New Jersey 3rd grade reading list

The 478 books most commonly assigned to New Jersey 3rd grade students in US schools — each with its reading level and a cited source.

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Books478Lexile380L–1000LSourceNJ Student Learning 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 Jersey 3rd grade

These are the 30 titles named in New Jersey’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. Balloons over Broadway

    Melissa Sweet

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 1 to 4.

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  2. The One and Only Ivan

    Katherine Applegate

    Cited in 1 New Jersey 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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  3. The Season of Styx Malone

    Kekla Magoon

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers family, friendship and adventure. At 510L it falls inside the 420–820L band for this grade.

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  4. Unspeakable

    Carole Boston Weatherford

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 7.

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  5. Bad News for Outlaws

    Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7.

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  6. Juana and Lucas

    Juana Medina

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade K to 3.

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  7. Pie in the Sky

    Remy Lai

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers immigration, grief and baking.

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  8. Swim Team

    Johnnie Christmas

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

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  9. The Invention of Hugo Cabret

    Brian Selznick

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7.

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  10. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers love, loss and journey.

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  11. 11 Birthdays

    Wendy Mass

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

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  12. A Journey Under the Sea

    Craig Foster

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers ocean, nature and science.

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  13. A Lot to Like!

    Derek Anderson

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers humor and friendship.

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  14. Blue

    Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade K to 4.

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  15. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

    Jeff Kinney

    Cited in 1 New Jersey 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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  16. Dog Man

    Dav Pilkey

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers humor, friendship and good vs evil. At 390L it sits just under the 420–820L band for this grade.

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  17. Four Eyes: A Graphic Novel

    Rex Ogle

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers self-image, middle school and family.

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  18. Fox Has a Problem

    Corey R. Tabor

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers humor, problem-solving and friendship.

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  19. Front Desk

    Kelly Yang

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers immigration, family and race. At 640L it falls inside the 420–820L band for this grade.

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  20. Hidden Hope: How a Toy and a Hero Saved Lives During the Holocaust

    Elisa Boxer

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers history, courage and Holocaust.

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  21. Jawbreaker

    Christina Wyman

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers self-image, family and middle school.

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  22. Max and the Midknights

    Lincoln Peirce

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers adventure, humor and identity.

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  23. Parachute Kids

    Betty C. Tang

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers immigration, family and resilience.

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  24. Please Write in this Book

    Mary Amato

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

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  25. Small Spaces

    Katherine Arden

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

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  26. The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza

    Mac Barnett

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers space, humor and adventure.

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  27. The One and Only Ruby

    Katherine Applegate

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers animals, family and memory.

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  28. The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale

    Jon Klassen

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers courage and friendship.

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  29. The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street

    Karina Yan Glaser

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers family, community and home.

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  30. Wish

    Barbara O'Connor

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

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478 books cited for New Jersey 3rd grade

Assignments tied directly to New Jersey’s NJ Student Learning Standards or national curricula with a New Jersey-specific citation.

Show all 478 titles

Reading the whole New Jersey 3rd grade reading list? Kids who struggle with the print versions often finish the assigned books by listening.

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Teacher or librarian? Print this list as a checklist — free to photocopy for your class or library (details).

Other New Jersey 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 Jersey 3rd grade reading list

In New Jersey schools, 3rd grade students are most often assigned books drawn from NJ Student Learning Standardsalongside the national curricula that apply nationwide — Common Core State Standards Appendix B, AP English, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. ReadingList currently tracks 478 titles for 3rd grade in New Jersey, each tied to a New Jersey-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, 2 are more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 12 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 Jersey’s English Language Arts requirements are set by NJ Student Learning Standards (nj.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework, so the 3rd grade list below blends New Jersey-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 Jersey-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 Jersey?
478 books appear on ReadingList for 3rd grade students in New Jersey, sourced from NJ Student Learning Standards and national curricula (Common Core, AP, IB) with applicable grade citations.
What's the Lexile range for 3rd grade reading in New Jersey?
Lexile measures across the 3rd grade New Jersey 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 NJ Student Learning Standards (published at www.nj.gov) plus national curricula that apply to New Jersey 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.nj.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.