New York Kindergarten reading list

Only 1 title is cited to New York for kindergarten: The Snowy Day. The other 313 books on this page are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards, not New York assignments. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 210L to 740L.

Top New York kindergarten pick: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats — on 1 New York list

Get it on Amazon →

Affiliate link: as an Amazon Associate, ReadingList earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Try it on audio — free. Kids who struggle with the print versions often finish the assigned books by listening.

Listen free on Audiblestarts instantly

New members only · many assigned titles are included with the membership. As an Amazon Associate, ReadingList earns from qualifying purchases and membership trials at no extra cost to you.

Books on this page314Cited to New York1Lexile210L–740LSourceNext Generation 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 York kindergarten

These are the 1 title named in New York’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. The Snowy Day

    Ezra Jack Keats

    Cited in 1 New York curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade K to 2. Covers winter and seasons, city childhood, first-person exploration. Lexile measure 500L.

    Get it on Amazon

1 book cited for New York kindergarten

Assignments tied directly to New York’s Next Generation Learning Standards with a New York-specific citation.

313 additional grade-appropriate books for kindergarten readers

The 314-book total above includes 1 title with direct New York citation; these 313 additional titles cover kindergarten in the broader canon. They don't have a New York-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 313 titles

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Know a parent or teacher who needs this? Share it:FacebookPinterest

Teacher or librarian? Print this list as a checklist — free to photocopy for your class or library (details).

Other New York 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 · Pennsylvania · Illinois · Ohio

Browse kindergarten reading by theme

About the New York kindergarten reading list

This list combines books cited in Next Generation Learning 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 314 titles for kindergarten in New York, of which 1 carries a direct New York citation and 313 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.

New York’s English Language Arts requirements are set by Next Generation Learning Standards (nysed.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The kindergarten list below blends New York-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 New York-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 New York?
Books with a New York-specific citation for kindergarten include The Snowy Day. 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 New York?
This list has 314 books for kindergarten students in New York. 1 of them has a New York-specific citation; the other 313 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards, not New York assignments.
What's the Lexile range for kindergarten reading in New York?
Lexile measures across the kindergarten New York 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 York-specific entries reference Next Generation Learning Standards (published at www.nysed.gov). 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

▸Embed this list on your site

Copy + paste this snippet into any school newsletter, classroom blog, library site, or homeschool resource page. The embed shows the top 12 titles and links back to the full list. Updates automatically when ReadingList’s data changes.

<iframe src="https://readinglist.school/embed/grade/k" width="100%" height="540" style="border:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.1);border-radius:6px;max-width:640px" loading="lazy" title="Kindergarten reading list — ReadingList.school"></iframe>

Preview: /embed/grade/k · License: CC BY 4.0 (please credit “ReadingList.school”).

Was this page helpful?

Browse by another angle

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

Find ReadingList in your Google results more often: