New Hampshire 3rd grade reading list

The 465 books most commonly assigned to New Hampshire 3rd grade students in US schools — each with its reading level and a cited source.

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Books465Lexile380L–1000LSourceNH College & Career Ready Standards✓ sources cited per book

Most-assigned nationally: across every US state’s official reading and award lists, the Elementary (K–5) titles appearing in the most states are Wonder (29 states), Because of Winn-Dixie (26 states), and Shiloh (25 states). From our 2026 study of 13,258 source-cited assignments (as of 2026-07-13).

Start here — most-cited for New Hampshire 3rd grade

These are the 16 titles named in New Hampshire’s own curriculum documents for this grade — everything below is the wider national list. Read against the Common Core Appendix A complexity band; reading level is not thematic maturity, and several sit below the band because they are assigned for discussion.

  1. The One and Only Ivan

    Katherine Applegate

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers animal welfare, captivity and freedom, friendship across species. At 570L it falls inside the 420–820L band for this grade.

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  2. Matilda

    Roald Dahl

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers intelligence, overcoming neglect and teacher-student bond. At 840L it runs above the 420–820L band — a stretch text.

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  3. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers animal welfare, morality and family. At 890L it runs above the 420–820L band — a stretch text.

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  4. Swim Team

    Johnnie Christmas

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers perseverance, friendship and race.

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  5. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers siblings, family and everyday life. At 470L it falls inside the 420–820L band for this grade.

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  6. The Mouse and the Motorcycle

    Beverly Cleary

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 2 to 4. Covers friendship, responsibility and coming of age. At 860L it runs above the 420–820L band — a stretch text.

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  7. Because of Winn-Dixie

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers loss, friendship and mother absence. At 610L it falls inside the 420–820L band for this grade.

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  8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

    Jeff Kinney

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers school, friendship and family. At 950L it runs above the 420–820L band — a stretch text.

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  9. Frindle

    Andrew Clements

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers creativity, language and thought, intelligence. At 830L it runs above the 420–820L band — a stretch text.

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  10. Odder

    Katherine Applegate

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5.

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  11. Ruby Holler

    Sharon Creech

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5.

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  12. Small Spaces

    Katherine Arden

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5.

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  13. Superfudge

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6.

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  14. The Labors of Hercules Beal

    Gary D. Schmidt

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers grief, mythology and family.

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  15. Wildfire

    Rodman Philbrick

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5.

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  16. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 1 New Hampshire curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers facial difference, kindness and bullying. At 790L it falls inside the 420–820L band for this grade.

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465 books cited for New Hampshire 3rd grade

Assignments tied directly to New Hampshire’s NH College & Career Ready Standards or national curricula with a New Hampshire-specific citation.

Show all 465 titles

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Other New Hampshire grades

2nd grade · 4th grade · 1st grade · 5th grade

Reading lists by grade (all states)

2nd grade · 4th grade · 1st grade · 5th grade

Same 3rd grade in other states

California · Texas · Florida · New York · Pennsylvania · Illinois

Browse 3rd grade reading by theme

About the New Hampshire 3rd grade reading list

In New Hampshire schools, 3rd grade students are most often assigned books drawn from NH College & Career Ready Standardsalongside the national curricula that apply nationwide — Common Core State Standards Appendix B, AP English, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. ReadingList currently tracks 465 titles for 3rd grade in New Hampshire, each tied to a New Hampshire-specific curriculum citation. Across the list, Lexile measures span 380L–1000L.

3rd grade sits in the 3-5 grade band, where students are transitional readers. At this stage the emphasis is on shifting from learning-to-read to reading-to-learn and sustaining attention across longer chapter books. Assigned reading skews toward early novels, narrative non-fiction, and a student's first assigned full-length stories, with text complexity that, per Common Core’s Appendix A reading bands, typically falls around roughly 400L to 800L. Measured against that 420–820L range, of the 50 titles here with a Lexile score 36 are grade-level, 1 is more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 13 are stretch texts that may need scaffolding. Because readers in a single 3rd grade classroom can span several hundred Lexile points, this list is best read as a starting point rather than a fixed requirement.

New Hampshire’s English Language Arts requirements are set by NH College & Career Ready Standards (education.nh.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework, so the 3rd grade list below blends New Hampshire-specific assignments with the widely-taught national canon. Every title links to its primary source on the book’s detail page, so you can confirm exactly where and why it is assigned.

How to use this list:match a title to your child’s most recent Lexile or guided-reading level rather than to the grade alone. Teachers building a 3rd grade unit can pair a New Hampshire-cited core text with a grade-appropriate companion novel; parents previewing summer or supplemental reading can check each book’s content notes and challenge history before assigning it.

Common questions

How many books are assigned to 3rd grade students in New Hampshire?
465 books appear on ReadingList for 3rd grade students in New Hampshire, sourced from NH College & Career Ready Standards and national curricula (Common Core, AP, IB) with applicable grade citations.
What's the Lexile range for 3rd grade reading in New Hampshire?
Lexile measures across the 3rd grade New Hampshire reading list range from 380L to 1000L. Books without a published Lexile (poetry, drama, picture books) are not included in this range.
Where does this reading list come from?
Entries reference NH College & Career Ready Standards (published at www.education.nh.gov) plus national curricula that apply to New Hampshire schools: Common Core State Standards Appendix B, AP English Literature and Language, IB Diploma Programme, and Cambridge Assessment International. Every assignment row on each book's detail page links its primary source.

Reading guides for parents

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State-specific entries sourced from www.education.nh.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.