
Early Elementary
First through third grade, all in one place. These are the years a child goes from sounding out words to reading a chapter book under the covers, and from counting on fingers to multiplying. Everything on this shelf is picked for that stretch: the workbooks that move at the right pace, the first books a child finishes alone, and the read-alouds that stay ahead of their reading level on purpose.
How to use it: an hour to ninety minutes a day is a full load at these ages, and shorter is usually better than longer. Do math while they are fresh. Read to them every day, past the point where they can read to themselves, because listening comprehension runs years ahead of decoding and that gap is where the vocabulary comes from.
Prefer a single shelf per grade? 1st, 2nd, 3rd. Not sure where your child sits? Five questions.
Shop our Early Elementary products below
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Weather
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of African Animals
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Why 2: More Questions and Answers about the World for Curiou
National Geographic Little Kids First Encyclopedia of Almost Everything
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Dinosaurs
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Rocks, Minerals & Shells
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Birds
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Baby Animals
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Reptiles and Amphibians
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Why: Questions and Answers about the World for Curious Kids
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of the Ocean
Albert Einstein: A Curious Mind
- Physics & Energy
- Biography / Memoir
Why it works: Albert Einstein: A Curious Mind uses the milestones of Einstein's life to show how a child who kept questioning accepted ideas became a physicist whose thinking changed later science and technology. The beginning-reader biography makes curiosity, persistence, and scientific change understandable through one person's story instead of attempting a miniature physics textbook.
Jane Goodall: A Champion of Chimpanzees
- Life Science
- Environment & Ecology
- Biography / Memoir
Why it works: Jane Goodall: A Champion of Chimpanzees follows a pioneering scientist into the rain forest, where close, patient study of wild chimpanzees changes what people know about their behavior. The biography's milestones are discoveries made through field observation and the conservation work that followed.
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Space
Wild Animal Babies! (Wild Kratts)
- Life Science
- Environment & Ecology
- Nature Narrative / Field Discovery
Why it works: Chris and Martin activate their Creature Power Suits to creep, crawl, and cuddle through encounters with many kinds of animal babies. The playful visits make growth, dependence, protection, and early behavior the reason for each new stop in the Wild Kratts adventure.

