Maryland 1st grade reading list

Books with a Maryland citation for 1st grade include A Bad Case of Stripes; Are You Scared, Darth Vader? and Best Frints in the Whole Universe. This list has 356 total books, 32 of them with a Maryland-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 210L to 740L.

Top Maryland 1st grade pick: A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon — on 1 Maryland list

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Total books356Lexile210L–740LSourceMaryland College & Career Ready Standards✓ 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 Maryland 1st grade

These are the 30 titles named in Maryland’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 Bad Case of Stripes

    David Shannon

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 8. Covers individuality, popularity and ficción juvenil.

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  2. Are You Scared, Darth Vader?

    Adam Rex

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers darth vader (fictitious character), fear and science fiction.

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  3. Best Frints in the Whole Universe

    Antoinette Portis

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers picture books, aliens and sci-fi.

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  4. Cat Secrets

    Jef Czekaj

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers cats and cats, fiction.

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  5. Chester

    Mélanie Watt

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers cats.

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  6. Click Clack Moo: Cows that Type

    Doreen Cronin

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers typewriters, vacas and domestic animals.

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  7. Creepy Carrots!

    Aaron Reynolds

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 10.

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  8. Diary of a Wombat

    Jackie French

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers wombats, diaries and australia.

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  9. Falling for Rapunzel

    Leah Wilcox

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers characters in literature, humorous stories and stories in rhyme.

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  10. Go Away, Big Green Monster

    Ed Emberley

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers bedtime, fear and monsters.

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  11. Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm

    Jerdine Nolen

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers balloons, farm life and tall tales.

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  12. I'm Trying to Love Spiders

    Bethany Barton

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

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  13. Just Another Ordinary Day

    Rod Clement

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers schools, humorous stories and animals.

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  14. Let's Do Nothing

    Tony Fucile

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers play, humorous stories and friendship.

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  15. Memoirs of a Goldfish

    Devin Scillian

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers goldfish, friendship and picture books.

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  16. Mr. Fox's Game of "No!"

    David LaRochelle

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

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  17. Norman Didn't Do It!

    Ryan T. Higgins

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

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  18. Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude

    O'Malley, Kevin

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers motorcyclists, giants and humorous stories.

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  19. Piggie Pie!

    Margie Palatini

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers humorous stories, witches and domestic animals.

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  20. Rotten Teeth

    Laura Simms

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers schools, show-and-tell presentations and schools, fiction.

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  21. Scaredy Squirrel

    Melanie Watt

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers courage, fear and picture books for children.

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  22. Scranimals

    Jack Prelutsky

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers animals, mythical.

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  23. Soap! Soap! Don’t Forget the Soap!

    Tom Birdseye

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers folklore.

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  24. The Araboolies of Liberty Street

    Sam Swope

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers toleration.

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  25. The Barnabus Project

    Terry Fan

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

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  26. The Day the Crayons Quit

    Drew Daywalt

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers color, crayons and letters.

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  27. The Great Fuzz Frenzy

    Janet Stevens

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers humorous stories, balls (sporting goods) and prairie dogs.

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  28. The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors

    Drew Daywalt

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 8. Covers humor, adventure and rock-paper-scissors (game).

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  29. There's a Ghost in This House

    Oliver Jeffers

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

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  30. Trouble with Trolls

    Jan Brett

    Cited in 1 Maryland curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers trolls, dogs and dogs, fiction.

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32 books cited for Maryland 1st grade

Assignments tied directly to Maryland’s Maryland College & Career Ready Standards with a Maryland-specific citation.

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324 additional grade-appropriate books for 1st grade readers

The 356-book total above includes 32 titles with direct Maryland citation; these 324 additional titles cover 1st grade in the broader canon. They don't have a Maryland-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 324 titles

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Other Maryland 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

Browse 1st grade reading by theme

About the Maryland 1st grade reading list

This list combines books cited in Maryland College & Career Ready Standards 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 356 titles for 1st grade in Maryland, of which 32 carry a direct Maryland 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.

Maryland’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Maryland College & Career Ready Standards (marylandpublicschools.org). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 1st grade list below blends Maryland-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 Maryland-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 Maryland?
Books with a Maryland-specific citation for 1st grade include A Bad Case of Stripes; Are You Scared, Darth Vader?; Best Frints in the Whole Universe; Cat Secrets and Chester. 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 Maryland?
This list has 356 books for 1st grade students in Maryland. 32 of them have a Maryland-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 Maryland?
Lexile measures across the 1st grade Maryland 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?
Maryland-specific entries reference Maryland College & Career Ready Standards (published at marylandpublicschools.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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