New Jersey 1st grade reading list

Books with a New Jersey citation for 1st grade include Balloons over Broadway, A Green Place to be and An American Story. This list has 325 total books, 16 of them with a New Jersey-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 210L to 740L.

Top New Jersey 1st grade pick: Balloons over Broadway by Melissa Sweet — on 1 New Jersey list

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Total books325Lexile210L–740LSourceNJ Student Learning 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 New Jersey 1st grade

These are the 16 titles named in New Jersey’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. Balloons over Broadway

    Melissa Sweet

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 1 to 4.

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  2. A Green Place to be

    Ashley Benham Yazdani

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade K to 5.

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  3. An American Story

    Kwame Alexander

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade K to 3.

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  4. Are You Ready to Play Outside?

    Mo Willems

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade K to 2.

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  5. Benny and Penny in the Big No-No!

    Geoffrey Hayes

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade K to 2.

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  6. Bink and Gollie: Two for One

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade K to 2.

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  7. Charlie & Mouse Even Better

    Laurel Snyder

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade K to 2.

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  8. Don't Throw It to Mo!

    David A. Adler

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade K to 2.

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  9. Fox the Tiger

    Corey R. Tabor

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade K to 2.

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  10. Juana and Lucas

    Juana Medina

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade K to 3.

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  11. Otis and Will Discover the Deep

    Barb Rosenstock

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade K to 5.

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  12. See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog

    David LaRochelle

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade K to 2.

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  13. The Great Stink

    Colleen Paeff

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade K to 5.

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  14. There Is a Bird On Your Head! (An Elephant and Piggie Book)

    Mo Willems

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade K to 2.

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  15. There Was a Party for Langston

    Jason Reynolds

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade K to 5.

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  16. Blue

    Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond

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

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16 books cited for New Jersey 1st grade

Assignments tied directly to New Jersey’s NJ Student Learning Standards with a New Jersey-specific citation.

309 additional grade-appropriate books for 1st grade readers

The 325-book total above includes 16 titles with direct New Jersey citation; these 309 additional titles cover 1st grade in the broader canon. They don't have a New Jersey-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 309 titles

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Other New Jersey 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 New Jersey 1st grade reading list

This list combines books cited in NJ Student Learning 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 325 titles for 1st grade in New Jersey, of which 16 carry a direct New Jersey citation and 309 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.

New Jersey’s English Language Arts requirements are set by NJ Student Learning Standards (nj.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 1st grade list below blends New Jersey-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 New Jersey-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 New Jersey?
Books with a New Jersey-specific citation for 1st grade include Balloons over Broadway, A Green Place to be, An American Story, Are You Ready to Play Outside? and Benny and Penny in the Big No-No!. 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 New Jersey?
This list has 325 books for 1st grade students in New Jersey. 16 of them have a New Jersey-specific citation; the other 309 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 1st grade reading in New Jersey?
Lexile measures across the 1st grade New Jersey 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?
New Jersey-specific entries reference NJ Student Learning Standards (published at www.nj.gov). 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.

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

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