Texas 3rd grade reading list

Books with a Texas citation for 3rd grade include Shiloh, Because of Winn-Dixie and Superfudge. This list has 590 total books, 61 of them with a Texas-specific citation. Each book shows its reading level and a cited source. Lexile levels on the list run from 380L to 1000L.

Top Texas 3rd grade pick: Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor — on 1 Texas 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.

Total books590Lexile380L–1000LSourceTEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills)✓ 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 Texas 3rd grade

These are the 30 titles named in Texas’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. Shiloh

    Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document and 2 national references, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers animal welfare, morality and family. At 890L it runs above the 420–820L band — a stretch text.

    Get it on Amazon

  2. Because of Winn-Dixie

    Kate DiCamillo

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers loss, friendship and mother absence. At 610L it falls inside the 420–820L band for this grade.

    Get it on Amazon

  3. Superfudge

    Judy Blume

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document and 1 national reference, taught from grade 3 to 6.

    Get it on Amazon

  4. A Dog Called Kitty

    Wallace, Bill

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 5. Covers dogs.

    Get it on Amazon

  5. A Game of Noctis

    Deva Fagan

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers adventure, ambition and fantasy.

    Get it on Amazon

  6. A Plate of Hope: The Inspiring Story of Chef José Andrés and World Central Kitchen

    Erin Frankel

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers compassion, biography and service.

    Get it on Amazon

  7. Aliens for Breakfast

    Jonathan Etra

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers science fiction, life on other planets and extraterrestrial beings.

    Get it on Amazon

  8. Christina's Ghost

    Betty Ren Wright

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers children: grades 4-6, mystery and detective stories, ghosts, fiction.

    Get it on Amazon

  9. Cook-A-Doodle-Doo!

    Janet Stevens

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers roosters, baking and cake.

    Get it on Amazon

  10. Dogtown

    Katherine Applegate & Gennifer Choldenko

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers friendship, perseverance and humor.

    Get it on Amazon

  11. Doña Quixote: Rise of the Knight

    Rey Terciero

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers identity, courage and family.

    Get it on Amazon

  12. El Chupacabras

    Adam Rubin

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers chupacabras, farm life and goats.

    Get it on Amazon

  13. Ernö Rubik and His Magic Cube

    Kerry Aradhya

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers curiosity, invention and biography.

    Get it on Amazon

  14. Ghost Fever/Mal de Fantasma

    Joe Hayes

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

    Get it on Amazon

  15. Haiku, Ew! Celebrating the Disgusting Side of Nature

    Lynn Brunelle

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers nature, poetry and science.

    Get it on Amazon

  16. Hannah Sharpe, Cartoon Detective

    Janet Tashjian

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers mystery, humor and school.

    Get it on Amazon

  17. Help Me, Mr. Mutt!

    Susan Stevens Crummel

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers advice columns.

    Get it on Amazon

  18. If I Built a School

    Chris Van Dusen

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

    Get it on Amazon

  19. Invisible Isabel

    Sally J. Pla

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers empathy, identity and family.

    Get it on Amazon

  20. It Came from the Trees

    Ally Russell

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers friendship, courage and fear.

    Get it on Amazon

  21. Legendarios: Wrath of the Rain God

    Karla Arenas Valenti

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers mythology, family and adventure.

    Get it on Amazon

  22. Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All

    Chanel Miller

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers friendship, family and mystery.

    Get it on Amazon

  23. Math Curse

    Jon Scieszka

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 8. Covers mathematics, schools and math anxiety.

    Get it on Amazon

  24. Memoirs of a Tortoise

    Devin Scillian

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

    Get it on Amazon

  25. Nimbus

    Jan Eldredge

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers loyalty, courage and animals.

    Get it on Amazon

  26. Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade

    Barthe DeClements

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

    Get it on Amazon

  27. One Potato, Two Potato

    Cynthia DeFelice

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

    Get it on Amazon

  28. Pedro's Yo-Yos: How a Filipino Immigrant Came to America and Changed the World of Toys

    Rob Peñas

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers immigration, invention and biography.

    Get it on Amazon

  29. Postcards from Camp

    Simms Taback

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 3 to 6. Covers letters, toy and movable books, postcards.

    Get it on Amazon

  30. Ramona and Her Father

    Beverly Cleary

    Cited in 1 Texas curriculum document, taught from grade 4 to 6. Covers fathers, growing up and elementary school.

    Get it on Amazon

61 books cited for Texas 3rd grade

Assignments tied directly to Texas’s TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) with a Texas-specific citation.

Show all 61 titles

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

529 additional grade-appropriate books for 3rd grade readers

The 590-book total above includes 61 titles with direct Texas citation; these 529 additional titles cover 3rd grade in the broader canon. They don't have a Texas-specific citation yet but are commonly taught at this level.

Show all 529 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 Texas 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 · Florida · New York · Pennsylvania · Illinois · Ohio

Browse 3rd grade reading by theme

About the Texas 3rd grade reading list

This list combines books cited in TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) 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 590 titles for 3rd grade in Texas, of which 61 carry a direct Texas citation and 529 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 53 titles here with a Lexile score 37 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.

Texas’s English Language Arts requirements are set by TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) (tea.texas.gov). Most states pair their own standards with the Common Core text-complexity framework. The 3rd grade list below blends Texas-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 Texas-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 Texas?
Books with a Texas-specific citation for 3rd grade include Shiloh, Because of Winn-Dixie, Superfudge, A Dog Called Kitty and A Game of Noctis. 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 Texas?
This list has 590 books for 3rd grade students in Texas. 61 of them have a Texas-specific citation; the other 529 are grade-appropriate titles from national reading lists and awards.
What's the Lexile range for 3rd grade reading in Texas?
Lexile measures across the 3rd grade Texas 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?
Texas-specific entries reference TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) (published at tea.texas.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.

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/3" width="100%" height="540" style="border:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.1);border-radius:6px;max-width:640px" loading="lazy" title="3rd grade reading list — ReadingList.school"></iframe>

Preview: /embed/grade/3 · License: CC BY 4.0 (please credit “ReadingList.school”).

Was this page helpful?

Browse by another angle

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

Find ReadingList in your Google results more often: