2023-2024 Texas Bluebonnet Reading List

Check out the 2023-2024 Texas Bluebonnet reading list, developed by the Texas Library Association to encourage reading for pleasure for students in grades 3-6.

Plano Public Library has all 20 Bluebonnet books available for checkout, and you can visit a library location for information on Texas Library Association reading lists and to browse our Texas 2×2’s, Lone Star, and Bluebonnet titles.

Black Boy Joy edited by Kwame Mbalia. From seventeen acclaimed Black male and nonbinary authors comes a vibrant collection of stories, comics, and poems about the power of joy and the wonders of Black boyhood. Print / eAudiobook / eBook.

Blue by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, illustrated by Daniel Minter. This picture book follows one color’s journey throughout history — from ancient Afghan painters to 1905 when a chemical blue dye was created — and around the world, as it becomes the blue we know today. Print / eAudiobook / eBook.

Gladys the Magic Chicken by Adam Rubin, illustrated by Adam Rex. In Ancient Times, Gladys the dancing chicken goes on an epic adventure when she is mistaken for a magical chicken who grants wishes to those she encounters. Print / eAudiobook / eBook.

Haven: A Small Cat’s Big Adventure by Megan Lloyd. When her cherished Ma Millie falls ill, a timid housecat ventures into the wild to seek help in this adventure about love, loss, and finding the truest version of ourselves. Print / eAudiobook / eBook.

Indelible Ann by Meghan. P. Browne, illustrated by Carlynn Whitt. A folksy, larger-than-life picture book biography about Ann Richards, the late governor of Texas who has inspired countless women in politics today. Print / eAudiobook / eBook.

Invisible by Christina Diaz Gonzalez & Gabriella Epstein. A must-have graphic novel about five very different students who are forced together by their school to complete community service… and may just have more in common than they thought. Print / eAudiobook / eBook.

Leave It to Plum! by Matt Phelan. When a small mammal with an oversized ego tries to take over the zoo, just leave it to the big-hearted peacock Plum to save the day. Print / eAudiobook / eBook.

Once Upon a Tim by Stuart Gibbs, illustrated by Stacy Curtis. With no knightly experience but plenty of pluck and an impressive vocabulary, a twelve-year-old peasant, hoping to improve his station in life, volunteers to help a cowardly prince and his not-very-powerful wizard rescue a princess from an evil, foul-smelling monster. Print / eAudiobook / eBook.

Solimar by Pam Muñoz Ryan. On the eve of her Quinceañera, Princess Solimar discovers that it will take more than magic to save her kingdom and prevent the destruction of the Monarch butterfly. Print / eAudiobook / eBook.

Tales to Keep You Up a Night by Dan Poblocki, illustrated by Marie Bergeron. Ignoring a handwritten warning from her grandmother, Amelia reads an old book she finds in the attic, and as elements from the stories begin to come to life around her, she realizes that she may be in a spooky story of her own. Print / eAudiobook / eBook.

The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo. In a time of war, a young girl sick and dirty is discovered by Brother Edik. She is clutching the ear of Answelica, the angry goat, who is more than willing to head butt the Brother. As the girl recovers, her secret is uncovered and thus begins the journey into the prophecy that Brother Edik himself wrote. Print / Playaway / Spanish / eAudiobook / eBook.

The Dirt Book: Poems About Animals That Live Beneath Our Feet by David L. Harrison, illustrated by Kate Cosgrove. A collection of poems about dirt and the many organisms that live there such as grubs, trap-door spiders, moles, earthworms, chipmunks, and doodlebugs. Print.

The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Shawn Harris. Can one bioengineered cat be the world’s hero and save the moon? Read this lunar adventure to see if Cat, the Moon Princess, and a toe-nail clipping robot will be able to save the world. Print / Playaway / eAudiobook / eBook.

The Last Beekeeper by Pablo Cartaya, illustrated by Carlos Vélez Aguilera. To prove that she belongs in a place where only the smartest and most useful are welcomed, twelve-year-old Yolanda learns that her survival rests on the rediscovery of a long-extinct beehive that could be the answer to everything. Print / Playaway / eAudiobook / eBook.

The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat. A high-seas adventure set in a Thai-inspired fantasy world. This is the story of a young woman’s struggle to unburden herself of the past and chart her own destiny in a world of secrets. Print / Playaway / eAudiobook / eBook.

The Legend of Gravity by Charly Palmer. Have you ever heard of Gravity? No, not gravity, the centrifugal force pulling us to the Earth. I’m talking about Gravity–the greatest ball player to ever lace up a pair of sneakers. Print / eBook.

The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton. Eleven-year-old Ella Durand is the first Conjuror to attend the Arcanum Training Institute, a magic school in the clouds where Marvellers from around the world practice their cultural arts. Also a 2023 Texas Lone Star book. Print / Playaway / eAudiobook / eBook.

The Polter-Ghost Problem by Betsy Uhrig. Best friends Aldo, Pen, and Jasper stumble onto an abandoned orphanage and discover that freeing a houseful of imprisoned ghosts from an angry poltergeist could get them into serious trouble. Print / eBook.

Thirst by Varsha Bajaj. A heroic girl in Mumbai fights for her belief that water should be for everyone. Print / eAudiobook / eBook.

Unbound: The Life + Art of Judith Scott by Joyce Scott with Brie Spangler, illustrated by Melizza Sweet. An introduction to the life and art of Judith Scott, a renowned artist. Print / eAudiobook / eBook.