If you are looking for lists of Accelerated Reader titles by grade, click here.
For general reading recommendations, see below.
For general reading recommendations, see below.
Books are recommended based on a combination of any of the following factors: timelessness, high-level interest, educational value, literary award status, creativity, and/or story quality. Reading levels are approximate. Selections for each category are listed in alphabetical order by title. Lists are compiled with a diverse array of readers in mind but are not intended to be comprehensive; not all titles will appeal to or be appropriate for every young person. Our ultimate philosophy of recommendation mirrors that of Maya Angelou: "Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him."
Picture Story Books (children preK and K)
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day--Judith Viorst Arthur series--Marc Brown The Complete Tales--Beatrix Potter Blueberries for Sal--Robert McCloskey The Book of Mistakes--Corinna Luyken The Boy and the Airplane--Mark Pett The Boy Who Cried Wolf--classic folklore Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?--Bill Martin The Carrot Seed--Ruth Krauss Circle, Square, Moose--Kelly L. Bingham Clifford the Big Red Dog series--Norman Bridwell Corduroy--Don Freeman Curious George series--HA and Margret Rey The Day the Crayons Quit--Drew Daywalt Don't Push the Button!--Bill Cotton The Dot--Peter Reynolds Du Iz Tak?--Carson Ellis The Farmer's Away! Baa! Neigh!--Anne Kennedy Float--Daniel Miyares Giraffes Can't Dance--Giles Andreae Goodnight Moon--Margaret Wise Brown Harold and the Purple Crayon--Crockett Johnson Harry the Dirty Dog--Gene Zion Henny Penny--classic folklore How Loud Is a Lion--Clare Beaton If You Give a Mouse a Cookie--Laura Numeroff It Looked Like Spilt Milk--Charles G. Shaw Joseph Had a Little Overcoat--Simms Taback The Little Engine That Could--Watty Piper The Little House--Virginia Lee Burton The Little Red Hen--classic folklore Little Wolf's First Howling--Laura McGee Kvasnosky Looking for a Moose--Phyllis Root Lost. Found.--Marsha Diane Arnold Madeline--Ludwig Bemelmans Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel--Virginia Lee Burton Miss Nelson Is Back--Harry Allard Miss Nelson Is Missing--Harry Allard Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!--Candace Fleming My Friend Rabbit--Eric Rohmann Near, Far--Silvia Borando The Night before Christmas--Clement Clarke Moore No, David!--David Shannon Now You See Me, Now You Don't--Silvia Borando Oops, Pounce, Quick, Run--Mike Twohy The Other Side of the Story series--Trisha Speed Shaskan and Nancy Loewen Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?--Bill Martin The Polar Express--Chris Van Allsburg Press Here--Herve Tullet Say Zoop!--Herve Tullet Shh! We Have a Plan--Chris Haughton Steamboat School--Deborah Hopkinson Stone Soup--classic folklore Strega Nona--Tomie dePaola Sylvester and the Magic Pebble--William Steig The Storyteller--Evan Turk That Neighbor Kid--Daniel Miyares There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly--classic folklore There's a Bear on My Chair--Ross Collins They All Saw a Cat--Brendan Wenzel This Bridge Will Not Be Gray--Dave Eggers This Is Not My Hat--Jon Klassen The True Story of the Three Little Pigs--Jon Scieszka The Very Hungry Caterpillar--Eric Carle We're Going on a Bear Hunt--Michael Rosen What Do You Do with an Idea?--Kobi Yamada What Do You Do with a Problem?