Summertime Favorites, is a list of recommended readings, from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The NEH has an ongoing mission to bring classic literature to children and teens.

As I reviewed the list I saw that there were so many books that I’ve never had the opportunity to read. That’s why I’m going to print off the Summertime Favorites list for myself and create my own summer reading plan!

It's quite a lengthy list so, I’ve provided a few of the organization’s top picks by age group here for your review:

Kindergarten – 3 Grade

Benchley, Nathaniel. Sam the Minuteman.

Blume, Judy. Freckle Juice.

Cleary, Beverly. The Mouse and the Motorcycle.

Daugherty, James. Andy and the Lion.

Johnson, Crockett. Harold and the Purple Crayon.

Krauss, Ruth. The Carrot Seed.

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. Paul Revere's Ride.

Stevenson, Robert Louis. A Child’s Garden of Verses.

Viorst, Judith. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Yashima, Taro. Crow Boy.

Grades 4 – 6

Babbitt, Natalie. Tuck Everlasting.

Hamilton, Virginia. The House of Dies Drear.

Irving, Washington. Rip Van Winkle.

Lenski, Lois. Strawberry Girl.

Paterson, Katherine. Bridge to Terabithia.

Pearce, Philippa. Tom’s Midnight Garden.

Sewell, Anna. Black Beauty.

Sharp, Margery. The Rescuers.

Grades 7 – 8

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451.

Cooper, James Fenimore. The Last of the Mohicans.

Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Engdahl, Sylvia Louise. Enchantress From the Stars.

Forbes, Esther. Johnny Tremain.

Hunt, Irene. Across Five Aprils.

O’Dell, Scott. Island of the Blue Dolphins.

Peck, Robert Newton. A Day No Pigs Would Die.

Scott, Sir Walter. Ivanhoe.

Steinbeck, John. The Red Pony.

Yep, Laurence. Dragonwings.

Grades 9 – 12

Anonymous. Beowulf.

Bolt, Robert. A Man for All Seasons.

Buck, Pearl. The Good Earth.

Conrad, Joseph. Lord Jim.

Cormier, Robert. The Chocolate War.

Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man.

Galsworthy, John. The Forsyte Saga.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter.

Hesse, Hermann. Steppenwolf.

Joyce, James. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

Lewis, Sinclair. Babbitt.

McCullers, Carson. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.

Potok, Chaim. The Chosen.

Sheridan, Richard Brinsley.

The School for Scandal.

Thackeray, William Makepeace. Vanity Fair.

Wolfe, Thomas. Look Homeward, Angel.

Don’t forget that summertime is also the perfect opportunity to help to your struggling readers gain up to three grade levels in only 40 – 60 hours!