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Reading List for Kids

Reading can support imagination, language, confidence, and curiosity at every age. This page brings together book ideas for infants, preschoolers, school age children, teens, and families looking for themed reading lists they can enjoy all year long.

Age Based Lists

Browse books by stage, from early readers to teens.

Theme Based Lists

Filter by sports, adventure, history, memoir, and more.

Family Friendly Layout

Use the selector below or scroll the full grouped list.

Find a Good Fit for Your Reader

Some children love funny books, some want adventure, and others connect best with sports, biographies, graphic novels, or stories that reflect identity and culture. Use the buttons below to filter the list or choose View All to see everything grouped by section.

Many books could fit in more than one category, so this page is organized in a way that keeps it easier to browse.

Browse by Category

Click a category to filter the reading list.

Early Readers Picture books, familiar favorites, and preschool stories.
Sports Great for active readers and kids who connect with competition.
History & Civil Rights Helpful for deeper thinking, perspective, and discussion.
Biography & Memoir Real life stories that inspire, inform, and build empathy.

Infants to Preschool

  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
  • Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
  • Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.
  • The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
  • Corduroy by Don Freeman
  • Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
  • Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
  • Peepo! by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
  • Maisy’s Bus by Lucy Cousins
  • The Baby’s Catalogue by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
  • That’s Not My Dinosaur by Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells
  • Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill
  • Is It Bedtime Wiggly Pig? by Mick Inkpen
  • Peek A Boo by Jan Ormerod
  • We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury
  • Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
  • Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
  • The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr
  • Hairy Maclary From Donaldson’s Dairy by Lynley Dodd
  • The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
  • Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
  • Alfie Gets In First by Shirley Hughes
  • Peace at Last by Jill Murphy
  • I Like Me! by Nancy Carlson
  • I Like to Be Little by Charlotte Zolotow
  • The Mixed Up Chameleon by Eric Carle
  • My Five Senses by Aliki
  • Owen by Kevin Henkes
  • When I Get Bigger by Mercer Mayer

Ages 4 to 8

  • Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
  • The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
  • Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
  • Oh, The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss
  • How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
  • The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
  • Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by John Archambault
  • If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff
  • The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
  • Are You My Mother by P.D. Eastman
  • One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
  • Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss
  • The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
  • Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
  • Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
  • Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell
  • Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss
  • The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch
  • The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
  • Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
  • I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child
  • The Jolly Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
  • No Matter What by Debi Gliori
  • Dogger by Shirley Hughes
  • Mog the Forgetful Cat by Judith Kerr
  • Hi! Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold
  • Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park
  • Little Critter series by Mercer Mayer
  • Morris the Moose by Bernard Wiseman
  • Nate the Great series by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
  • The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
  • Mama Do You Love Me? by Barbara Joosse
  • Gregory the Terrible Eater by Mitchell Sharmat
  • Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
  • Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
  • Swimmy by Leo Lionni
  • And I Mean It, Stanley by Crosby Bonsall
  • A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
  • Arthur series by Marc Brown
  • Berenstain Bears series by Jan and Stan Berenstain
  • Franklin series by Paulette Bourgeois
  • Froggy series by Jonathan London
  • Just Me Books by Mercer Mayer

Ages 9 to 12

  • James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
  • The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
  • Spaced Out by Stuart Gibbs
  • Big Game by Stuart Gibbs
  • Spy School by Stuart Gibbs
  • Spy Camp by Stuart Gibbs
  • Evil Spy School by Stuart Gibbs
  • Cinder by Marissa Meyer
  • Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
  • Cress by Marissa Meyer
  • Winter by Marissa Meyer
  • Fairest by Marissa Meyer
  • Stars Above by Marissa Meyer
  • Ghost by Jason Reynolds
  • Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
  • Tangerine by Edward Bloor
  • A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman
  • Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
  • The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
  • The Inquisitor’s Tale by Adam Gidwitz
  • Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
  • Abarat by Clive Barker
  • Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
  • Dormia by Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski
  • Dune by Frank Herbert
  • Ties That Bind, Ties That Break by Lensey Namioka
  • Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
  • Zazoo by Richard Mosher
  • Poached by Stuart Gibbs
  • As Brave As You by Jason Reynolds
  • Jaden Toussaint, The Greatest by Marti Dumas

Teen and Older Readers

  • Reel Life Starring Us by Lisa Greenwald
  • Twelve by Lauren Myracle
  • Thirteen by Lauren Myracle
  • Thirteen Plus One by Lauren Myracle
  • The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
  • Looking for Alaska by John Green
  • Paper Towns by John Green
  • Lord of the Flies by William Golding
  • An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
  • Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green
  • Monster by Walter Dean Myers
  • The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
  • American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
  • The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
  • All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
  • Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
  • Tears of a Tiger by Sharon Draper
  • Forged by Fire by Sharon Draper
  • Diary of Tears by Julius Lester
  • Drown by Junot Díaz
  • How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon
  • Blue Boy by Rakesh Satyal
  • Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri
  • Dopesick by Walter Dean Myers
  • Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers
  • All the Right Stuff by Walter Dean Myers
  • Darius & Twig by Walter Dean Myers

