Lincoln · grades 5–12Lincoln's short speech, often memorized and recited.

Stretch

For strong readers or extra time.

  • Little Women · Louisa May Alcott · grades 5–8Alcott's novel of four sisters growing in character.
  • The Story of My Life · Helen Keller · grades 5–12Helen Keller's own account of learning language.
  • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer · Mark Twain · grades 5–8Twain's comic picture of boyhood on the Mississippi.
  • Anne of Green Gables · L. M. Montgomery · grades 5–8An imaginative orphan finds a home on Prince Edward Island.

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.