Hawaii 3rd grade reading list

Books with a Hawaii citation for 3rd grade include Ramona the Pest, Shiloh and The Mouse and the Motorcycle. This list has 556 total books, 33 of them with a Hawaii-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 380L to 1000L.

Top Hawaii 3rd grade pick: Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary — on 1 Hawaii list

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Total books556Lexile380L–1000LSourceHawaii Common Core✓ 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 Hawaii 3rd grade

These are the 30 titles named in Hawaii’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. Ramona the Pest

    Beverly Cleary

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 2 to 4. Covers family, school and growing up. At 750L it falls inside the 420–820L band for this grade.

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  2. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers animal welfare, morality and family. At 890L it runs above the 420–820L band — a stretch text.

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  3. The Mouse and the Motorcycle

    Beverly Cleary

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 2 to 4. Covers friendship, responsibility and coming of age. At 860L it runs above the 420–820L band — a stretch text.

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  4. Because of Winn-Dixie

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Hawaii 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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  5. Sounder

    William H. Armstrong

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

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  6. Superfudge

    Judy Blume

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

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  7. The Invention of Hugo Cabret

    Brian Selznick

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

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  8. The Whipping Boy

    Sid Fleischman

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers friendship, adventure and courage.

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  9. Wonder

    R.J. Palacio

    Cited in 1 Hawaii 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. A Boy at War

    Harry Mazer

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

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  11. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers puberty, menarche and christians.

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  12. Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days

    Stephen Manes

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

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  13. Bunnicula

    Deborah Howe

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

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  14. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

    Roald Dahl

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers outer space, fiction, science fiction and humorous stories.

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  15. Double Fudge

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers humorous stories, families and brothers.

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  16. Freaky Friday

    Mary Rodgers

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers mothers and daughters, fiction, mothers and daughters, schools.

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  17. Front Desk

    Kelly Yang

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers immigration, family and race. At 640L it falls inside the 420–820L band for this grade.

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  18. Fudge

    Charlotte Towner Graeber

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers responsibility, dogs and pets.

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  19. Fudge-a-Mania

    Judy Blume

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

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  20. Ghosts in Fourth Grade

    Constance Hiser

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

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  21. How to Eat Fried Worms

    Thomas Rockwell

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers humor, friendship and school.

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  22. Inkheart

    Cornelia Funke

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

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  23. Jelly Belly

    Robert Kimmel Smith

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers weight control and weight loss.

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  24. Mary Poppins

    Pamela L. Travers

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers magic, translations into thai and translations from english.

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  25. My Teacher Is an Alien

    Bruce Coville

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers humor, school and friendship.

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  26. NERDS: National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society

    Michael Buckley

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

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  27. Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade

    Barthe DeClements

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

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  28. Odder

    Katherine Applegate

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

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  29. Ribsy

    Beverly Cleary

    Cited in 1 Hawaii curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers parents, pets and dogs.

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  30. Small Spaces

    Katherine Arden

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

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33 books cited for Hawaii 3rd grade

Assignments tied directly to Hawaii’s Hawaii Common Core with a Hawaii-specific citation.

Show all 33 titles

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523 additional grade-appropriate books for 3rd grade readers

The 556-book total above includes 33 titles with direct Hawaii citation; these 523 additional titles cover 3rd grade in the broader canon. They don't have a Hawaii-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 523 titles

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Other Hawaii 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

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

Browse 3rd grade reading by theme

About the Hawaii 3rd grade reading list

This list combines books cited in Hawaii Common Core 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 556 titles for 3rd grade in Hawaii, of which 33 carry a direct Hawaii 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 53 titles here with a Lexile score 37 are grade-level, 2 are more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 14 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.

Hawaii’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Hawaii Common Core (hawaiipublicschools.org). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 3rd grade list below blends Hawaii-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 Hawaii-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 Hawaii?
Books with a Hawaii-specific citation for 3rd grade include Ramona the Pest, Shiloh, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Because of Winn-Dixie and Sounder. 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 Hawaii?
This list has 556 books for 3rd grade students in Hawaii. 33 of them have a Hawaii-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 Hawaii?
Lexile measures across the 3rd grade Hawaii 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?
Hawaii-specific entries reference Hawaii Common Core (published at www.hawaiipublicschools.org). 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.

Reading guides for parents

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