Washington 4th grade reading list

The 603 books most commonly assigned to Washington 4th grade students in US schools — each with its reading level and a cited source.

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Books603Lexile390L–1000LSourceWA K-12 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 Washington 4th grade

These are the 30 titles named in Washington’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. Bud, Not Buddy

    Christopher Paul Curtis

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers family, identity and perseverance. At 950L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  2. Holes

    Louis Sachar

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers fate vs choice, friendship and justice. At 660L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  3. Maniac Magee

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers race, homelessness and family. At 820L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  4. New Kid

    Jerry Craft

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers race and identity, code-switching, middle school adjustment.

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  5. The One and Only Ivan

    Katherine Applegate

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers animal welfare, captivity and freedom, friendship across species. At 570L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  6. The Tale of Despereaux

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers courage, forgiveness and light vs dark. At 670L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  7. Because of Winn-Dixie

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers loss, friendship and mother absence. At 610L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  8. El Deafo

    Cece Bell

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers disability, friendship and self-acceptance. At 420L it reads well below the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  9. King of the Wind

    Marguerite Henry

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

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  10. Mr. Popper's Penguins

    Richard Atwater · Florence Atwater

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers family, adventure and imagination. At 910L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  11. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

    Robert C. O'Brien

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers family, courage, science and ethics. At 790L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  12. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers animal welfare, morality and family. At 890L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  13. Swim Team

    Johnnie Christmas

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

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  14. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers siblings, family and everyday life. At 470L it reads well below the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  15. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

    Kate DiCamillo

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

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  16. 11 Birthdays

    Wendy Mass

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

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  17. Blubber

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers bullying, friendship and school.

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  18. Bunnicula

    Deborah Howe

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

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  19. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

    Jeff Kinney

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers school, friendship and family. At 950L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  20. Dog Man

    Dav Pilkey

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers humor, friendship and good vs evil. At 390L it reads well below the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  21. Duel

    Jessixa Bagley

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers grief, sisters and family.

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  22. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

    Chris Grabenstein

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6.

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  23. Frindle

    Andrew Clements

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers creativity, language and thought, intelligence. At 830L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  24. Ghost

    Jason Reynolds

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers running, family violence and mentorship. At 730L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  25. Good Different

    Meg Eden Kuyatt

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 9. Covers neurodiversity, identity and acceptance.

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  26. Grounded

    Aisha Saeed, S.K. Ali, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow & Huda Al-Marashi

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers friendship, identity and adventure.

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  27. Just a Pinch of Magic

    Alechia Dow

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers magic, friendship and family.

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  28. Operation Final Notice

    Matthew Landis

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers family, friendship and anxiety.

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  29. Ramona the Pest

    Beverly Cleary

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 4. Covers family, school and growing up. At 750L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

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  30. Rewind

    Lisa Graff

    Cited in 1 Washington curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers time travel, family and second chances.

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603 books cited for Washington 4th grade

Assignments tied directly to Washington’s WA K-12 Learning Standards or national curricula with a Washington-specific citation.

Show all 603 titles

Reading the whole Washington 4th grade reading list? Kids who struggle with the print versions often finish the assigned books by listening.

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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.

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Other Washington grades

3rd grade · 5th grade · 2nd grade · 6th grade

Reading lists by grade (all states)

3rd grade · 5th grade · 2nd grade · 6th grade

Same 4th grade in other states

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

Browse 4th grade reading by theme

About the Washington 4th grade reading list

In Washington schools, 4th grade students are most often assigned books drawn from WA K-12 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 603 titles for 4th grade in Washington, each tied to a Washington-specific curriculum citation. Across the list, Lexile measures span 390L–1000L.

4th 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 740–1010L range, of the 56 titles here with a Lexile score 31 are grade-level, 25 are more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 0 are stretch texts that may need scaffolding. Because readers in a single 4th grade classroom can span several hundred Lexile points, this list is best read as a starting point rather than a fixed requirement.

Washington’s English Language Arts requirements are set by WA K-12 Learning Standards (k12.wa.us). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework, so the 4th grade list below blends Washington-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 4th grade unit can pair a Washington-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 4th grade students in Washington?
603 books appear on ReadingList for 4th grade students in Washington, sourced from WA K-12 Learning Standards and national curricula (Common Core, AP, IB) with applicable grade citations.
What's the Lexile range for 4th grade reading in Washington?
Lexile measures across the 4th grade Washington reading list range from 390L 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 WA K-12 Learning Standards (published at www.k12.wa.us) plus national curricula that apply to Washington 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.k12.wa.us. National references cited on each book’s detail page.