Read Aloud Books for 2nd Grade Gospel Ccoalition

If you're a 2nd-grade teacher, librarian, or parent, this list of read aloud books will requite you teacher and kid recommended titles plus a printable list. (For non-U.S. readers, 2d graders are seven-year-olds here.)

As you consider which books to read, you also must consider the instructional purpose and potential curriculum tie-in. That'due south why I'm including themes, topics, and skills for each book. You can model and practice reading strategies, look at specific text features, use the writing as a mentor text model, or other instructional purposes.

Remember that well-nigh read alouds should be AT or ABOVE your students independent reading levels. Withal, sometimes it'due south helpful to introduce a series that kids might want to read independently. These are a not bad option for Beginning Affiliate Fridays. This is where yous only read one chapter to spark interest. (I've done this many times with my own kids, not just in the classroom.) It works, too.

More Read Aloud Book Lists:

Read Alouds for Families with Kids of Different Ages
3rd Class
4th Grade
ALL Read Aloud Book Lists

Read Aloud Books for Second Form

The Hundred Dresses past Eleanor Estes
THEMES/TOPICS: poverty, friendship, kindness, bullying
SKILLS: character traits, brand predictions, connect to background cognition, draw conclusions, cause and effect, sequence
SYNOPSIS: Classmates including Maddie tease a daughter in their class, Wanda, who says she has 100 dresses at home. When Maddie visits Wanda's business firm, she discovers the bittersweet truth — she might not have real dresses but she has drawings of 100 dresses. This book teaches kindness and empathy.

Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo
THEMES/TOPICS: loneliness, promise, honey, superheroes, poetry, relationships
SKILLS: vocabulary, grapheme growth/comparison, poesy, prediction, disharmonize, setting, fact and stance, persuasion
SYNOPSIS:Quirky and delightful, this is the tale of a girl named Flora who rescues a squirrel and keeps it equally a friend. Together they feel the world in a unique, funny, and wonderful manner, and straighten it out, likewise.

Word Travelers and the Taj Mahal Mystery by Raj Haldar, illustrated by Nehra Rawat
THEMES/TOPICS: mystery, problem-solving, words, travel
SKILLS: vocabulary, character growth/comparison, prediction, disharmonize
SYNOPSIS: Fast-paced and fun, this wordy gamble will immerse readers in both a puzzling mystery and the origin of English words that come from India. Best friends Eddie and MJ are having a sleepover. When Eddie wonders where the give-and-take pajama came from, his mom tells him to observe his great-grandfather'due south big book of words and their history (etymology). When the two friends open the volume, they're magically transported to India. There, they aid a boy solve the clues to observe his family'southward missing fortune before a bad guy gets information technology. As they solve the mystery, they too learn the origins of new and familiar words.

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman
THEMES/TOPICS: storytelling, hero, dads, perseverance, imagination
SKILLS: figurative language (hyperbole, onomatopoeia,) inquire questions, inference, brand mental images, sequence, prediction, setting, action, plot, irony, voice, imagery, clarification, dialogue, characterization, retelling vs. summary, vocabulary
SYNOPSIS: If you like quirky sense of humour, and then this is your perfect volume. Because you will never believe, except you lot totally will, what happens when the kids' male parent goes out to get more than milk. He doesn't even get the milk simply he does run across pirates, aliens, and all sorts of incredible things! Totally hilarious and quite short–which is appealing to many readers.

Considering of Winn-Dixie past Kate DiCamillo
THEMES/TOPICS: loss, identity, belonging, friendship, acceptance, rescue animals, pets
SKILLS: character, setting, plot, connect to groundwork cognition, inference, prediction
SYNOPSIS: Opal'due south preacher begetter is always too busy and her mother has been gone since Opal was three, something Opal has e'er wondered nearly. But Opal finds someone to care, a stray canis familiaris that she names Winn-Dixie, and that dog brings hope and significant into 10-year old Opal'south life. A brilliant and thoughtful read aloud choice for second grade.

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
THEMES/TOPICS: modify, migrant work, immigration, kid labor, farming, facing challenges, hope, family unit
SKILLS: graphic symbol, proverbs, point-of-view, plot, connections, questions, inference, visualizing, decide importance
SYNOPSIS: Forced to flee a unsafe situation in Mexico, Esperanza and her mother go far in California and starting time working as migrant farm workers. The dorsum-breaking work is just role of their new, challenging life. In this beautifully written, soulful novel, Esperanza learns to thrive no matter what her circumstances.

Wishtree by Katherine Applegate
THEMES/TOPICS: bullying, kindness, friendship, immigration, religion, making a difference, science
SKILLS: character, compare and contrast, setting, enquire questions, inference, perspective, making mental images
SYNOPSIS: From the writer of The One and Merely Ivan, comes a warm-hearted story of kindness and connexion to others. A wise old oak tree named Ruby narrates this beautiful story. He, after all these years, decides to intervene to assistance a lonely girl named Samar who is new to the neighborhood and whose family was the intended recipient of the word, "Exit" on Ruby-red'due south trunk. Traditionally, Red is used equally a Wishtree for the neighbor's wishes which they hang on his branches. Now, before he is cut downwards (executed), he helps Samar find a friend.

Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
THEMES/TOPICS: school, humor, community
SKILLS: vocabulary, groundwork knowledge, make up one's mind importance, enquire questions, inference, brand mental images, synthesis, irony, perspective
SYNOPSIS: Onetime school humor at its all-time! These books describe a wacky schoolhouse with crazy teachers and fifty-fifty crazier students and events. Perfect for a 2d grader'southward sense of humor!

