The Beauty of a Story

In case you were wondering, this is a short list of books that are popular in my fourth grade classroom right now. Remember, these are 9 and 10 year olds. Most of them are still a little too young for Harry Potter and Narnia on their own, though those books are perfect for read alouds.

Dog Man by Dave Pilkey.

A comic book series about a person with a dog head who stops crimes and saves the world. Yes, it is as silly as it sounds. But some of the jokes and gags are actually pretty funny even for adults. This is one of the most popular things for the boys to read. They read them over and over again.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney.

For whatever the reason, even the ‘cool kids’ in class love to read about the misadventures of Greg Heffley. I haven’t read them myself, but I have patched up most of the Wimpy Kid books on my shelf and can attest to their popularity. Also, the boys this year love playing ‘the cheese touch’. If you don’t know what it is, do yourself a favor and look it up. I am convinced the author clearly remembers what it was like to be a kid, no one but a kid could make up something like that.

Dork Diaries by Rachel Russell.

In summary, this is the girl version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Except with loooots more drama and exclamation marks. Don’t be fooled, there are some brave boys who like the viciously pink books, but most of the fan base are the girls in my classroom. Though I am concerned they are taking notes on the mean girls in the series and putting that into action…

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown.

This book, and the subsequent trilogy, is my favorite on the list. I love how beautifully the author writes and draws about nature. The book is about our relationship with nature and has themes of found family as well. I love the premise, what would happen if a robot ended up on a deserted island? It is a question I didn’t even know I had until it was answered by the book. It is all the rage this school year, especially the audio books. Those are going the rounds in my classroom as each student borrows it from the other, and hopefully they will eventually end up back in the library…

If you have a fourth grader in your life who likes to read, now you know the most popular books you might try to get them. Popular in my classroom anyway.

Shaina Merrick