Pick of the Decade 1995-2005:
3rd Grade

Chapter Books

Le Guin, Ursula. Jane on Her Own: A Catwings Tale , 1999.

Jane, the youngest of five cats with wings, leaves the safety of the farm and embarks on an adventure to explore the world, heedless of the danger of humans, who would want to imprison a cat that can fly. (Newest in the series begun with, Catwings .)

Levine, Gail Carson. The Princess Test , 1999.

In the magical kingdom of Biddle , Prince Nicholas is searching for a bride, and the lovely Lorelei shows up at the castle gates. His parents are very particular, though, and have devised a series of tests for the prospective princesses. (See also: The Fairy's Mistake ; Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep ; Cinderellis and the Glass Hill ; For Biddle's Sake ; and The Fairy's Return .)

Look, Lenore. Ruby Lu, Brave and True , 2004.

"Almost-eight-year-old" Ruby Lu spends time with her baby brother, goes to Chinese school, performs magic tricks and learns to drive, and has adventures with both old and new friends.

MacLachlan, Patricia. Caleb's Story , 2001.

Anna has gone to town to finish school, so now it is Caleb's job to write down the happenings on the family farm, and when the lurking stranger turns out to be his long lost grandfather, he has plenty to write about. (See also: Sarah, Plain and Tall , Skylark and More Perfect Than the Moon .)

Marsden, Carolyn. The Gold-Threaded Dress , 2001.

Oy, a Thai girl, wants desperately to fit in with her classmates. When Lilandra, the leader of the clique that has been excluding her, demands the she let her wear the beautiful, traditional dress that was a gift from her grandmother, as the price she must pay to join the club, Oy acquiesces with disastrous results. (See also: Silk Umbrellas .)

McPhail, David. Piggy's Pancake Parlor , 2002.

Piggy and Fox, both runts of the litter, strike up an unusual friendship and open a pancake parlor together. They are wildly successful because of the secret ingredient added to their pancakes.

Mills, Claudia. Gus and Grandpa Go Fishing , 2003.

Gus is going to go fishing for the first time and needs some help. Mom doesn't fish and dad is too busy, but grandpa is there to give him a hand. (Newest in the series which began with, Gus and Grandpa .)

Pilkey, Dav. The Adventures of Captain Underpants , 1997.

George and Harold are pranksters extraordinaire and when they find a way to hypnotize the principal, they turn him into a superhero, Captain Underpants. (First in an ongoing series.)

Scieszka, Jon. Da Wild, Da Crazy, Da Vinci , 2004.

In their latest time travel adventure, Fred, Joe, and Sam da Brooklyn meet Leonardo da Vinci and try to avoid becoming toilet scrubbers in a sixteenth-century Italian army. (Newest in the ongoing Time Warp Trio series which began with, The Knights of the Kitchen Table .)

Stevenson, James. Flying Feet: A Mud Flat Story , 2004.

Stan and the other animals of Mud Flat, fall for a scheme that pretends to teach them to be tap dancers, but in the end, the community pulls together in triumph. (Newest in an ongoing series that began with, The Mud Flat Olympics .)