Are you looking for quality readers for second grade? These vintage school readers, published in the late 1800s and early 1900s, are now in the public domain and free online. You’ll find well-known classics like McGuffey, Elson, and Treadwell, as well as many other lesser-known series. You may download the books for your child to read on a computer or tablet or print the books.
Why Choose Vintage Readers
Vintage readers offer beautiful classic literature, rich vocabulary, and charming illustrations. The stories are age-appropriate and typically encourage strong moral values. There’s also something special about reading a book that’s been used in schoolhouses and homes for over a hundred years. Perhaps your child’s grandparents or great-grandparents enjoyed some of these same readers when they were in school.
Free Second Grade Readers
The grade levels some of these vintage readers were intended for may not line up exactly with current grade-level expectations or your child’s reading level. So, in addition to the second-grade readers listed below, I’d recommend taking a look at other grade levels, too. Our Vintage Graded Readers page includes readers for primer level through eighth grade.
Readers Published in the 1900s
These 2nd grade readers were published between 1900 and 1924.
The American School Readers: Second Reader
The Carrol and Brooks Readers: Second Reader
The Child’s World: Second Reader
Classics Old and New: A Second Reader
Everyday Classics Second Reader
Golden Treasury Readers: Second Reader
Holton-Curry Readers: The Second Reader
The Horace Mann Readers: Introductory Second Reader
The Horace Mann Readers: Second Reader
The Kendall Series of Readers: Second Reader
The New McGuffey Second Reader
The Metcalf-Call Readers: A Second Reader
The New Barnes Readers: Book Two
Reading With Expression: Second Reader
The Summers Readers: Second Reader
Treadwell’s Reading-Literature Series: The Second Reader
Readers Published in the 1800s
Most of these 2nd grade readers were published in the late 1800s, though a few are from the early and mid 1800s.
Appletons’ School Readers: The Second Reader
Baldwin’s School Reading by Grades: Second Year
Chambers’s Narrative Series of Standard Reading Books: Book II
Chambers’s National Reading Books: Book II
Classics for Children: A Second Reader
Graded Literature Readers: Second Book
McGuffey’s Eclectic Second Reader
The Normal Course in Reading: Second Reader
The Normal Course in Reading: Alternate Second Reader
Pollard’s Synthetic Second Reader
Sanders’s School Reader: Second Book
Sanders’s Union Reader: Number Two
Fostering a Love of Reading in Your 2nd Grader
This passage from the General Principles section of Primary Reading and Literature: A Manual for Teachers (1916), written by Margaret Free, explains the importance of encouraging a love of reading.
Primary reading, as is true of all reading, is for the purpose of promoting thought, and right reading habits are laid by first developing an interest in and love for reading. Reading is not, primarily, word study or word recognition. Even the simplest kind of reading means getting thought and feeling from written or printed characters. Oral reading is a still more complex process, involving, not only getting ideas, but all that goes to make oral expression of the thought and feeling. Children are led by desire and interest to get the thought, and the interest is sustained through their love for stories. The most important factor in teaching a child reading is to develop and foster his desire to read. The only means of ensuring these conditions is to provide reading matter that all children enjoy.
Choosing engaging reading material is crucial in helping your child develop a love of reading. The preface of Golden Treasury Readers: Second Reader (1909) describes the factors co-authors Charles Stebbins and Mary Coolidge kept in mind while writing the reader. Not surprisingly, the child’s interest in the subject matter topped the list. The following passage describes the types of stories they found were enjoyable to children and chose to include in the reader.
If we stop to inquire into the nature of the things in which the child of seven or eight, whether of the city or of the country, is most vitally interested, we shall find that it is by no means limited to the doings of other children. The child’s mind reaches out to all its varied environments and to the broad realms of fancy. It delights in animal stories, in brisk nature sketches, in stories of child adventures, and in myths, legends, and fairy tales. In all this variety, however, one element is essential—life or action. Brisk, lively accounts of happenings connected with people, animals, or plants are a perpetual delight. Such is the nature of the material presented in this book.
More Than a Storybook
Vintage readers offer more than just stories. They help build a strong vocabulary and often teach important lessons and values. What makes them truly special is their long history. Families have loved them for generations. So, while browsing the internet for free homeschool resources, don’t overlook these gems. Whether it’s the familiar tales or the charming illustrations accompanying them, these vintage readers are a treasure trove waiting to be rediscovered.
Additional Resources for Second Grade
- Second Grade Reading List With Free Lessons for Each Book
- Free Second Grade Christian Homeschool Curriculum
- Free Reading and Literature Curriculum
Note: This post was originally published on November 6, 2021 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
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