2020s books assigned in 3rd grade
US schools assign 293 books written in the 2020s to 3rd grade students, across 41 states. Every title below is cited from a state ELA standard, district reading list, or AP/IB syllabus.
Most widely assigned from the 2020s
When Stars Are Scattered
Victoria Jamieson · on 13 reading lists
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- Titles
- 293
- Written
- 2020–2029
- States assigning
- 41
The list — 2020s, 3rd grade
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¡Vamos! Let's Go EatRaúl the Third III
100 Mighty Dragons All Named BroccoliDavid LaRochelle
A Game of NoctisDeva Fagan
A Journey Under the SeaCraig Foster
A Land of BooksDuncan Tonatiuh
A Letter for BobKim Rogers
A Lot to Like!Derek Anderson
A Meerkat DiarySuzi Eszterhas
A Mischief of MiceChristie Matheson
A Plate of HopeErin Frankel
A Plate of Hope: The Inspiring Story of Chef José Andrés and World Central KitchenErin Frankel
A Royal ConundrumLisa Yee
A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry HallJasmine Warga
Across the DesertDusti Bowling
Action!: How Movies BeganMeghan McCarthy
AgainEmily Gravett
All Because You Matter (An All Because You Matter Book)Tami Charles
All the Blues in the SkyRenée Watson
AllergicMegan Wagner Lloyd
AloneMegan E. Freeman
Amari and the Night BrothersB. B. Alston
An American StoryKwame Alexander
Are You a Cheeseburger?Monica Arnaldo
Bea and the New Deal HorseL. M. Elliott
Show all 293 books (tap a title to open its page)
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- Beanie the Bansheenie
- Beautiful Blackbird
- Because of You, John Lewis
- Becoming Muhammad Ali
- Better with Butter
- Big
- Big
- Black Girl You Are Atlas
- Blue
- Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky
- Boogie Boogie, Y’all
- Bright Star
- Bubble Trouble
- Buffalo Fluffalo
- Butt or Face?
- Call Me Roberto!: Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos
- Chance
- Chez Bob
- Chinese Menu
- Chooch Helped
- City of Thieves
- Clap When You Land
- Concrete: From the Ground Up
- Cornbread & Poppy
- Cotorras Sobre Puerto Rico
- Countdown to Yesterday
- Curlfriends: New in Town (a Graphic Novel)
- Curveball
- Dadaji's Paintbrush
- Danny Blackgoat, Navajo Prisoner [Dyslexic Edition]
- De aquí como el coquí
- Dear Primo
- Demon in the Wood Graphic Novel
- Destiny Finds Her Way: How a Rescued Baby Sloth Learned to Be Wild
- Dog Trouble: A Graphic Novel
- Dogtown
- Don't Think of Tigers
- Don't Trust Cats: Life Lessons from Chip the Dog
- Doña Quixote: Rise of the Knight
- Donut Feed the Squirrels
- Dress Coded
- Du Iz Tak?
- Endlessly Ever After: Pick YOUR Path to Countless Fairy Tale Endings!
- Ernö Rubik and His Magic Cube
- Except Antarctica!
- Exclamation Mark!
- Eyes That Kiss in the Corners
- Farmhouse
- Farther Than the Moon
- Ferris
- Fighting Words
- Final Word (The Winterton Deception #1)
- Finding Normal
- Fireworks
- Flora and Ulysses
- Fly
- Forever Cousins
- Four Eyes: A Graphic Novel
- Fowl Play
- Fox Has a Problem
- Freddie vs. the Family Curse
- Freewater
- Genius Ears
- Gibberish
- Girls Like Her
- Good Different
- Growing an Artist: The Story of a Landscaper and His Son
- Growing Home
- Guts for Glory
- Haiku, Ew! Celebrating the Disgusting Side of Nature
- Hannah Sharpe, Cartoon Detective
- Healer of the Water Monster
- Hidden Hope: How a Toy and a Hero Saved Lives During the Holocaust
- Hoops
- Hope in the Valley
- Hot Dog
- How I Became A Ghost
- How the Boogeyman Became a Poet
- How to Eat a Book
- How to Stay Invisible
- Hummingbird
- I Am a Tornado
- I Know How to Draw an Owl
- I Lived Inside a Whale
- I Talk Like a River
- Ice Cream Everywhere: Sweet Stories from Around the World
- Iceberg
- In the Beautiful Country
- Indian No More
- Inheritance
- Introducing Sandwina: The Strongest Woman in the World!
- Invisible Isabel
- It Came from the Trees
- It Found Us
- J vs. K
- Jawbreaker
- John's Turn
- Just Gus
- Just Keep Walking
- Just Like Millie
- Kent State
- King of Ragtime
- Knight Owl
- Knight Owl and Early Bird
- Kumo
- Leaf Man Board Book
- Legendarios: Wrath of the Rain God
- Legendary Frybread Drive-In
- Lightningborn (Storm Dragons #1)
- Like
- Little Red Riding Hood (40th Anniversary Edition)
- Lola
- Lupe Wong Won't Dance
- Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All
- Me & Mama
- Memoirs of a Tortoise
- Mexikid
- Midnight and Moon
- Midnight at the Barclay Hotel
- Millie Fleur's Poison Garden
- Milloo's Mind
- Misfit Mansion
- Mr. Fox's Game of "No!"
