California 3rd grade reading list

Books with a California citation for 3rd grade include A Dog Called Homeless, Al Capone Does My Shirts and Because of Winn-Dixie. This list has 672 total books, 149 of them with a California-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 380L to 1000L.

Top California 3rd grade pick: A Dog Called Homeless by Sarah Lean — on 1 California list

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Total books672Lexile380L–1000LSourceCA Common Core + state add-ons✓ 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 California 3rd grade

These are the 30 titles named in California’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. A Dog Called Homeless

    Sarah Lean

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

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  2. Al Capone Does My Shirts

    Gennifer Choldenko

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 8.

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  3. Because of Winn-Dixie

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document and 1 national reference, 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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  4. Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah

    Laurie Ann Thompson

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 10.

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  5. Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale

    Carmen Agra Deedy

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 10.

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  6. Superfudge

    Judy Blume

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

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  7. The Great Stink

    Colleen Paeff

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade K to 5.

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  8. The Indian in the Cupboard

    Lynne Reid Banks

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers friendship, responsibility and imagination.

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  9. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document and 1 national reference, 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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  10. 12 Again

    Sue Corbett

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8. Covers magic, brothers and mothers.

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  11. A Fine, Fine School

    Sharon Creech

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers schools, school principals and school principals in fiction.

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  12. Across the Desert

    Dusti Bowling

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

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  13. Alabama Moon

    Watt Key

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8. Covers bullies, orphans and resistance to government.

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  14. All About Sam

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers brothers and sisters, family, family life.

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  15. Alone

    Megan E. Freeman

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

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  16. And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon

    Janet Stevens

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers characters in literature, nursery rhymes and animals.

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  17. Are You a Cheeseburger?

    Monica Arnaldo

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3.

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  18. Bagdad Ate It

    Phyllis Green

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers dogs.

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  19. Barbed Wire Baseball

    Marissa Moss

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers historical fiction, japanese internment camps and japanese americans.

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  20. Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days

    Stephen Manes

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers humorous stories, behavior and boys, fiction.

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  21. Big Bad Bruce

    Bill Peet

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers bears, witches and bullying.

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  22. Boxes for Katje

    Candace Fleming

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers generosity, civilian relief and world war, 1939-1945.

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  23. Chez Bob

    Bob Shea

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document, taught from grade K to 2.

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  24. Christopher Mouse: The Tale of a Small Traveler

    William Wise

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

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  25. Cracker The Best Dog in Vietnam

    Cynthia Kadohata

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

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  26. Dadaji's Paintbrush

    Rashmi Sirdeshpande

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers grief, family and art.

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  27. Danny, the Champion of the World

    Roald Dahl

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers criminals, adventure stories and poaching.

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  28. December Stillness

    Mary Downing Hahn

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document, taught from grade 6 to 8. Covers homeless persons, vietnamese conflict, 1961-1975 and veterans.

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  29. Dog Breath

    Dav Pilkey

    Cited in 1 California curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 8. Covers humorous stories, dogs and bad breath.

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  30. Dogtag Summer

    Elizabeth Partridge

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

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149 books cited for California 3rd grade

Assignments tied directly to California’s CA Common Core + state add-ons with a California-specific citation.

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523 additional grade-appropriate books for 3rd grade readers

The 672-book total above includes 149 titles with direct California citation; these 523 additional titles cover 3rd grade in the broader canon. They don't have a California-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

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Other California 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

Texas · Florida · New York · Pennsylvania · Illinois · Ohio

Browse 3rd grade reading by theme

About the California 3rd grade reading list

This list combines books cited in CA Common Core + state add-ons with books from national sources that list titles for 3rd grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Newbery Medal, the Golden Kite Award and the Caldecott Medal. ReadingList currently tracks 672 titles for 3rd grade in California, of which 149 carry a direct California citation and 523 are grade-appropriate titles whose reading level overlaps 3rd grade. 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 54 titles here with a Lexile score 36 are grade-level, 3 are more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 15 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.

California’s English Language Arts requirements are set by CA Common Core + state add-ons (cde.ca.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 3rd grade list below blends California-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 3rd grade unit can pair a California-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 3rd grade students read in California?
Books with a California-specific citation for 3rd grade include A Dog Called Homeless, Al Capone Does My Shirts, Because of Winn-Dixie, Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah and Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale. 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 3rd grade students in California?
This list has 672 books for 3rd grade students in California. 149 of them have a California-specific citation; the other 523 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 3rd grade reading in California?
Lexile measures across the 3rd grade California 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?
California-specific entries reference CA Common Core + state add-ons (published at www.cde.ca.gov). The other books come from national sources that list books for 3rd grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Newbery Medal, the Golden Kite Award and the Caldecott Medal. Each book's page links the primary source for every listing.

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

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