Planet Omar past Zanib Mian
THEMES/TOPICS: imagination, moving, prejudice, Islam, kindness, Golden Dominion,
SKILLS: groundwork noesis, make mental images, perspective, question, prediction
SYNOPSIS: One of the best things about Omar is his HUGE imagination! In fact, he faces his new experiences in life with a rich, creative listen filled with dragons, Ferraris, and zombie aliens. He uses his imagination to deal with moving AND starting a new school. Luckily, at his new school, he makes a best friend right away. Unluckily, he also draws the attention of a hateful dandy. When he and his family unit experience racism from their new neighbor and from the bully, in both situations the resolution lies with the other people getting to know Omar and his family, leading to kindness and understanding.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Chronicles of Narniapast C. S. Lewis
THEMES/TOPICS: good vs. evil, mythological creatures, loyalty, sacrifice, sibling rivalry
SKILLS: Inference, vocabulary, grapheme analysis, figurative language, foreshadowing, making mental images
SYNOPSIS: Four siblings enter a magical world that is under the rule of the oppressive White Witch. Can they help Aslan accept Narnia back for skilful even with the betrayal of Edmund? A wonderful fantasy story of kids who make a big departure.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
THEMES/TOPICS: kindness, loyalty, family, respect, identity, behavior
SKILLS: graphic symbol traits, description, vocabulary, make mental images, inference, perspective, dialogue
SYNOPSIS: Charlie is one of the five winning children allowed to tour Willy Wonka's famous chocolate mill. But it'south a tour unlike any other. The other not-too-overnice-kids kids strangely disappear lilliputian by fiddling. Funny and quirky, this book remains a classic for a proficient reason.

STAT: Standing Tall and Talented: Home Courtroom by Amar'east Stoudemir
THEMES/TOPICS: bullying, sports, basketball game, skateboarding, competition, friendship, problem-solving, believing in yourself
SKILLS: connect to background knowledge, plot, make mental images, figurative language
SYNOPSIS: Based on the real story of Amar'e Stoudemire of when he was 11. He's a skateboarder, basketball player, and a worker in his dad's landscape company. When other kids offset trash-talking his friends, Amar'e uses his intelligence and basketball skills to detect a solution.

The Terrible Two by Mac Barnett and Jory John
THEMES/TOPICS: pranks, friendship, new school, change, behavior
SKILLS: voice, sarcasm, vocabulary, plot, determining importance, inference, perspective
SYNOPSIS:My daughter read this first and begged me to read it immediately. It's SO funny! And, you can larn some valuable cow trivia. But, it's more often than not the hilarious adventure of two pranksters. They eventually work together to pull off the biggest prank of all time — a prank that will ensure they get April Fool's Day off from school.

The Twits by Roald Dahl
THEMES/TOPICS: good vs, bad, behavior, love/detest, injustice, bullying, animal rights
SKILLS: word choice, vox, character comparison, make predictions, inferences, showtime person, description
SYNOPSIS: In the typical dark humor of Dahl, the Twits are mean and awful. We can't assist merely crack upward at every bad thing that comes their way. If yous want to get your 2d-grade students laughing, this volume will practice information technology.See complete Roald Dahl book list and printable booklet here.

Wedgie & Gizmo by Suzanne Selfors
THEMES/TOPICS: family, divorce, friendship,
SKILLS: vocabulary, predictions, mental images, sequence, inference, point of view, perspective, voice, characterization
SYNOPSIS: Dog owners will nod forth with the ADHD stream of conscious narration of Wedgie, the barkie dog who LOVES everything. Contrast this with the diabolical plotting narration of the evil genius guinea pig Gizmo. Two pets show two different perspectives about the new composite family state of affairs. Selfors skillfully addresses this family in transition through the humorous viewpoint of the two pets.

Eerie Elementary: The Schoolhouse is Live!by Jack Chabert
Introduce a new serial!
THEMES/TOPICS: good vs. evil, facing challenges, school, horror
SKILLS: predict, connect, infer, figurative linguistic communication, vocabulary, character
SYNOPSIS: Sam isn't thrilled about becoming a hall monitor. Especially when he discovers that the school is ALIVE and trying to impairment the students. Sam has quite a wild adventure trying to save the students from the schoolhouse. This series is wildly popular with second-grade readers.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
THEME/TOPICS: love, loss, emotions (might exist as well mature for your class– preview and decide if it'south right for yous)
SKILLS: make mental images, inferences, graphic symbol traits, character growth, story sequence
SYNOPSIS: Edward is a china rabbit with a fancy wardrobe who was adored by the girl who endemic him. Until he was lost. Alert: this story will intermission your middle then put it back together again. Edward experiences loss many times over. He tin can hardly stand the pain. Yet a wise doll encourages Edward to open his center to honey once again — and that'southward when he finds a miracle.

Strongheart: Wonder Canis familiaris of the Silver Screen by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Eric Rohmann
REALISTIC / HISTORICAL FICTION / BOOKS Well-nigh DOGS
THEME / TOPICS: honey, care for animals, friendship, upstanding decisions
SKILLS: questioning, character arc, sequencing, prediction
SYNOPSIS: From his beginnings as a maltreated German law canis familiaris to subsequent adoption and new life as a beloved picture show star, this suspenseful story is filled with both love and hope along with false accusations and jail time. Readers will nil through this heart-warming story and domestic dog lovers volition exist extra impressed with this German Shepard's incredible truthful story.