- Mr. S
- My Daddy Is a Cowboy
- Navigating Night
- Never Take Your Rhino on a Plane
- New From Here
- Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy
- Nimbus
- Norman Didn't Do It!
- Not All Sheep Are Boring!
- Not Nothing
- Nothing Else But Miracles
- Nubby’s Story
- Odder
- Oh No, the Aunts Are Here
- Oliver's Great Big Universe
- Once for Yes
- Once There Was
- Onyx & Beyond
- Our Planet! There's No Place Like Earth
- Over and Under the Rainforest
- Parachute Kids
- Pedro's Yo-Yos: How a Filipino Immigrant Came to America and Changed the World of Toys
- Perfectly Parvin
- Picture Purrfect (Bodega Cats #1)
- Poopsie Gets Lost
- Promise Boys
- Punycorn
- R-E-S-P-E-C-T
- Race for the Ruby Turtle
- Red, White, and Whole
- Samira Surfs
- Scare School Diaries: Welcome to Scare School
- Scritch Scratch
- Search for a Giant Squid
- Sir Ladybug
- Sisters of the Lost Marsh
- Six Feet Below Zero
- Some of Us
- Something, Someday
- Sonadores (Dreamers)
- Song of a Blackbird
- Soundtrack: A Novel
- Squished
- Stand Up, Yumi Chung
- Standing in the Need of Prayer
- Stateless
- Stella
- Stepping Stones
- Stuntboy, In-Between Time
- Stuntboy, In-Between Time
- Summer Vamp
- Swim Team
- Swing
- Symphony for a Broken Orchestra: How Philadelphia Collected Sounds to Save Music
- Tales from Cabin 23: The Boo Hag Flex
- That's Not My Name!
- The Adventures of Invisible Boy
- The Adventures of Team Pom: Squid Happens
- The Aquanaut
- The Area 51 Files
- The Barnabus Project
- The Bear and the Moon
- The Bees of Notre-Dame
- The Box Turtle
- The Civil War of Amos Abernathy
- The Coquíes Still Sing
- The Cursed Moon
- The Dead of Summer (Book 1)
- The Dream Catcher
- The Elephants Come Home
- The Eyes and the Impossible
- The Firefly Summer
- The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza
- The First Helping (Lunch Lady Books 1 & 2)
- The First State of Being
- The Girl Who Figured It Out
- The Golden Hour
- The Great Stink
- The Guardian Test (Legends of Lotus Island #1)
- The Honeys
- The House at the Edge of Magic
- The Labors of Hercules Beal
- The Last Cuentista
- The Legend of Gravity: A Tall Basketball Tale
- The Liars Society
- The Lumbering Giants of Windy Pines
- The Man Who Didn't Like Animals
- The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read
- The One and Only Family
- The One and Only Ruby
- The Penguin of Ilha Grande: From Animal Rescue to Extraordinary Friendship
- The People's Painter
- The Puffin Keeper
- The Sherlock Society
- The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale
- The Superteacher Project
- The Terrible Two
- The Three Billy Goats Gruff
- The War with Grandpa
- The Wild Journey of Juniper Berry
- The Witching Wind
- The Yawns Are Coming
- The Yellow Bus
- There Might Be Lobsters
- There Was a Party for Langston
- There's a Ghost in This House
- This Is Not My Hat
- Time to Make Art
- Tomfoolery!
- Trans History: A Graphic Novel: From Ancient Times to the Present Day
- Treasure Island
- Twins
- Two Dogs
- Two New Years
- Unspeakable
- Ursula Upside Down
- Victory. Stand!
- Volcanoes
- Wat Takes His Shot
- Watch Out for the Lion!
- Watercress
- Ways to Make Sunshine
- We Are Water Protectors
- We Go Slow
- We Still Belong
- Whale Eyes
- Whalesong: The True Story of the Musician Who Talked to Orcas
- What Happened to Rachel Riley?
- When Alexander Graced the Table
- When Sea Becomes Sky
- When Stars Are Scattered
- When You Can Swim
- When You Trap a Tiger
- Where Butterflies Fill the Sky: A Story of Immigration, Family, and Finding Home
- Whirligigs: The Wondrous Windmills of Vollis Simpson's Imagination
- William Still and His Freedom Stories
- Witchlings
- Wombat Said Come In
- Yoshi and the Ocean: A Sea Turtle's Incredible Journey Home
- Yoshi, Sea Turtle Genius
- You Are Brave: A Book About Trying New Things
- You Are Here: Connecting Flights
- Your Place in the Universe
- Zap! Clap! Boom!: The Story of a Thunderstorm
- Zeus, Dog of Chaos
- Zia Erases the World
Most-assigned 2020s authors in 3rd grade
Mac Barnett (4) · Carole Boston Weatherford (4) · Jason Reynolds (4) · Renée Watson (3) · Corey R. Tabor (3) · Katherine Applegate (3)
Common questions
- How many 2020s books are assigned in 3rd grade?
- 293 books written between 2020 and 2029 appear on 3rd grade reading lists tracked by ReadingList. Each one is cited from a state department of education, district list, or AP/IB syllabus.
- Are these assigned nationally or in a few states?
- 41 states assign at least one 2020s title at 3rd grade in the lists tracked here, so this is a broad pattern rather than a single state's canon. Per-state lists are on each state page.