--Kobi Yamada What to Do if an Elephant Stands on Your Foot--Michelle Robinson Where the Wild Things Are--Maurice Sendak You Are (Not) Small--Anna Kang Z Is for Moose--Kelly L. Bingham Early Nonfiction Books (grades 1-4) Ada Lovelace, Poet of Science: The First Computer Programmer--Diane Stanley Aesop's Fables--classic folklore Balderdash! John Newbery and the Boisterous Birth of Children's Books--Michelle Markel Dangerous Jane--Suzanne Slade Dazzle Ships: World War I and the Art of Confusion--Chris Barton The Good Fight: The Feuds of the Founding Fathers (and How They Shaped the Nation)--Anne Quirk Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls--Elena Favilli Heroes for My Daughter--Brad Meltzer Heroes for My Son--Brad Meltzer The House That Jane Built: A Story about Jane Addams--Tanya Lee Stone Locomotive--Brian Floca Long-armed Lucy and the First Women's Olympics: Jean LS Patrick The Man Who Loved Libraries: The Story of Andrew Carnegie--Andrew Larsen The Man Who Walked between the Towers--Mordicai Gerstein Miss Mary Reporting: The True Story of Sportswriter Mary Garber--Sue Macy Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California's Farallon Islands--Katherine Roy Noah Webster's Fighting Words--Tracy Nelson Maurer The Random House Book of Poetry for Children--Jack Prelutsky Separate Is Never Equal--Duncan Tonatiuh Seven and a Half Tons of Steel--Janet Nolan She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World--Chelsea Clinton Step Right Up: How Doc and Jim Key Taught the World about Kindness--Donna Janell Bowman The Story of Ruby Bridges--Robert Coles Who Was biographries--multiple authors Mid-range Nonfiction Books (grades 4-7) Albert Einstein and Relativity for Kids: His Life and Ideas, with 21 Activities and Thought Experiments--Jerome Pohlen The American Revolution for Kids: A History with 21 Activities--Janis Herbert The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind--William Kamkwamba Brown Girl Dreaming--Jacqueline Woodson Castle--David Macauley The Civil War for Kids: A History with 21 Activities--Janis Herbert Courage Has No Color, the True Story of the Triple Nickles: America's First Black Paratroopers--Tanya Lee Stone The Dangerous Book for Boys--Conn Iggulden Falling Up--Shel Silverstein Geology Is a Piece of Cake--Katie Coppens The Great Depression for Kids: Hardship and Hope in 1930s America, with 21 Activities--Cheryl Mullenbach Guts: The True Stories behind Hatchet and the Brian Books--Gary Paulsen Henry's Freedom Box--Ellen Levine How-to Guides for Fiendish Rulers series--multiple authors The Industrial Revolution for Kids: The People and Technology That Changed the World, with 21 Activities--Cheryl Mullenbach I'm Just No Good at Rhyming--Chris Harris Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker--Patricia Hruby Powell Marie Curie for Kids: Her Life and Scientific Discoveries, with 21 Activities and Experiments--Amy M. O'Quinn Michelangelo for Kids: His Life and Ideas, with 21 Activities--Simonetta Carr Perspectives on History series--multiple authors The Plot to Kill Hitler--Patricia McCormick Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor's Story--Caren Stelson Survivors: Extraordinary Tales from the Wild and Beyond--David Long Ten Days a Madwoman: The Daring Life and Turbulent Times of the Original "Girl" Reporter, Nellie Bly--Deborah Noyes Thomas Edison: His Life and Ideas, with 21 Activities--Laurie Carlson What We Get from Celtic Mythology--Katie Marsico What We Get from Chinese Mythology--Katie Marsico What We Get from Egyptian Mythology--Lisa Owings What We Get from Greek Mythology--Katherine Kreig What We Get from Norse Mythology--Katherine Kreig What We Get from Roman Mythology--Margaret Mincks Where the Sidewalk Ends--Shel Silverstein Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World--Rachel Ignotofsky World War I for Kids: A History with 21 Activities--R. Kent Rasmussen World War II for Kids: A History with 21 Activities--Richard Panchyk You Choose (Interactive Espionage Adventures) series--multiple authors You Choose (Interactive History Adventures) series--multiple authors You Wouldn't Want To series--multiple authors Young Adult Nonfiction Books (grades 7+) The Boys Who Challenged Hitler--Philip Hoose