Nevada 3rd grade reading list

Books with a Nevada citation for 3rd grade include Shiloh, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. This list has 570 total books, 43 of them with a Nevada-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 380L to 1000L.

Top Nevada 3rd grade pick: Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor — on 1 Nevada list

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Total books570Lexile380L–1000LSourceNevada Academic Content 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 Nevada 3rd grade

These are the 30 titles named in Nevada’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. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 Nevada 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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  2. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers love, loss and journey.

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  3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

    Jeff Kinney

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers school, friendship and family. At 950L it runs above the 420–820L band — a stretch text.

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  4. Frindle

    Andrew Clements

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers creativity, language and thought, intelligence. At 830L it runs above the 420–820L band — a stretch text.

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  5. Matilda

    Roald Dahl

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers intelligence, overcoming neglect and teacher-student bond. At 840L it runs above the 420–820L band — a stretch text.

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  6. A Boy Named Queen

    Sara Cassidy

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers bullying, middle school students and peer pressure.

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  7. Ava and Pip

    Carol Weston

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers palindromes, families and vocabulary.

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  8. Baby-Sitting Is a Dangerous Job

    Willo Davis Roberts

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers babysitters, kidnapping and babysitters, fiction.

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  9. Ban This Book

    Alan Gratz

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers censorship, books and standing up.

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  10. City of Thieves

    Alex London

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8.

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  11. Crash

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers conduct of life, family life and friendship.

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  12. Escaping the Giant Wave

    Peg Kehret

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

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  13. Flight #116 Is Down!

    Caroline B. Cooney

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers aeronautics, fiction, airplanes, juvenile literature and airplanes, fiction.

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  14. Flipped

    Wendelin Van Draanen

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers conduct of life in fiction, conduct of life and self-perception.

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  15. Framed!

    James Ponti

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers united states, art thefts and friendship.

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  16. Fudge-a-Mania

    Judy Blume

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

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  17. Hostage

    Willo Davis Roberts

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers neighbors, robbers and outlaws, kidnapping.

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  18. Hummingbird

    Natalie Lloyd

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8.

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  19. Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth

    Barbara Park

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers kindergarten, occupations and schools.

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  20. Loch

    Paul Zindel

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers underwater exploration, brothers and sisters, monsters.

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  21. Loot

    Jude Watson

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers jewel thieves, brothers and sisters, adventure and adventurers.

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  22. Magyk

    Angie Sage

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers princesses, fiction, wizards, fiction and magic, fiction.

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  23. Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism

    Georgia Byng

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers amistad, bank robberies and ficción juvenil.

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  24. My Teacher Is an Alien

    Bruce Coville

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

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  25. Red Midnight

    Ben Mikaelsen

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers emigration and immigration, kayaks, kayaks and kayaking.

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  26. Saving Winslow

    Sharon Creech

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers donkeys, human-animal relationships and friendship.

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  27. Saving Zasha

    Randi G. Barrow

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers german shepherd dog, single-parent families and family life.

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  28. Shape-Changer

    Bill Brittain

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers extraterrestrial beings, science fiction and life on other planets.

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  29. Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You

    Barthe DeClements

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers dyslexia, teacher-student relationships and schools.

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  30. Skeleton Creek

    Patrick Carman

    Cited in 1 Nevada curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 8. Covers diaries, best friends and horror stories.

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43 books cited for Nevada 3rd grade

Assignments tied directly to Nevada’s Nevada Academic Content Standards with a Nevada-specific citation.

Show all 43 titles

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527 additional grade-appropriate books for 3rd grade readers

The 570-book total above includes 43 titles with direct Nevada citation; these 527 additional titles cover 3rd grade in the broader canon. They don't have a Nevada-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

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Other Nevada 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 Nevada 3rd grade reading list

This list combines books cited in Nevada Academic Content Standards 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 570 titles for 3rd grade in Nevada, of which 43 carry a direct Nevada citation and 527 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 52 titles here with a Lexile score 36 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.

Nevada’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Nevada Academic Content Standards (doe.nv.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 3rd grade list below blends Nevada-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 Nevada-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 Nevada?
Books with a Nevada-specific citation for 3rd grade include Shiloh, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Frindle and Matilda. 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 Nevada?
This list has 570 books for 3rd grade students in Nevada. 43 of them have a Nevada-specific citation; the other 527 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 3rd grade reading in Nevada?
Lexile measures across the 3rd grade Nevada 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?
Nevada-specific entries reference Nevada Academic Content Standards (published at doe.nv.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 doe.nv.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.

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