Book Club › Books by level › Level 2
Books for level 2 readers: first books to sound out
Before or at the start of kindergarten: the first books a child sounds out. Up to 6 words on a page, a line or two, with a picture on every page.
Peabody's level 2 stories, free to read now
- A Bun for Fran12 short pages
- A Hum in the Hall12 short pages
- A Nest on the Hill12 short pages
- Chip and the Shell9 short pages
- Fish in a Dish9 short pages
- Frog on a Log9 short pages
- Jump, Jump, Jump!12 short pages
- Ring the Bell9 short pages
- Seth and the Ship12 short pages
- Stop, Bus!10 short pages
- Stop, Dad!12 short pages
- The Big Truck9 short pages
- The Black Cat12 short pages
- The Black Thing11 short pages
- The Hen Who Hisses11 short pages
- The Plum12 short pages
From Peabody's kids' book lists
Books that help with sight words and decoding
- Bob Books Set 1: Beginning Readers by Bobby Lynn Maslen · ages 4-7. Twelve tiny books that use only a few letters at a time (m, a, s, t) so children can sound out every word. Widely used for first decoding practice. Bookshop.org · Amazon
- Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss · ages 3-7. Rhymes on short vowel word families (hop, pop; day, play). Beginner Books series with limited vocabulary. Bookshop.org · Amazon
- Go, Dog. Go! by P. D. Eastman · ages 3-7. Dogs of all kinds go places in cars and hats. Simple vocabulary and a lot of repetition, useful for early sight words. Bookshop.org · Amazon
- Are You My Mother? by P. D. Eastman · ages 3-7. A baby bird hatches and asks everything he meets if it is his mother. Simple words and a repeated pattern. Bookshop.org · Amazon
- Biscuit by Alyssa Satin Capucilli · ages 2-6. A little yellow puppy won't go to bed. I Can Read! My First level, in very short sentences with strong picture clues. Bookshop.org · Amazon
Top 25 books for a kindergartener
- The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn · ages 3-6. A raccoon's mother kisses his palm so he can feel her love at school. A first-day-of-school standby. Bookshop.org · Amazon
- Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes · ages 4-7. A mouse who loves her name is teased about it on the first day of school. Reads aloud easily and gives kids language for teasing. Bookshop.org · Amazon
- Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes · ages 3-7. Wemberly worries about everything, especially the first day of school. Short text with a comforting ending. Bookshop.org · Amazon
- Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes · ages 4-8. Lilly can't wait to show her purse and acts out when her teacher takes it. Teaches repair after hurting someone's feelings. Bookshop.org · Amazon
- Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña · ages 4-8. CJ and his grandmother ride a bus across the city to a soup kitchen where they serve. Newbery Medal 2016; talks about finding beauty where you are. Bookshop.org · Amazon
I Can Read! classics
- Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik · ages 4-8. Four short chapters about Little Bear's imagination, birthday soup and a trip to the moon. First book of the I Can Read series (1957), with Maurice Sendak art. Bookshop.org · Amazon
- Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel · ages 4-8. Five short stories about an odd-couple friendship: a lost button, a letter, a long wait. Dry, warm humour that works as a read-aloud and as a first book to read alone. Caldecott Honor 1971. Bookshop.org · Amazon
- Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel · ages 4-8. Five stories including the list, the garden and the cookies. Newbery Honor (1973). Bookshop.org · Amazon
- Days with Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel · ages 4-8. Five more stories, including Toad's kite and the birthday surprise. Quiet, kind and funny. Bookshop.org · Amazon
- Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish · ages 5-8. A literal-minded housekeeper 'dresses the chicken' and 'draws the drapes'. A good first look at idioms. Bookshop.org · Amazon
Series at this age
None at this level: the series on Peabody start at about level 7, where chapter books and comics begin. All series in order.