Alabama 4th grade reading list

Books with an Alabama citation for 4th grade include Because of Winn-Dixie, 11 Birthdays and Stone Fox. This list has 754 total books, 39 of them with an Alabama-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 390L to 1000L.

Top Alabama 4th grade pick: Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo — on 1 Alabama list

Get it on Amazon →

Affiliate link: as an Amazon Associate, ReadingList earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Try it on audio — free. Kids who struggle with the print versions often finish the assigned books by listening.

Listen free on Audiblestarts instantly

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.

Total books754Lexile390L–1000LSourceAlabama Course of Study✓ sources cited per book

Most-assigned on state lists: 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).

Our pick to start — most-cited for Alabama 4th grade

These are the 30 titles named in Alabama’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. Because of Winn-Dixie

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document and 2 national references, 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.

    Get it on Amazon

  2. 11 Birthdays

    Wendy Mass

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 5.

    Get it on Amazon

  3. Stone Fox

    John Reynolds Gardiner

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers family, determination and sacrifice. At 550L it sits just under the 740–1010L band for this grade.

    Get it on Amazon

  4. Stuart Little

    E.B. White

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers family, adventure and friendship. At 920L it falls inside the 740–1010L band for this grade.

    Get it on Amazon

  5. Superfudge

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6.

    Get it on Amazon

  6. The Dollhouse Murders

    Betty Ren Wright

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers mystery, family and ghosts.

    Get it on Amazon

  7. The War with Grandpa

    Robert Kimmel Smith

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 4 to 7.

    Get it on Amazon

  8. 42 Miles

    Tracie Vaughn Zimmer

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

    Get it on Amazon

  9. A Week in the Woods

    Andrew Clements

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

    Get it on Amazon

  10. A Yellow Watermelon

    Ted M. Dunagan

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 5.

    Get it on Amazon

  11. And the Green Grass Grew All Around

    Alvin Schwartz

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

    Get it on Amazon

  12. Auntie Claus

    Elise Primavera

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 4.

    Get it on Amazon

  13. Boy at War

    Harry Mazer

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers world war, 1939-1945, causes and history.

    Get it on Amazon

  14. Boy's Best Friend

    Kate Banks

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 5.

    Get it on Amazon

  15. Bunnicula

    Deborah Howe

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

    Get it on Amazon

  16. Castles: Old Stone Poems

    J. Patrick Lewis

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

    Get it on Amazon

  17. Cracker The Best Dog in Vietnam

    Cynthia Kadohata

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8.

    Get it on Amazon

  18. Duke

    Kirby Larson

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers german shepherd dog, war use and world war, 1939-1945.

    Get it on Amazon

  19. Ella Enchanted

    Gail Carson Levine

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 7. Covers courage, fairy-tale and independence.

    Get it on Amazon

  20. Escaping the Giant Wave

    Peg Kehret

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

    Get it on Amazon

  21. Girls Who Code: The Friendship Code

    Stacia Deutsch

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 5.

    Get it on Amazon

  22. He Has Shot the President!

    Don Brown

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 5.

    Get it on Amazon

  23. Mary Bowser and the Civil War Spy Ring

    Enigma Alberti

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 5.

    Get it on Amazon

  24. Million-Dollar Throw

    Mike Lupica

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document, taught from grade 5 to 8. Covers football, pressure and friendship.

    Get it on Amazon

  25. More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

    Alvin Schwartz

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

    Get it on Amazon

  26. My Life as a Stuntboy

    Janet Tashjian

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 5.

    Get it on Amazon

  27. Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade

    Barthe DeClements

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

    Get it on Amazon

  28. Powwow

    George Ancona

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

    Get it on Amazon

  29. Rats on the Roof and Other Stories

    James Marshall

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

    Get it on Amazon

  30. Seven and a Half Tons of Steel

    Janet Nolan

    Cited in 1 Alabama curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 5.

    Get it on Amazon

39 books cited for Alabama 4th grade

Assignments tied directly to Alabama’s Alabama Course of Study with a Alabama-specific citation.

Show all 39 titles

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

715 additional grade-appropriate books for 4th grade readers

The 754-book total above includes 39 titles with direct Alabama citation; these 715 additional titles cover 4th grade in the broader canon. They don't have an Alabama-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 715 titles

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

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

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

Other Alabama 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 Alabama 4th grade reading list

This list combines books cited in Alabama Course of Study with books from national sources that list titles for 4th grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Golden Kite Award, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award and the Newbery Medal. ReadingList currently tracks 754 titles for 4th grade in Alabama, of which 39 carry a direct Alabama citation and 715 are grade-appropriate titles whose reading level overlaps 4th grade. 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 59 titles here with a Lexile score 34 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.

Alabama’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Alabama Course of Study (alabamaachieves.org). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 4th grade list below blends Alabama-specific assignments with widely taught national titles. 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 Alabama-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

What books do 4th grade students read in Alabama?
Books with an Alabama-specific citation for 4th grade include Because of Winn-Dixie, 11 Birthdays, Stone Fox, Stuart Little and Superfudge. Individual schools and districts choose their own titles, so check with your child's teacher for the exact list.
How many books are assigned to 4th grade students in Alabama?
This list has 754 books for 4th grade students in Alabama. 39 of them have an Alabama-specific citation; the other 715 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 4th grade reading in Alabama?
Lexile measures across the 4th grade Alabama 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?
Alabama-specific entries reference Alabama Course of Study (published at www.alabamaachieves.org). The other books come from national sources that list books for 4th grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Golden Kite Award, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award and the Newbery Medal. Each book's page links the primary source for every listing.

Reading guides for parents

▸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/grade/4" width="100%" height="540" style="border:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.1);border-radius:6px;max-width:640px" loading="lazy" title="4th grade reading list — ReadingList.school"></iframe>

Preview: /embed/grade/4 · License: CC BY 4.0 (please credit “ReadingList.school”).

Was this page helpful?

Browse by another angle

State-specific entries sourced from www.alabamaachieves.org. National references cited on each book’s detail page.

Find ReadingList in your Google results more often: