자녀가 책을 가까이 하기 위해서는 부모의 역할이 매우 중요하다. 어릴 때부터 책을 읽을 수 있는 환경을 만들어 줘야 한다.

방학이란 긴 시간을 공부에만 매달릴 수도, 마냥 놀 수도 없다. 적절한 시간분배를 통해 자녀가 균형적인 성장과 발전을 할 수 있도록 지도해야 한다. 이를 위한 플랜에서 빼놓을 수 없는 것이 독서다.

독서의 중요성은 새삼 강조할 필요가 없다. 누구나 책을 읽는 것이 얼마나 소중하고 유익한 것인지를 잘 알고 있다. 하지만 의외로 이를 제대로 실행하지 못하는 경우가 적지 않다. 교육전문가들이 추천한 2009 여름방학 초등학생 도서 목록을 소개한다. 한 가지 덧붙인다면 자녀들이 읽을 수 있는 책은 여기에 나온 목록보다 훨씬 많은 만큼, 자녀가 좋아하는 것을 직접 고르도록 하고, 학년에 꼭 맞출 필요없이 능력이 된다면 한 차원 높은 것을 읽어도 무방하다는 것이다.

<황성락 기자>

<킨더가튼>
Asher: Too Many Frogs
Bailey: Stanley’s Party
Bloom: A Splendid Friend Indeed
Brett: Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Bruel: Bad Kitty
Carle: Mister Seahorse
Cronin: Dooby, Dooby, Moo
Cronin: Diary of a Fly
Fleming: The First Day of Winter
Hoffman: Amazing Grace
Lester: Hooway for Wodney Wat
McKinley: One Smile
Numeroff: Beatrice Doesn’t Want To
Prelutsky: Me I Am
Rathmann: Officer Buckle and Gloria
Scotton: Russell the Sheep
Seuss: The Cat in the Hat
Shannon: A Bad Case of Stripes
Silverman: Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa: School Days

<1학년>
Cannon: Crickwing
Crews: Below
Ernst: Sylvia Jean, Drama Queen
Hoberman: You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You: Very Short Stories to Read Together
James: Dear Mr. Blueberry
Lobel: Frog and Toad stories classics
Mayer: Little Critter stories fantasy, animals
McKissack: Flossie and the Fox
McKissack: The Honest-to-Goodness Truth
McNaughton: Once Upon an Ordinary School Day
Numeroff: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and sequels
Pallotta: Dory Story
Parish: Amelia Bedelia stories classics
Pearson: Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed
Peterson: Don’t Forget Winona
Polacco: Aunt Chip and the Triple Creek Dam Affair
Rylant: Henry and Mudge stories family, dogs, humor
Schachner: Skippyjon Jones
Stevens: And the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon
Waber: The House On East 88th Street
Woodson: The Other Side

<2학년>
Banks: Max’s Words
Bridges: Ruby’s Wish
Bunting: One Green Apple
Christelow: Where’s the Big Bad Wolf
Cox: Butterfly Buddies
Curtis: The Bat Boy and His Violin
Demi: One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale
DiCamillo: Mercy Watson to the Rescue
Goble: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses
Grindley: Dear Max
Holm: Babymouse
Johnson: Just Like Josh Gibson
Kerrin: Martin Bridge: Ready for Takeoff!
Pinkney: The Ugly Duckling
Preller: Jigsaw Jones series mystery
Stilton: The Geronimo Stilton series mice, fantasy, mystery
Tunnell: Mailing May
Warner: Only Emma
Willey: Clever Beatrice
Wyeth: Something Beautiful

<3학년>
Birney: The World According to Humphrey
Birney: The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs
Clements: Lunch Money
Curtis: Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money
Duffey: Hey, New Kid!
Feelings: Soul Looks Back in Wonder
Fleming: The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School
Grimes: Talkin’ About Bessie
Gutman: My Weird School series school, humor
Howe: It Came From Beneath the Bed
Hurwitz: Fourth Grade Fuss
Kehret: Shelter Dogs: Amazing Stories of Adopted Strays
MacDonald: No More Nasty
McDonald: Judy Moody
Noble: The Last Brother (Tales of Young America series)
Pennypacker: Clementine
Roy: A to Z Mysteries series, mystery stories
San Souci: The Dangerous Snake and Reptile Club
Strickland: When Mack Came Back
Various authors: My America series historical fiction

<4학년>
Barry: Peter and the Starcatchers
Collins: Gregor the Overlander
DiCamillo: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Foreman: Summer of the Skunks
Gorman: Dork in Disguise
Gutman: Baseball Card Adventure sports, historical fiction
Hannigan: Ida B: --and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World
Hunter: Into the Wild
Lasky: The Capture (Guardians of Ga’Hoole series)
Martin: Main Street series realistic fiction
Norman: My Feet Are Laughing
Peck: A Year Down Yonder
Seidler: Toes
Smith: Bone
Soto: Baseball in April and Other Stories
Stewart: The Mysterious Benedict Society
Wright: The Wish Master
Various authors: Dear America series historical fiction
Skurzynski: Mysteries in Our National Parks

<5학년>
Blackwood: The Shakespeare Stealer
Broach: Shakespeare’s Secret
Carbone: Stealing Freedom
Creech: The Wanderer
Cushman: The Ballad of Lucy Whipple
Di Camillo: The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread
Funke: Inkheart
Giff: Nory Ryan’s Song
Golding: The Secret Within
Haddix: Double Identity
Hesse: Music of the Dolphins
Holm: Penny from Heaven
Isaacs: Torn Thread
Kehret: Abduction!
Levine: Hana’s Suitcase: A True Story
Paratore: The Wedding Planner’s Daughter
Ryan: Esperanza Rising
Smith: Peak
Selznick: The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures
Whelan: Angel on the Square

<6학년>
Anderson: Fever, 1793
Avi: Crispin: The Cross of Lead
Bradley: For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy
Caputo: 10,000 Days of Thunder: A History of the Vietnam War
Carson: Gifted Hands: The Story of Ben Carson
Colfer: Airman
DuPrau: The City of Ember
Funke: The Thief Lord
Haddix: Among the Hidden
Hiaasen: Hoot
Hobbs: Jackie’s Wild Seattle
Horowitz: Alex Rider Adventures series adventure
Lobel: No Pretty Pictures: A Child of War
Riordan: The Lightning Thief
Roberts: Undercurrents
Sachar: Holes
Smith: Cryptid Hunters
Weeks: So B. It
Whelan: Burying the Sun
Woodson: Hush