When I was in fifth grade, I remember my teacher reading Charlie and Chocolate Factory to the class. Even though I had probably seen the movie a half a dozen times, I still loved to just sit and listen to her read the words of that delightful story.
When my kids were much younger, reading to them just before their bedtime was routine – just like with so many other families. Once they got beyond second grade, it seemed to stop. I guess it’s because at this stage, they could read to themselves and were required to do so every night.
My son Ryan likes the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and the remake with Johnny Depp is his favorite. That’s where we part ways on that one. Anyway, on a trip to Barnes and Noble, he spotted that very book on the shelves and that was the one for him.
For the first time in a long time, I read to him. Reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory out loud was just as fun for me as it was for him – just a chapter or two each night. It reminded me of the days when it was our routine.
James popped his head in to listen to a page or two, but otherwise, he did his own thing.
The second book we selected was Charlotte’s Web. I just finished it last night. Ryan was all snuggled up in a blanket, a little under the weather, but still enjoyed hearing the end of this classic children’s book.
He does do his own reading (not willingly) and I want to keep reading, but realize, he could use the practice too. So we decided we will take turns reading the next book.
So now it’s time for a new book to read! I did a Google search for books to read aloud to third graders. Thanks to the teachers, home schooling parents and other great Good Reads members, I compiled this list of over fifty recommended children’s books to read aloud to third graders. Don’t think all of these are only limited to third graders, many of these classics are “ageless”.
50 Plus Read Aloud Children’s Books for Third Grade
Abel’s Island by William Steig
Adventures of King Midas by Lynne Reid Banks
The BFG by Roald Dahl
Be a Perfect Person in Just 3 Days! by Stephen Manes
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
The Birchbark House by Louise Erdich
Bunnicula by James and Deborah Howe
Capyboppy by Bill Peet
The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop
The Cay by Theodore Taylor
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Clementine by Pennypacker
Cockroach Cooties by Laurence Yep
Cricket in Time Square by George Seldon
Dexter the Tough by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Dominic by William Steig
Enormous Egg by Oliver Butterworth
Frosty by Clare Newberry
George’s Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl
Goblins in the Castle by Bruce Coville
The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman
Gullivers Travel’s by Jonathan Swift
Holes by Louis Sachar
How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina R. Friedman
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
Indian in the Cupboard Series by Lynne Reid Banks
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrew Edwards
The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson & the Olympians) Series by Rick Riordan
Kildee House (The Newbery Honor Roll) by Rutherford G. Montgomery and Barbara Cooney
Love, Ruby Lavender by Deborah Wiles
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Mary Poppins by Dr. P. L. Travers and Mary Shepard
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
A Mouse Called Wolf by Dick King-Smith
Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Florence and Richard Atwater
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
No Talking by Andrew Clements
Pleasing the Ghost by Sharon Creech
Poppy by Avi
The Ramona Collection by Beverly Cleary
Real Thief by William Steig
Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine by Evaline Ness
Say What? by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Scat by Carl Haissen
The School Mouse by Dick King-Smith
Sing Down the Moon by Scott O’Dell
Skippyjon Jones Series by Judy Schachner
The Snow Spider by Jenny Nimmo
The Story of a Seagull and the Cat Who Taught Her to Fly by Luis Sepulveda
Summer of the Monkeys by Wison Rawls
Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
Three Terrible Trins by Dick King Smith
The Witches by Roald Dahl
Twelfth Night, Or, What You Will by William Shakespeare
When the Sergeant Came Marching Home by Don Lemma
Up and Down the Scratchy Mountain by Laurel Snyder
So what was your favorite children’s chapter book that was read to you or that you read to your kids? I’ll add it to the list!
I still remember our teacher Mrs Cummings read us Swiss Family Robinson in 5th grade.
Right now I am reading My Side of the Mountain to the grandkids at bedtime.
Hi Teresa, I added both of those selections to the list. Thanks for your comment.
Great list of books, thanks for sharing! I would like to read to my son the Indian in the cupboard. my oldest son loved that movie and now my younger one. he would enjoy the book
GREAT list of book. I think the only one on the list that my 3rd grader has read is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I remember reading it around his age, too. He’s more into reading what his friends read, which are the Big Nate Books or 39 Clues. But hey, as long as he reads, I really don’t care much what it is as long as it’s age appropriate.
Shelly, Thanks for that tip. We have never read nor seen the Indian in the Cupboard movie. This is one we will definitely check out!
Robin, my son James got into the Big Nate Books, but I haven’t seen 39 Clues. I will have to check that one out. Thanks!
My oldest loved the Harry Potter books and let me read them out loud to him until 5th grade! He’s the only one (so far) who’s let me read to him that long.
I remember The Cay was one of his favorites too and we read that more than once.
I love that you have Shakespeare, Blume and Cleary on the list. I tried to get all of my kids interested in Cleary’s ‘Ralph and the Motorcycle’ (I LOVED that one when I was a kid) but not a one of them took an interest. To each his own, I suppose. I still love it.
Hi Rosey! Anhh….more great suggestions! I love it. Ralph and the Motorcycle sounds like a fun read. We HAVE to check out The Cay now too. Thanks!
My daughter has read several of those – she loves Clementine and the Roald Dahl books. I am saving the Chronicles of Narnia books for the summer
She recently read all Harry Potter books. When I was a kid, I loved Gulliver’s Travels and Mary Poppins.
Oh and the Mallory books by L. Friedman are good http://www.amazon.com/Laurie-B.-Friedman/e/B001JRV7VO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
What a great list of books to read. I wish I had a teacher that read books to us at school when I was little. It would have been so nice. I’ll have to pass this list onto my daughter for my grandchildren.
You brought back so many happy memories of me reading when I was young! I read a TON of those. Now all I want to do is curl up with a book!
My kids love bedtime stories. Actually, we have 5 of them, so that’s a lot of reading. LOL! So we started a new ritual. Bedtime audiobooks. There’s lots of sites to download them, but we use one site in particular because the stories are all original and free. Here’s the link, if anyone is interested. http://www.twirlygirlshop.com/moral-stories-for-kids
One of my favorite books to read aloud to my third grade class is “Into the Land of the Unicorns” by Bruce Coville. It is NOT a girly unicorn book but rather a great adventure with great descriptive language and many opportunities to predict and infer.
Another favorite is “The Prince of the Pond” by Donna Jo Napoli . Another great book to teach inferring. There is a section that I skip that deals with the frogs mating by “hugging each other really hard”. It is VERY funny and always a favorite of the kids.
These are great suggestions! Some old favorites in there too!
those are some really good choices,I have a grandson who will be in the third grade next year,so will get some of these from the Iibrary,so he can read during the summer