Fifth Grade
Worksheets
The Best Librarian
Thank You School Librarian Day
Reading Comprehension for April 21
Carson Smith used to hate reading. It was hard work. He couldn't read as fast as his older sister could. Not that Hilary teased him about it, because she never did. He simply felt inferior around books. He tried to avoid reading whenever possible.
Then on a library day when Carson was feeling extra sorry for himself, he stepped up to the librarian's desk. "Do you have any books for boys who don't like to read?" he asked with a sigh.
Miss Dewberry acted as if she didn't know that he was just kidding. "We have all kinds of books," she said brightly. "I'll bet there's a book on one of those shelves that was written for a boy just like you." She pushed her chair back and stood up. "Come with me!"
Carson followed her to an aisle of colorful, skinny books. Mungo and Josiah were looking at books in that aisle. Carson watched the librarian crouch down and run her finger along the titles. Suddenly she pulled one out and stood up. She looked at him with a twinkle in her eyes and held out the blue and orange book.
"What do you think of this?" she asked.
Carson took the book and studied the cover. "It's a joke book!" He flipped through the pages. There were funny drawings in it, and there weren't very many words on each page. Carson smiled. This was his kind of book!
Every week after that, Carson would ask Miss Dewberry to pick out a new book for him. She found joke books, riddle books, and comic strip books. Carson had so much fun reading them! He tried out the jokes and riddles on his friends. He giggled when Hilary couldn't solve the riddles. He also read the funniest comic strips to her. She seemed to like them. Best of all, he could read one page and be done with it. He didn't have to labor over pages and pages of text each time he wanted to read.
A funny thing happened as the weeks passed. Carson noticed that he was able to read his school assignments more quickly. He didn't have to ask for help as often.
The next time he went to the library, he glanced at the books displayed around the room. They had interesting pictures on their covers. He began to wonder what kind of stories were inside.
