Kindergarten Common Core State Standards (ELA) reading list
Books referenced by Common Core State Standards (ELA) at the kindergarten level. Source: www.nysed.gov.
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About the Kindergarten Common Core State Standards (ELA) reading list
Common Core State Standards (ELA) is the Common Core State Standards, whose Appendix B publishes text exemplars by grade band. ReadingList tracks 25 titles referenced by Common Core State Standards (ELA) at the kindergartenlevel, each tied to a primary-source citation on the book’s detail page. Across the list, Lexile measures span 210L–740L. The framework is published at nysed.gov.
At the kindergarten level — the K-2grade band — students are emerging and early readers, with the curriculum focused on decoding, fluency, and read-aloud comprehension. Per Common Core’s Appendix A complexity bands, text difficulty at this stage typically falls around BR (Beginning Reader) to roughly 500L. A single Common Core State Standards (ELA) classroom can still span a wide range of reading levels.
Unlike a state reading list, a Common Core State Standards (ELA) list is portable: the same framework is taught across districts and, in the case of AP and IB, across countries. That makes these titles a reliable backbone for kindergarten planning whether you are a teacher mapping a unit, a homeschooler following a recognized sequence, or a parent checking what Common Core State Standards (ELA) expects.
How to use this list: treat the Common Core State Standards (ELA) titles as the core and layer in state-cited or thematically-related books to round out a kindergartenyear. Each book’s page shows its Lexile measure, grade range, themes, and any challenge history, so you can match a text to a specific reader rather than to the grade label alone.
Common Core State Standards (ELA) at other grades
1st grade · 2nd grade · 3rd grade · 4th grade · All Kindergartenreading lists →
25 books
A Boy, a Dog and a FrogMercer Mayer
A Story, a StoryGail E. Haley
Are You My Mother?P. D. Eastman
CorduroyDon Freeman · 600L
Family PicturesCarmen Lomas Garza
Frog and Toad TogetherArnold Lobel · 330L
Green Eggs and HamDr. Seuss · 210L
Hi! Fly GuyTedd Arnold
If You Give a Mouse a CookieLaura Numeroff · 410L
Kitten's First Full MoonKevin Henkes
Last Stop on Market StreetMatt de la Peña · 610L
Little BearElse Holmelund Minarik
Lon Po PoEd Young
Make Way for DucklingsRobert McCloskey · 730L
Mercy Watson to the RescueKate DiCamillo · 450L
Owl at HomeArnold Lobel
Pancakes for BreakfastTomie dePaola
Put Me in the ZooRobert Lopshire
The Cat in the HatDr. Seuss · 430L
The Paper CraneMolly Bang
The Snowy DayEzra Jack Keats · 500L
The Very Hungry CaterpillarEric Carle · 460L
The Wonderful Wizard of OzL. Frank Baum
Tomás and the Library LadyPat Mora
Show all 25 titles
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- Where the Wild Things Are · Maurice Sendak