New Jersey 3rd grade reading list

Books with a New Jersey citation for 3rd grade include Balloons over Broadway, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and The One and Only Ivan. This list has 552 total books, 47 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 380L to 1000L.

Top New Jersey 3rd grade pick: Balloons over Broadway by Melissa Sweet — on 1 New Jersey list

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Total books552Lexile380L–1000LSourceNJ 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 3rd grade

These are the 30 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. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

    Kate DiCamillo

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

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  3. The One and Only Ivan

    Katherine Applegate

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers animal welfare, captivity and freedom, friendship across species. At 570L it falls inside the 420–820L band for this grade.

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  4. The Season of Styx Malone

    Kekla Magoon

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers family, friendship and adventure. At 510L it falls inside the 420–820L band for this grade.

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  5. Unspeakable

    Carole Boston Weatherford

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 7.

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  6. 11 Birthdays

    Wendy Mass

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 5.

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  7. 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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  8. A Snicker of Magic (Scholastic Gold)

    Natalie Lloyd

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 10.

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  9. Alchemy and Meggy Swann

    Karen Cushman

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 10.

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  10. 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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  11. Bad News for Outlaws

    Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7.

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  12. Chinese Menu

    Grace Lin

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 10.

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  13. Clementine

    Sara Pennypacker

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 8.

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  14. Curlfriends: New in Town (a Graphic Novel)

    Sharee Miller

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 8.

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  15. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

    Jeff Kinney

    Cited in 1 New Jersey 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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  16. 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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  17. Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah

    Laurie Ann Thompson

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 10.

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  18. 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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  19. 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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  20. Pie in the Sky

    Remy Lai

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers immigration, grief and baking.

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  21. Stella Díaz Has Something to Say

    Angela Dominguez

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 8.

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  22. Swim Team

    Johnnie Christmas

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7. Covers perseverance, friendship and race.

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  23. 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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  24. The Invention of Hugo Cabret

    Brian Selznick

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7.

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  25. 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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  26. Ways to Make Sunshine

    Renée Watson

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7.

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  27. We Still Belong

    Christine Day

    Cited in 1 New Jersey curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 7.

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  28. 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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  29. 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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  30. Blue

    Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond

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

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47 books cited for New Jersey 3rd grade

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

Show all 47 titles

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505 additional grade-appropriate books for 3rd grade readers

The 552-book total above includes 47 titles with direct New Jersey citation; these 505 additional titles cover 3rd grade in the broader canon. They don't have a New Jersey-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 505 titles

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Other New Jersey 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 New Jersey 3rd grade reading list

This list combines books cited in NJ Student Learning 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 552 titles for 3rd grade in New Jersey, of which 47 carry a direct New Jersey citation and 505 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 54 titles here with a Lexile score 38 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.

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 3rd 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 3rd 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 3rd grade students read in New Jersey?
Books with a New Jersey-specific citation for 3rd grade include Balloons over Broadway, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, The One and Only Ivan, The Season of Styx Malone and Unspeakable. 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 New Jersey?
This list has 552 books for 3rd grade students in New Jersey. 47 of them have a New Jersey-specific citation; the other 505 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 3rd grade reading in New Jersey?
Lexile measures across the 3rd grade New Jersey 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?
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 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 www.nj.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.

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