As long as I’ve been a teacher, I’ve had parents ask me for book suggestions. I struggle the most with suggesting books for advanced readers. So many popular book series are set in middle school and contain content that I consider inappropriate for my elementary students. My third graders don’t need to be reading about girlfriends/boyfriends, over the top violence, any reference to alcohol or illegal substances, or foul language.
In order to be able to suggest books to parents that are academically challenging yet age-appropriate, I’ve compiled this list with the help of Scholastic Book Wizard, Common Sense Media, GoodReads, and some teacher friends on Instagram. I hope it helps you out!
Level P:
- Wayside School series
- Rescue Princesses series
- Puppy Patrol series
Level Q:
- American Girl Doll series
- Who Is…? / What Is…? series
- Little House series
Level R:
- I Survived… series
- E.B. White books (Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little…)
- You Wouldn’t Want To… series
Level S:
- Goosebumps series
- many Matt Christopher books
- Roald Dahl books (Matilda, James and the Giant Peach…)
- Lemonade War series
Level T:
- Animorphs series
- Chronicles of Narnia series
- Ranger in Time
Level U:
- The 39 Clues series
- Secrets of Bearhaven series
- Warriors series*
Level V:
- Harry Potter series
- Series of Unfortunate Events series
- NERDS series*
- Story Thieves series*
- Spirit Animals series*
Level W:
- Percy Jackson series
- Wings of Fire series* (I’m a bit torn on this one. Common Sense Media states the first book is very violent and gory, but I have students who LOVEEE the series.)
*Books marked with asterisks were suggested by other 3rd grade teachers and then researched, but I haven’t actually read them myself!
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Are you looking for some appropriate yet super-engaging read alouds for your third grade class? Look no further! I’ve got you covered right here.
