Curious Picks for Grades K-2

Top picks for grades K-2 inspired by the Summer Reading Club 2024 theme: World of curiosities

Updated July 4, 2024
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
Our Woolly Bear
Arthur, Katie, author, illustrator. 
Paper Book
A charming and unique ode to natural curiosity and the beauty found in small, fleeting things One day, Edie and Lou discover a visitor between the beet greens in their garden: a fuzzy orange-and-black caterpillar called a Woolly Bear. The sisters build Woolly Bear a cozy bed of pine...

Picturebook

What will I discover?
Kyi, Tanya Lloyd, 1973- author. 
Paper Book
Kids 3 to 6 will be inspired to ask their own big questions after reading about the mysteries that scientists have yet to discover. This celebration of curiosity is an excellent resource for fostering an interest in STEM. Sometimes, it seems as if...

Picturebook

How do you become friends with the Moon?
Baygdilū, Ghazālah, author, illustrator. 
Paper Book
"Readers will delight in this enchanting book...and be eager to befriend the moon themselves." - Kirkus Reviews (Starred review) Silver Medal Winner of the 2022 Key Colors Competition, the two-yearly national contest for illustrators of children's books. When three...

Picturebook

Maxie Wiz and her dragon
Meadows, Michelle 
Paper Book
A rollicking, rhyming, magical adventure in this Step 1 Reader featuring a young wizard in training! Maxie Wiz wants a pal. HOCUS-POCUS--a dragon egg appears! Soon, he almost grows too large for the castle! What spells will Maxie come up with to help with her new pet?

Reader

Ty's travels camp out
Lyons, Kelly Starling 
Paper Book
Ty makes his I Can Read Comic debut! Featuring a bold comic styling by New York Times bestselling illustrator Niña Mata and a compelling easy-to-read text by Kelly Starling Lyons, this Level One I Can Read Comic is the perfect summertime story for beginning readers! ...

Reader

See the ghost three stories about things you cannot see
LaRochelle, David 
Paper Book
The Geisel Award-winning creators of See the Cat and See the Dog return for a comical new spoof on primers--and this time the cat, the dog, and the book are grappling with some curious things they can't see. See...

Reader

Reina Ramos, tour guide
Otheguy, Emma 
Paper Book
"An easy reader with a simple plot, packed with all things adorable. Reina Ramos fills a need for representation and brings a metaphorical sliding glass door to classroom ­libraries" --School Library Journal Reina Ramos is a tour guide in this Level Two I Can Read story....

Reader

The Princess in Black and the mermaid princess
Hale, Shannon 
Paper Book
There's trouble under the sea! Can the Princess in Black and her new mermaid friend put a stop to a big blue kraken's shenanigans? The Princess in Black and her friends are enjoying a day of sun and sea on Princess Sneezewort's royal boat when a real, live mermaid princess...

Primary fiction

Bad Kitty makes a movie
Bruel, Nick, author, illustrator. 
Paper Book
Bad Kitty achieves stardom -- and of course, a bit of trouble -- in this full color graphic novel in Nick Bruel's New York Times bestselling series. When a video of Kitty throwing a tantrum over green beans gets uploaded online, it goes viral, and Kitty accidentally...

Primary fiction

Ada Twist and the disappearing dogs
Beaty, Andrea 
Paper Book
Blue River Creek has a problem: There's a pet thief on the loose! Or at least, Sofia and Iggy are convinced that there is, once their pets go missing. But as a scientist, Ada knows it's important not to jump to conclusions and to follow the facts. How will they find out what really happened to the...

Primary fiction

Hocus and Pocus and the Spell for Home
Capetta, Amy Rose.
Paper Book
From award-winning author A. R. Capetta comes a new first-chapter-book series delivering plenty of puppies, magic, and charm. Puppies Hocus and Pocus are still waiting to be adopted from the Shelter for Slightly Magical Pets. Even though Hocus can see two minutes into the...

Primary fiction

The Teeny-Weeny Unicorn
Harris, Shawn
Paper Book
Meet this pint-sized unicorn in this funny, modern fairy tale about perception and self-confidence from a Caldecott-Honor winning creator. Once upon a time, in a land where horses were mythical beasts, there lived a unicorn-a Teeny-Weeny Unicorn. He lived with his family in a...

Picturebook

Iggy Peck and the mysterious mansion
Beaty, Andrea 
Paper Book
Iggy Peck is an architect at his very core: When he's not making houses out of food, his head is up in the clouds, dreaming of design. So he's totally blown away when Ada Twist's Aunt Bernice inherits an old house from ice-cream mogul Herbert Sherbert that is filled with countless rooms from all his...

Primary fiction

Doggo and Pupper save the world
Applegate, Katherine 
Paper Book
The second book in #1 New York Times-bestselling-author Katherine Applegate's fun new series with a brightly colored palette from Charlie Alder. Doggo likes routine: napping, eating, and more napping. Life is good. Life is good for...

Primary fiction

Seashell Key
Heuer, Lourdes 
Paper Book
Seashell Key is the first in author Lourdes Heuer and award-winning illustrator Lynnor Bontigao's young chapter book series--perfect for fans of Princess in Black and Mercy Watson, about a diverse community of kids living in a beautiful seaside town! Welcome to...

Primary fiction

Simon and Chester. 4, Super friends!
Atkinson, Cale, author, illustrator. 
Paper Book
Welcome to the world of Simon and Chester, ghost and boy duo extraordinaire. Chester lives with his Grandma, his cat Mr. Pickles and Simon the ghost. Simon and Chester are best friends. Their attic is the location for some of the best activities known to humankind: making up songs about passersby,...

Graphic novel

Scaredy's nutty adventures. 1, Scaredy Squirrel in a nutshell
Watt, Mélanie, 1975- author, illustrator. 
Paper Book
The time is now for this anxious little guy: Meet Scaredy Squirrel in his brand-new graphic novel series! He's funnier (and scared-ier) than ever, and perfect for readers of Narwhal and Jelly. Scaredy is happy to stay in his nut tree. Why would he ever leave? The outside is...

Graphic novel

Viewfinder
Chung, Christine D. U.
Paper Book
A young space traveler happens upon Earth in the future in this gorgeous wordless adventure for fans of Shaun Tan. A transportive graphic novel for ages 6 to 9, perfect for Earth Day. A young space traveler visits Earth on a whim and finds a planet empty of people. She happens...
Graphic novel (wordless)
Be thankful for trees
Ziefert, Harriet 
Paper Book
What gives you a seat, a floor for your feet?A place you can sit with your family to eat? The pum-pum of a drum, a guitar's twangy strum . . .Tree wood makes music zing, ping, and hum. Using lilting, rhyming couplets, this book...

Non-fiction


Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.