Reading Lists · Elementary (K–5)

Third Grade Reading List

Third grade: fairy tales, Greek myths retold for children, first Narnia books and classic animal stories.

Core

  1. The Bible · Anonymous · grades K–12Reading through Bible history in order gives children the big story of Scripture.
  2. Household Stories (Grimm's Fairy Tales) · Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm · grades 3–5The Grimms' household tales, a staple of the grammar years.
  3. A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys · Nathaniel Hawthorne · grades 3–6Hawthorne's retellings of Greek myths for children, an introduction to the ancient world.
  4. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe · C. S. Lewis · grades 3–5Lewis's beloved story of sacrifice and redemption in Narnia.
  5. Charlotte's Web · E. B. White · grades 3–5A story of friendship, loyalty and the seasons of life.
  6. Farmer Boy · Laura Ingalls Wilder · grades 3–5Hard work and family life on a nineteenth-century New York farm.
  7. Little House on the Prairie · Laura Ingalls Wilder · grades 3–5The Ingalls family's pioneer life on the Kansas prairie.
  8. The Burgess Bird Book for Children · Thornton W. Burgess · grades 3–5Nature study through stories about common birds.
  9. Stuart Little · E. B. White · grades 3–5E. B. White's tale of a small mouse who sets out bravely into the world.
  10. Just So Stories · Rudyard Kipling · grades K–5Kipling's tales reward reading aloud and build vocabulary.

Stretch

For strong readers or extra time.

  • The Princess and the Goblin · George MacDonald · grades 3–5George MacDonald's fairy tale of courage, faith and trust.
  • The Magician's Nephew · C. S. Lewis · grades 3–5The Narnia story of creation and temptation.
  • Christ Legends · Selma Lagerlöf · grades 3–8Lagerlöf's legends of Christ's birth and life, made for reading aloud.
  • The Adventures of Pinocchio · Carlo Collodi · grades 3–5A puppet learns honesty and obedience the hard way.

The sequence follows the general pattern of classical Christian schools: nursery rhymes, fables, fairy tales and Bible stories in the early grades; myths, Greek, Roman and medieval stories in the logic years; and the Great Books and theology in the rhetoric years. These are suggestions, not any publisher's or school's official list. Core titles are the main reading for the year; Stretch titles suit stronger readers or extra time. Each title sits within the grade range given on its library page; check a work's notes for content parents and teachers may want to know about.