Mississippi Kindergarten reading list

Books with a Mississippi citation for kindergarten include 100 Chapatis, Avocado Magic and Brave Baby Hummingbird. This list has 326 total books, 12 of them with a Mississippi-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 210L to 740L.

Top Mississippi kindergarten pick: 100 Chapatis by Derek Mascarenhas — on 1 Mississippi list

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Total books326Lexile210L–740LSourceMississippi CCR 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 Mississippi kindergarten

These are the 12 titles named in Mississippi’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. 100 Chapatis

    Derek Mascarenhas

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

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  2. Avocado Magic

    Taltal Levi

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

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  3. Brave Baby Hummingbird

    Sy Montgomery

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

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  4. Daughter of the Light-Footed People

    Belen Medina

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

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  5. Gifts from the Garbage Truck

    Andrew Larsen

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

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  6. Greetings, Floof!

    C. J. Hong

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

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  7. How to Make a Peanut Butter Sandwich in 17 Easy Steps

    Bambi Edlund

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

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  8. Jose Feeds the World

    David Unger

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

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  9. Little Ghost Makes a Friend

    Maggie Edkins Willis

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

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  10. One Day This Tree Will Fall

    Leslie Barnard Booth

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

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  11. Squirrel-Ish

    Bambi Edlund

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

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  12. Welcome to Scare School

    Jarrett Lerner

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

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12 books cited for Mississippi kindergarten

Assignments tied directly to Mississippi’s Mississippi CCR Standards with a Mississippi-specific citation.

314 additional grade-appropriate books for kindergarten readers

The 326-book total above includes 12 titles with direct Mississippi citation; these 314 additional titles cover kindergarten in the broader canon. They don't have a Mississippi-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 314 titles

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Other Mississippi grades

1st grade · 2nd grade · 3rd grade · 4th grade

Reading lists by grade (all states)

1st grade · 2nd grade · 3rd grade · 4th grade

Same kindergarten in other states

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

Browse kindergarten reading by theme

About the Mississippi kindergarten reading list

This list combines books cited in Mississippi CCR Standards with books from national sources that list titles for kindergarten: 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 326 titles for kindergarten in Mississippi, of which 12 carry a direct Mississippi citation and 314 are grade-appropriate titles whose reading level overlaps kindergarten. Across the list, Lexile measures span 210L–740L.

Kindergarten 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 kindergarten classroom can span several hundred Lexile points, this list is best read as a starting point rather than a fixed requirement.

Mississippi’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Mississippi CCR Standards (mdek12.org). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The kindergarten list below blends Mississippi-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 kindergarten unit can pair a Mississippi-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 kindergarten students read in Mississippi?
Books with a Mississippi-specific citation for kindergarten include 100 Chapatis, Avocado Magic, Brave Baby Hummingbird, Daughter of the Light-Footed People and Gifts from the Garbage Truck. 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 kindergarten students in Mississippi?
This list has 326 books for kindergarten students in Mississippi. 12 of them have a Mississippi-specific citation; the other 314 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for kindergarten reading in Mississippi?
Lexile measures across the kindergarten Mississippi 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?
Mississippi-specific entries reference Mississippi CCR Standards (published at www.mdek12.org). The other books come from national sources that list books for kindergarten: 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.mdek12.org. National references cited on each book’s detail page.

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