Pennsylvania 3rd grade reading list

Books with a Pennsylvania citation for 3rd grade include The One and Only Ivan, Creepy Carrots! and Frindle. This list has 587 total books, 61 of them with a Pennsylvania-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 380L to 1000L.

Top Pennsylvania 3rd grade pick: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate — on 1 Pennsylvania list

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Total books587Lexile380L–1000LSourcePA Core 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 Pennsylvania 3rd grade

These are the 30 titles named in Pennsylvania’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 One and Only Ivan

    Katherine Applegate

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania 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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  2. Creepy Carrots!

    Aaron Reynolds

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

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  3. Frindle

    Andrew Clements

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania 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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  4. Officer Buckle and Gloria

    Peggy Rathmann

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

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  5. So You Want to be President

    Judith George

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

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  6. The Giver

    Lois Lowry

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 6 to 8. Covers conformity vs individuality, memory, utopia and dystopia. At 760L it falls inside the 420–820L band for this grade.

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  7. A Bad Case of Stripes

    David Shannon

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 2 to 8. Covers individuality, popularity and ficción juvenil.

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  8. A Friend for Lakota: The Incredible True Story of a Wolf Who Braved Bullying

    Jim Dutcher

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3.

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  9. Aliens Are Coming!

    Megan McCarthy

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

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  10. Belly Up

    Stuart Gibbs

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5.

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  11. Butt or Face?

    Kari Lavelle

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade K to 2. Covers humor, nature and animals.

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  12. Buz

    Richard Egielski

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers insects, humorous stories and insects, fiction.

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  13. Can I Be Your Dog?

    Troy Cummings

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers letters, dogs and dogs, fiction.

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  14. Chester

    Mélanie Watt

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers cats.

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  15. Dandy

    Ame Dyckman

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3.

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  16. Destiny Finds Her Way: How a Rescued Baby Sloth Learned to Be Wild

    Margarita Engle

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

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  17. Double Fudge

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers humorous stories, families and brothers.

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  18. Dragons Love Tacos

    Adam Rubin

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers humorous stories, food habits and tacos.

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  19. El Deafo

    Cece Bell

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers disability, friendship and self-acceptance. At 420L it falls inside the 420–820L band for this grade.

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  20. Except Antarctica!

    Todd Sturgell

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3.

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  21. Fudge-a-Mania

    Judy Blume

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

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  22. Ghosts

    Raina Telgemeier

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

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  23. Good Dog

    Maya Gottfried

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3.

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  24. Hachiko

    Pamela S. Turner

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers dogs, hachiko (dog) and biography.

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  25. Henry's Freedom Box

    Ellen Levine

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers slavery, fiction, african americans, fiction and underground railroad, fiction.

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  26. Humpty-Dumpty Egg-Splodes

    O'Malley, Kevin

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers nursery rhymes.

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  27. Jake and Lily

    Jerry Spinelli

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers individuality, brothers and sisters, bullies.

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  28. Lewis and Clark and Me

    Laurie Myers

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers seaman (dog), dogs and newfoundland dog.

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  29. Martha Speaks

    Susan Meddaugh

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3. Covers dogs, spanish language materials and ficción juvenil.

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  30. Mr. Fox's Game of "No!"

    David LaRochelle

    Cited in 1 Pennsylvania curriculum document, taught from grade K to 3.

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61 books cited for Pennsylvania 3rd grade

Assignments tied directly to Pennsylvania’s PA Core Standards with a Pennsylvania-specific citation.

Show all 61 titles

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526 additional grade-appropriate books for 3rd grade readers

The 587-book total above includes 61 titles with direct Pennsylvania citation; these 526 additional titles cover 3rd grade in the broader canon. They don't have a Pennsylvania-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

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Other Pennsylvania 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 · Illinois · Ohio

Browse 3rd grade reading by theme

About the Pennsylvania 3rd grade reading list

This list combines books cited in PA Core 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 587 titles for 3rd grade in Pennsylvania, of which 61 carry a direct Pennsylvania citation and 526 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.

Pennsylvania’s English Language Arts requirements are set by PA Core Standards (education.pa.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 3rd grade list below blends Pennsylvania-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 Pennsylvania-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 Pennsylvania?
Books with a Pennsylvania-specific citation for 3rd grade include The One and Only Ivan, Creepy Carrots!, Frindle, Officer Buckle and Gloria and So You Want to be President. 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 Pennsylvania?
This list has 587 books for 3rd grade students in Pennsylvania. 61 of them have a Pennsylvania-specific citation; the other 526 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 3rd grade reading in Pennsylvania?
Lexile measures across the 3rd grade Pennsylvania 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?
Pennsylvania-specific entries reference PA Core Standards (published at www.education.pa.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.education.pa.gov. National references cited on each book’s detail page.

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