The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

The four Penderwick sisters (Rosalind, Jane, Skye and Batty) are spending the summer with their father in a cottage in the Berkshire mountains. The cottage happens to be located on the grounds of a mansion owned by the very snobbish Mrs. Tifton. Her son, Jeffrey becomes friends with the Penderwicks, and they have one adventure after another. Batty, age 4, accidentally enters a fenced in area with a bull. While she is telling it "nice horsey", Jeffrey bravely diverts the bull's attention so that Batty can narrowly escape. Jeffrey is a brilliant pianist, but his mother insists on his attending a military academy like her father. The Penderwick girls help Jeffrey figure out a way to convince Mrs. Tifton to let him attend a music school instead. A very well-written, humorous book.

My Father's Dragon by Ruth Gannett

This is one of my favorite read-aloud books. After I read it to the first graders, just about all of them want to take it home. If you haven't read this book or heard it read aloud, it is a must. A young boy named Elmer Elevator meets a cat one day and brings him home for some milk. The cat tells Elmer that there is a baby dragon living on Wild Island who needs to be rescued. Elmer, hoping to be able to ride the dragon agrees to try to rescue him. Along the way, Elmer meets up with many wild animals who want to eat him for lunch. Thankfully, the cat helped Elmer pack his knapsack, and he has just the right items to distract each of the predators, giving him time to get away. Also read Elmer and the Dragon and Dragons of Blueland.