Colorado school reading list

Colorado K-12 schools commonly assign 1128 books referenced by the Colorado Academic Standards — organized below by grade, K–12. Source: www.cde.state.co.us.

This page lists books cited in the Colorado state ELA standards or applicable national curricula. Not a district reading list, school assignment list, or summaries — for those, check your district’s ELA page directly.

1128 books cited for Colorado

Assignments tied to Colorado’s Colorado Academic Standards or to a national curriculum (Common Core, AP, IB) that applies to Colorado students.

Show all 1128 titles

Reading the whole Colorado reading list? Kids who struggle with the print versions often finish the assigned books by listening.

Listen free on Audible30-day trial

New members only · many assigned titles are included with the membership. As an Amazon Associate, ReadingList earns from qualifying purchases and membership trials at no extra cost to you.

Know a parent or teacher who needs this? Share it:FacebookPinterest

Narrow by grade

Reading programs in Colorado

Colorado runs 2 statewide children's-choice reading programs — students read each year's nominees and vote for their favorite. See the full book list for each:

Banned & challenged books in Colorado schools — 9 titles →

▸Embed this list on your site

Copy + paste this snippet into any school newsletter, classroom blog, library site, or homeschool resource page. The embed shows the top 12 titles and links back to the full list. Updates automatically when ReadingList’s data changes.

<iframe src="https://readinglist.school/embed/state/colorado" width="100%" height="540" style="border:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.1);border-radius:6px;max-width:640px" loading="lazy" title="Colorado school reading list — ReadingList.school"></iframe>

Preview: /embed/state/colorado · License: CC BY 4.0 (please credit “ReadingList.school”).

Frequently asked questions

What books do Colorado schools assign?

1128 books are referenced by the Colorado Academic Standards across K-12 grades, including applicable national curricula (Common Core, AP, IB) that overlay the state framework.

What ELA standards does Colorado use?

Colorado follows Colorado Academic Standards. Primary source: the Colorado Department of Education at www.cde.state.co.us/. Cross-referenced with Common Core State Standards exemplars at achievethecore.org.

Are Colorado reading lists Common Core aligned?

Most Colorado K-12 reading assignments align with Common Core ELA standards where the state has adopted or adapted them. National AP English / IB English curricula apply uniformly regardless of state. The Course schema above + per-book pages cite the standard origin for each title.

How do I find the reading list for a specific Colorado grade?

Browse by grade at /state/colorado/grade/[grade] (e.g. /state/colorado/grade/5 for 5th grade). Or start at the all-grades /grade page for grade-only filtering across all states. Each book page lists the standard + grade-level assignments.

Reading guides for parents

Was this page helpful?

Browse by another angle

State-level reading references are sourced from published state departments of education. National references (Common Core exemplars, AP, IB) apply on top of state standards and appear on each book’s detail page.