The Diary of a Young Girl--Anne Frank Dive! World War II Stories of Sailors and Submarines in the Pacific--Deborah Hopkinson The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia--Candace Fleming The 57 Bus: The True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives--Dashka Slater I Am Malala--Malala Yousafzai Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War--Steve Sheinkin Mythology--Edith Hamilton No Better Friend: One Man, One Dog, and Their Incredible True Story of Friendship and Survival in World War II--Robert Weintraub Radioactive! How Irene Curie and Lise Meitner Revolutionized Science and Changed the World--Winifred Conkling The Red Bandanna--Tom Rinaldi Secrets of a Civil War Submarine--Sally M. Walker Sinking the Sultana--Sally M. Walker A Storm Too Soon: A Remarkable True Survival Story in 80 Foot Seas--Michael J. Tougias We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler--Russell Friedman Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland--Sally M. Walker |
Beginning Readers (children grades K-2)
Amelia Bedelia series--Peggy and Herman Parish Are You My Mother?--PD Eastman Berenstain Bears series--Jan, Stan, and Mike Berenstain Cat in the Hat--Dr. Seuss Danny and the Dinosaur--Syd Hoff Dr. Seuss's ABC--Dr. Seuss Elephant and Piggie series--Mo Willems Nancy Clancy series--Jane O'Connor Fox in Socks--Dr. Seuss Frog and Toad series--Arnold Lobel Green Eggs and Ham--Dr. Seuss Henry and Mudge series--Cynthia Rylant Hop on Pop--Dr. Seuss Little Bear series--Else Holmelund Minarik Mr. Putter and Tabby series--Cynthia Rylant Mouse Soup--Arnold Lobel Mouse Tales--Arnold Lobel Nate the Great series--Marjorie Sharmat Oh Say Can You Say?--Dr. Seuss Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!--Dr. Seuss One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish--Dr. Seuss Owl at Home--Arnold Lobel Pete the Cat series--James and Kim Dean Pinkalicious series--Victoria Kann Sammy the Seal--Syd Hoff Splat the Cat series--Rob Scotton Ten Apples up on Top--Dr. Seuss There's a Wocket in My Pocket--Dr. Seuss Early Chapter Books (grades 2-3) A-Z Mysteries series--Ron Roy Bad Kitty series--Nick Bruel Big Nate series--Lincoln Peirce The Borrowers--Mary Norton The Boxcar Children series--Gertrude Werner Calendar Mysteries series--Ron Roy Cam Jansen series--David A. Adler Charlotte's Web--EB White Encyclopedia Brown series--Donald Sobol Fancy Nancy series--Jane O'Connor Geronimo Stilton series--Geronimo and Thea Stilton Hank the Cowdog series--Jon Ericson Heidi--Johanna Spyri Horrible Harry series--Suzy Kline Little House on the Prairie series--Laura Ingalls Wilder Magic Tree House series--Mary Pope Osborn Mr. Popper's Penguins--Richard Atwater The Mouse and the Motorcycle--Beverly Cleary Pippi Longstocking--Astrid Lindgren Ralph S. Mouse--Beverly Cleary Ramona series--Beverly Cleary Stuart Little--EB White Mid-range Chapter Books (grades 3-7) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn--Mark Twain The Adventures of Tom Sawyer--Mark Twain Alice's Adventures in Wonderland--Lewis Carroll American Girl series--multiple authors Anne of Green Gables series--LM Montgomery Because of Winn-Dixie--Kate DiCamillo The BFG--Roald Dahl Black Beauty--Anna Sewell The Black Stallion--Walter Farley Bridge to Terabithia--Katherine Paterson Bud, Not Buddy--Christopher Paul Curtis Call of the Wild--Jack London Children of Christmas--Cynthia Rylant Chronicles of Narnia series--CS Lewis The Cricket in Times Square--George Selden Dear America series--multiple authors Diary of a Wimpy Kid series--Jeff Kinney Dicey's Song (Tillerman series)--Cynthia Voigt Echo--Pam Munoz Ryan Freedom over Me--Ashley Brian From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler--EL Konigsburg The Girl Who Drank the Moon--Kelly Barnhill Great Expectations--Charles Dickens Grimm's Fairy Tales--Brothers