Sports and Competition

  • Crossover by Kwame Alexander
  • Hoops by Walter Dean Myers
  • Game by Walter Dean Myers
  • Ball Don’t Lie by Matt de la Peña
  • Barber Game Time Books by Tiki and Ronde Barber
  • STAT: Standing Tall and Talented series by Amar’e Stoudemire
  • Salt in His Shoes by Deloris Jordan and Roslyn Jordan
  • I Never Had It Made: An Autobiography of Jackie Robinson
  • Superman vs. Muhammad Ali by Neal Adams and Dennis O’Neil
  • Pull by Kevin Waltman
  • Ghost by Jason Reynolds
  • When the Beat Was Born by Laban Carrick Hill

Adventure and Survival

  • The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
  • X by Ilyasah Shabazz
  • Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai
  • Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri
  • Boys Without Names by Kashmira Sheth
  • Chess Rumble by G. Neri
  • Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
  • Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
  • Kid Caramel series by Dwayne Ferguson
  • Miami Jackson series by Patricia McKissack
  • Julian series by Ann Cameron
  • Jaden Toussaint, The Greatest by Marti Dumas
  • Anansi Stories
  • March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
  • Spiderman: Miles Morales

History, Civil Rights, and Social Justice

  • March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
  • Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story
  • A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
  • Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
  • 12 Years a Slave
  • Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom by Lynda Blackmon Lowery and Elspeth Leacock
  • A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson
  • Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe
  • The Battle of Jericho by Sharon Draper
  • We Beat the Street by Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt
  • Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
  • The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois
  • Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington
  • The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson
  • The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
  • Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? by Martin Luther King Jr.
  • Roots by Alex Haley
  • The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
  • The Condemnation of Blackness by Khalil G. Muhammad
  • The Half Has Never Been Told by Edward E. Baptist
  • Ebony & Ivory by Craig Steven Wilder
  • Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
  • A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
  • The Black Book by Middleton Harris
  • The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams
  • Black Christian Nationalism by Albert Cleage Jr.

Biography, Memoir, and Real Life Stories

  • Black Boy by Richard Wright
  • The Color of Water by James McBride
  • The Autobiography of Malcolm X
  • Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama
  • Bad Boy by Walter Dean Myers
  • Buck by M.K. Asante
  • Makes Me Wanna Holler by Nathan McCall
  • The Pact by Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt
  • The Bond by Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt
  • The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • Life Doesn’t Frighten Me by Maya Angelou and Jean-Michel Basquiat
  • Spin a Soft Black Song by Nikki Giovanni
  • The Best of Simple by Langston Hughes
  • Born to Rebel by Benjamin Mays
  • Adam by Adam: The Autobiography of Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
  • The King of Cats by Will Haygood
  • Here I Stand by Paul Robeson
  • The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson
  • Real American by Julie Lythcott-Haims
  • The Black Male Handbook by Kevin Powell
  • Black American Money by Boyce Watkins
  • Ideas and Opinions by Albert Einstein
  • Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
  • The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi

Featured Books by Black Authors and Important Voices

  • Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
  • When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds
  • Miracle’s Boys by Jacqueline Woodson
  • After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson
  • The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
  • Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
  • The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds
  • The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis
  • Yolanda’s Genius by Carol Fenner
  • The First Part Last by Angela Johnson
  • 145th Street by Walter Dean Myers
  • You Don’t Even Know Me by Sharon Flake
  • Tyrell by Coe Booth
  • Bronxwood by Coe Booth
  • One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
  • Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • Be Boy Buzz by bell hooks
  • As Brave As You by Jason Reynolds
  • The Outsider by Richard Wright
  • The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes
  • Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude Brown
  • Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver
  • Simple’s Uncle Sam by Langston Hughes
  • The Spook Who Sat by the Door by Sam Greenlee
  • Race Matters by Cornel West
  • How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
  • PowerNomics by Claud Anderson
  • Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys by Jawanza Kunjufu
  • The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual by Harold Cruse
  • The African Origins of Civilization by Cheikh Anta Diop
  • Civilization or Barbarism by Cheikh Anta Diop
  • Stolen Legacy by George G.M. James
  • The Isis Papers by Frances Cress Welsing
  • From Slavery to Freedom by John Hope Franklin
  • A Chosen Exile by Allyson Hobbs
  • Light, Bright and Damn Near White by Adam Clayton Powell IV

Classics and Foundational Reading

  • The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
  • Curious George by H.A. Rey
  • The Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone
  • Color Zoo by Lois Ehlert
  • Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
  • More More More Said the Baby by Vera B. Williams
  • James Marshall’s Mother Goose
  • My Very First Mother Goose by Iona Opie and Rosemary Wells
  • Tomie dePaola’s Mother Goose
  • Chicken Little by Steven Kellogg
  • The Hare and the Tortoise by Brian Wildsmith
  • Henny Penny by Werner Zimmermann
  • The Little Red Hen by Margot Zemach
  • How Much Is a Million? by David Schwartz
  • One Potato: A Counting Book of Potato Prints by Diana Pomeroy
  • Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
  • The Republic by Plato
  • The Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
  • The Art of War by Sun Tzu
  • The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
  • Selected Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • The Kingdom of God Is Within You by Leo Tolstoy
  • Unto This Last by John Ruskin
  • The Words of Gandhi selected by Richard Attenborough
  • Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
  • The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
  • David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell
  • In Search of Identity by Anwar el-Sadat
  • Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill
  • The Teachings of Ptahhotep

A Note for Families

You do not need to follow one exact reading level or finish every book. The best reading list is the one that helps your child stay interested, curious, and willing to keep reading.

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