Read Aloud Books for Third Grade

This series has been so fun to read aloud - some of our most favorite read aloud books! This one tells the "true" story of Rumplestiltskin and it's nothing like any version you've ever heard before. These books are really genius!

This is a fantastic book (and a really great classroom read aloud too!). Nick Allen isn't exactly a troublemaker, but he does like to make things exciting. When he starts thinking about how words are created, he has a great idea. Why are pens called pens? Why not call them something like, say, frindle? And then he sets out on a mission to get everyone to use his new word. The results are hilarious!

This is a fun and funny book of adventure! Persimmony Smudge lives an ordinary and dull life until one night she hears a secret that changes everything. Now she has to convince everyone else that the island they all live on is not safe because what they all think is a mountain, might actually be a sleeping giant! It's such a fun story.

I haven't been in the third grade since 1990, but I still vividly remember my teacher, Mrs. Keane, reading this aloud to us each day. When we finished, everyone brought in their favorite candybar and we watched the Gene Wilder movie version. It's one of my favorite memories from third grade, which is what a great reading aloud experience can do!

This is another good book series to hook your third graders. Anna, an American born Chinese girl, is trying to figure out friendship, but it's complicated. So she turns to books to help her - fantastic books like Betsy Tacy and The Hundred Dresses. This is such a sweet story! I highly recommend it.

This book is narrated by Ivan, a gorilla living in a glass walled cage at the Big Top Mall and video arcade. This is a warm-hearted, poignant story on par with Charlotte's Web. It's a book of friendship and empathy. Kids will fall in love with Ivan.

This is a classic that will never go out of style. It's equal parts funny, smart, and meaningful. It makes a fantastic read aloud book for third grade!

This is the first in a series that kids will love! Two orphaned sisters realize they are related to the famous Brothers Grimm and that the book of fairy-tales is actually a true account of real events in the past. Thus begins their career as fairy-tale detectives, tracking down fairy-tale creatures that have made their way into the modern world.

This was my daughter's favorite book in third grade. And if your little listeners like this one, Sarah Weeks has more they'll love too. In Pie, Alice's Aunt Polly, the pie queen of Ipswitch, dies and leaves her famous pie crust recipe to her cat. Now everyone in town is vying for the position of pie queen. But Polly thinks there's more to the story . . . and she's right!

Beverly Cleary writes the very best books. This is such a sweet, funny, realistic book about friendship from the master of children's literature.

This series is one of our family's all time favorite book series. We've read the entire series twice! If you're looking for a clever mystery series to hook your third grader, this is it!

Astrid Lindgren is best known for writing Pippy Longstocking, but this book is, dare I say, even better. Ronia's father runs a robber band out of a castle in the woods. But trouble ensues when Ronia becomes best of friends with the son of the leader of a rival robber clan. This wild and free fun at it's very best, with a fantastically brave and independent girl heroine.

This is a fun epistolary novel. Sophie Brown and her parents have just moved from LA to a seemingly animal-free farm they inherited from her uncle. But when the chickens do begin to appear on the farm, Sophie isn't quite sure what to make of them. They're, well, unusual chickens. This is a fantastic diverse book with a very compelling narrative.

I loved reading this series with my kids. There's also a wonderful Netflix series, but read the books first!

This is another classic that my third grade teacher read aloud and I still remember how I had to put my head down on my desk because I was crying so hard by the end of the book. I read this aloud with my kids a few years ago and we all cried then too. This is definitely a book that will leave an impression. (Note: there are a lot of references to God and prayer in this book, so if you're teacher, you may want to preview this one first and make sure it's right for your classroom)

I know this needs very little introduction because this classic really is timeless. I will say, however, that if you've only ever seen the movie, then you're in for a treat because the book is special all by itself.

Flora is a comic book loving kid, which is a good thing, because when a squirrel gets sucked up into a vacuum cleaner, her comic book background helps her to believe its ability to become a squirrel with superhero abilities. This is an eccentric, whimsical story and it makes a wonderful read aloud.

This series is narrated by a classroom Hamster named Humphrey and it tends to be a kid favorite. It's a fun look at human life through the eyes of a pet.

This is good, and short, historical fiction set in a small, poor farming town in 1925. Ida Bidson's dream is to someday become a school teacher, but when the one-room school in her town shuts down, it looks like her dream can't come true. But then she has an idea - maybe she can figure out how to keep it open, but it has to be secret.

This is my all time favorite book. I wrote more about it here. It's pretty much a perfect read aloud book. And, there's a whole series if you love this one.

This is a fantastic historical fiction/adventure series set during the Civil War and the Great Depression when 150,00 kids were shipped west to families in hope of a better life. The series follows the six Kelly children. In this first book, the siblings are separated and Frances Kelly is determined to reunite her family. Excellent series!

I loved this book as a kid and I waited anxiously until my oldest daughter was finally ready to listen in third grade, and then it became a tradition to read this with my kids in third grade. It's a wonderful time to introduce kids to the magic of this incredible classic.

Pax was just a fox kit when his family was killed and Peter rescued him. But when Peter's father enlists in the war, he makes him set Pax loose. Peter is obedient, but quickly regrets his decision. He sets out to find his beloved pet fox, while Pax is also on a mission to find him. It's a heartwarming story.