Grimm Gulliver's Travels--Jonathan Swift Hardy Boys mysteries--Franklin W. Dixon Harriet the Spy--Louise Fitzhugh Hatchet series--Gary Paulsen Holes--Louis Sachar How to Train Your Dragon series--Cressida Cowell I Funny series--James Patterson I Survived series--Lauren Tarshis The Incredible Journey--Sheila Burnford The Indian in the Cupboard--Lynn Reid Banks The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog--Adam Gidwitz Journey to the Center of the Earth--Jules Verne Land of Stories series--Chris Colfer A Little Princess--Frances Hodgson Burnett Little Women--Louisa May Alcott A Long Way from Chicago--Richard Peck Maniac Magee--Jerry Spinelli Mary Poppins--PL Travers Matilda--Roald Dahl Maximilian P. Mouse, Time Traveler series--Philip Horender Middle School series--James Patterson Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH--Robert C. O'Brien Nancy Drew mysteries--Carolyn Keene Number the Stars--Lois Lowry Old Yeller--Fred Gipson On My Honor--Marion Dane Bauer One Crazy Summer--Rita Wiliams-Garcia Peppermints in the Parlor--Barbara Brooks Wallace Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry--Mildred Taylor Rush Revere series--Rush Limbaugh Sarah, Plain and Tall--Patricia MacLachlan The Secret Garden--Frances Hodgson Burnett A Series of Unfortunate Events series--Lemony Snicket Sounder--William H. Armstrong Swiss Family Robinson--Johann David Wyss The Tale of Despereaux--Kate DiCamillo Theodore Boone series--John Grisham The Time Machine--HG Wells Treasure Island--Robert Louis Stevenson Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea--Jules Verne The War That Saved My Life--Kimberly Brubaker Bradley Warriors series--Erin Hunter The Watsons Go to Birmingham--Christopher Paul Curtis White Fang--Jack London Wolf Hollow--Lauren Wolk The Wonderful Wizard of Oz--Frank L. Baum A Wrinkle in Time--Madeleine L'Engle Where the Red Fern Grows--Wilson Rawls Young Adult Fiction Books (grades 7+) The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes--Conan Doyle Animal Farm--George Orwell The Book Thief--Markus Zusak Chinese Handcuffs--Chris Crutcher The Chocolate War--Robert Cormier Cinder series--Marissa Meyer Crispin: The Cross of Lead--Avi Divergent series--Veronica Roth Ella Enchanted--Gail Carson Levine Emma--Jane Austen Fahrenheit 451--Ray Bradbury The Fault in Our Stars--John Green Frankenstein--Mary Shelley Freak the Mighty--Rodman Philbrick The Giver--Lois Lowry Grapes of Wrath--John Steinbeck Hamlet--William Shakespeare Harry Potter series--JK Rowling The Hobbit--JRR Tolkien The Iliad--Homer Jane Eyre--Charlotte Bronte Johnny Tremain--Esther Forbes Julius Caesar--William Shakespeare The Jungle--Upton Sinclair The Kite Runner--Khaled Hosseini Lord of the Flies--William Golding The Lord of the Rings trilogy--JRR Tolkien Macbeth--William Shakespeare Magnus Chase series--Rick Riordan Maximum Ride series--James Patterson Maze Runner series--James Dashner Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children--Ransom Riggs Night Witches--Kathryn Lasky 1984--George Orwell The Odyssey--Homer The Once and Future King--TH White Out of the Dust--Karen Hesse The Outsiders--SE Hinton Percy Jackson series--Rick Riordan Pride and Prejudice--Jane Austen The Red Badge of Courage--Stephen Crane Romeo and Juliet--William Shakespeare The Scarlet Letter--Nathaniel Hawthorne The Selection series--Kiera Cass Sense and Sensibility--Jane Austen The Scarlet Pimpernel--Baronness Orczy Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes--Chris Crutcher Stotan--Chris Crutcher The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde--Robert Louis Stevenson Summer of My German Soldier--Bette Greene A Tale of Two Cities--Charles Dickens The Three Musketeers--Alexandre Dumas To Kill a Mockingbird--Harper Lee Trials of Apollo series--Rick Riordan The Wave--Todd Strasser Witness--Karen Hesse |