New Jersey 2nd grade reading list

Books with a New Jersey citation for 2nd grade include Balloons over Broadway, A Green Place to be and An American Story. This list has 331 total books, 25 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 350L to 990L.

Top New Jersey 2nd grade pick: Balloons over Broadway by Melissa Sweet — on 1 New Jersey list

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Total books331Lexile350L–990LSourceNJ 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 2nd grade

These are the 25 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. Dog Man

    Dav Pilkey

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers humor, friendship and good vs evil. At 390L it sits just under the 420–820L band for this grade.

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  9. 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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  10. Fox Has a Problem

    Corey R. Tabor

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers humor, problem-solving and friendship.

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  11. 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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  12. 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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  13. 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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  14. 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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  15. 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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  16. 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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  17. 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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  18. A Journey Under the Sea

    Craig Foster

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers ocean, nature and science.

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  19. A Lot to Like!

    Derek Anderson

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers humor and friendship.

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  20. Blue

    Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond

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

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  21. Hidden Hope: How a Toy and a Hero Saved Lives During the Holocaust

    Elisa Boxer

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers history, courage and Holocaust.

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  22. The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza

    Mac Barnett

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers space, humor and adventure.

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  23. The One and Only Ruby

    Katherine Applegate

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers animals, family and memory.

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  24. Witchlings

    Claribel A. Ortega

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers magic, friendship and belonging.

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  25. Yoshi, Sea Turtle Genius

    Lynne Cox

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 5. Covers animals, ocean and true story.

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25 books cited for New Jersey 2nd grade

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

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306 additional grade-appropriate books for 2nd grade readers

The 331-book total above includes 25 titles with direct New Jersey citation; these 306 additional titles cover 2nd grade in the broader canon. They don't have a New Jersey-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

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Other New Jersey grades

1st grade · 3rd grade · Kindergarten · 4th grade

Reading lists by grade (all states)

1st grade · 3rd grade · Kindergarten · 4th grade

Same 2nd grade in other states

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

Browse 2nd grade reading by theme

About the New Jersey 2nd grade reading list

This list combines books cited in NJ Student Learning Standards with books from national sources that list titles for 2nd 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 331 titles for 2nd grade in New Jersey, of which 25 carry a direct New Jersey citation and 306 are grade-appropriate titles whose reading level overlaps 2nd grade. Across the list, Lexile measures span 350L–990L.

2nd 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. Measured against that 420–820L range, of the 18 titles here with a Lexile score 13 are grade-level, 3 are more accessible (often assigned for theme over challenge), and 2 are stretch texts that may need scaffolding. Because readers in a single 2nd 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 2nd 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 2nd 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 2nd grade students read in New Jersey?
Books with a New Jersey-specific citation for 2nd 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 2nd grade students in New Jersey?
This list has 331 books for 2nd grade students in New Jersey. 25 of them have a New Jersey-specific citation; the other 306 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 2nd grade reading in New Jersey?
Lexile measures across the 2nd grade New Jersey reading list range from 350L to 990L. 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 2nd 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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