Georgia 1st grade reading list

Books with a Georgia citation for 1st grade include Blue, Farmhouse and How to Eat a Book. This list has 341 total books, 17 of them with a Georgia-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 210L to 740L.

Top Georgia 1st grade pick: Blue by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond — on 1 Georgia list

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Total books341Lexile210L–740LSourceGeorgia Standards of Excellence✓ 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 Georgia 1st grade

These are the 17 titles named in Georgia’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. Blue

    Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond

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

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  2. Farmhouse

    Sophie Blackall

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

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  3. How to Eat a Book

    MacLeod

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

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  4. I Am a Tornado

    Drew Beckmeyer

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

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  5. John's Turn

    Mac Barnett

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

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  6. Like

    Annie Barrows

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

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  7. Midnight and Moon

    Kelly Cooper

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

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  8. Milloo's Mind

    Reem Faruqi

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

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  9. Mr. S

    Monica Arnaldo

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

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  10. Not All Sheep Are Boring!

    Bobby Moynihan

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

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  11. Oh No, the Aunts Are Here

    Adam Rex

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

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  12. Something, Someday

    Amanda Gorman

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

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  13. That's Not My Name!

    Anoosha Syed

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

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  14. The Bees of Notre-Dame

    Meghan Browne

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

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  15. Two Dogs

    Ian Falconer

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

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  16. Watch Out for the Lion!

    Brooke Hartman

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

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  17. Wombat Said Come In

    Carmen Agra Deedy

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

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17 books cited for Georgia 1st grade

Assignments tied directly to Georgia’s Georgia Standards of Excellence with a Georgia-specific citation.

324 additional grade-appropriate books for 1st grade readers

The 341-book total above includes 17 titles with direct Georgia citation; these 324 additional titles cover 1st grade in the broader canon. They don't have a Georgia-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 324 titles

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

Other Georgia grades

Kindergarten · 2nd grade · 3rd grade · 4th grade

Reading lists by grade (all states)

Kindergarten · 2nd grade · 3rd grade · 4th grade

Same 1st grade in other states

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

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About the Georgia 1st grade reading list

This list combines books cited in Georgia Standards of Excellence with books from national sources that list titles for 1st grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Caldecott Medal, the Golden Kite Award and the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award. ReadingList currently tracks 341 titles for 1st grade in Georgia, of which 17 carry a direct Georgia citation and 324 are grade-appropriate titles whose reading level overlaps 1st grade. Across the list, Lexile measures span 210L–740L.

1st grade sits in the K-2 grade band, where students are emerging and early readers. At this stage the emphasis is on building phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, and a love of being read to. Assigned reading skews toward picture books, decodable texts, and short illustrated chapter books, with text complexity that, per Common Core’s Appendix A reading bands, typically falls around BR (Beginning Reader) to roughly 500L. Because readers in a single 1st grade classroom can span several hundred Lexile points, this list is best read as a starting point rather than a fixed requirement.

Georgia’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Georgia Standards of Excellence (gadoe.org). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 1st grade list below blends Georgia-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 1st grade unit can pair a Georgia-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 1st grade students read in Georgia?
Books with a Georgia-specific citation for 1st grade include Blue, Farmhouse, How to Eat a Book, I Am a Tornado and John's Turn. 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 1st grade students in Georgia?
This list has 341 books for 1st grade students in Georgia. 17 of them have a Georgia-specific citation; the other 324 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 1st grade reading in Georgia?
Lexile measures across the 1st grade Georgia reading list range from 210L to 740L. Books without a published Lexile (poetry, drama, picture books) are not included in this range.
Where does this reading list come from?
Georgia-specific entries reference Georgia Standards of Excellence (published at www.gadoe.org). The other books come from national sources that list books for 1st grade: the Common Core State Standards (ELA), plus awards such as the Caldecott Medal, the Golden Kite Award and the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award. Each book's page links the primary source for every listing.

Reading guides for parents

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

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