Recommendations: Grades 3-4

Below find some of our favorite book recommendations and lists for third and fourth graders. For the latest content, subscribe to our Raising Readers monthly email.

2025 Elementary Nutmeg Nominees (2nd – 3rd Grade)

The Elementary Nutmeg Book Award encourages children in grades 2-3 to read quality literature and choose their favorite from a list of nominated titles.

2025 Intermediate Nutmeg Nominees (4th – 6th Grade)

The Intermediate Nutmeg Book Award encourages children in grades 4-6 to read quality literature and choose their favorite from a list of nominated titles.

2024 Elementary Nutmeg Nominees (2nd – 3rd Grade)

The Elementary Nutmeg Book Award encourages children in grades 2-3 to read quality literature and choose their favorite from a list of nominated titles.

2024 Intermediate Nutmeg Nominees (4th – 6th Grade)

The Intermediate Nutmeg Book Award encourages children in grades 4-6 to read quality literature and choose their favorite from a list of nominated titles.

2023 Elementary Nutmeg Nominees (2nd – 3rd Grade)

The Elementary Nutmeg Book Award encourages children in grades 2-3 to read quality literature and choose their favorite from a list of nominated titles.

2023 Intermediate Nutmeg Nominees (4th – 6th Grade)

The Intermediate Nutmeg Book Award encourages children in grades 4-6 to read quality literature and choose their favorite from a list of nominated titles.

2022 Elementary Nutmeg Nominees (2nd – 3rd Grade)

The Elementary Nutmeg Book Award encourages children in grades 2-3 to read quality literature and choose their favorite from a list of nominated titles.

2022 Intermediate Nutmeg Nominees (4th – 6th Grade)

The Intermediate Nutmeg Book Award encourages children in grades 4-6 to read quality literature and choose their favorite from a list of nominated titles.

Animal Stories (3rd-5th Grade)

Have a child in your family who pats every dog, dreams of having a horse, or is ready to adopt a stray critter? Bring home one of these books for appealing stories about dogs and cats, horses and cows, foxes and squirrels, and a gorilla and lion (or two).

Appealing Picture Book Biographies (2nd – 6th Grade)

Sharing amazing, award-winning and highly reviewed picture book biographies is a wonderful way to spark curiosity with the children (and grown-ups) in your family through gorgeous illustrations and inspirational true stories.

Awesome Books Featuring Autism (K – 6th Grade)

There are many wonderful books about people with autism. Sharing stories about people with different perspectives, abilities, and talents is a critical step in raising readers who are aware, informed, and accepting.

Beach Reads (3rd – 6th Grade)

These beach-based stories are perfect road-trip or at home reads that help transport your child’s imagination to seaside destinations such as Nova Scotia, Massachusetts, Maine, and the Carolinas.

Celebrating Culture and Food (K – 3rd Grade)

These picture books are a delicious combination of special foods and cultural traditions–and are perfect for sharing with your family.

Chapter Books for Graphic Novel Fans (2nd – 5th Grade)

The engaging chapter books on this list are NOT graphic novels, but feature the comic-book style humor, illustrations, and adventure your child enjoys so they can try a more text-based format that is still lots of fun to read.

Fourth Grade Favorites (4th Grade)

Check out these favorite fourth grade titles.

Great Graphic Novels (K – 6th Grade)

This list spans a wide range of reading levels with high-quality choices from this popular genre.

Gross and Ghoulish Nonfiction (3rd – 5th Grade)

Try some of these spooky (or kinda icky) nonfiction titles to learn more about places, animals, and history that make us gasp, groan, and gulp.

Guided Reading Level L

Simsbury Public Schools use the Guided Reading Levels by Fountas & Pinnell to track students’ proficiency, with different reading levels assigned to letters of the alphabet. While we do not level our collection like a school library, we hope these levelled lists make it a little easier to find the books your children need for their reading/language arts homework.

Guided Reading Level M

Guided Reading Level O

Holiday Picture Books (K – 3rd Grade)

Check out these recently published picture books that are full of seasonal spirit.

If You Liked…the Baby-sitters Club Graphic Novels (3rd — 6th Grade)

If you liked…Captain Underpants (2nd – 6th Grade)

Captain Underpants is awesomely gross and embarrassingly funny, but there are only so many titles in the series. Our list focuses on series (so if your child likes one, they can read MORE), and they offer either the humor, “eeew” factor, or general goofiness that makes reading fun for a lot of Captain Underpants fans.

If You Liked…Diary of a Wimpy Kid (4th Grade and Up)

All the books on this list are part of a series, are silly and entertaining, include illustrations, and offer goofy plot lines.

If You Liked…Harry Potter (3rd — 6th Grade)

If You Liked…I Survived (3rd — 6th Grade)

Here are some page-turning survival stories, natural disasters, and gripping historical accounts for fans of Lauren Tarshis’ popular “I Survived” books.

Kids in the Kitchen (Preschool and Up)

Borrow a kid-friendly cookbook to lure children into your kitchen.

On the Road or Across the Sea (3rd – 6th Grade)

These 12 books let elementary grade readers escape to destinations around the globe, enjoy a summer in the South, or have an entertaining highway adventure with plenty of twists and turns.

STEM Stories: Picture Books to Chapter Books (K – 5th Grade)

Kids will enjoy plots that feature robots, animal care, computers, and engineering as well as characters who (like them) relate to a STEM-centered filter on their busy world.

Stories of Boys for Grades 4-6 (4th – 6th Grade)

The ONLY thing these books and graphic novels have in common (besides their high quality) is that a boy is a main character. This is NOT a list of “Books for Boys” it’s a list that features boy characters who are funny, adventurous, kind, smart, and thoughtful.

Stories of Girls for Grades 3-6 (3rd – 6th Grade)

Adventure. Friendship. Fantasy. Humor. Mystery. The ONLY thing these books and graphic novels have in common (besides their high quality) is that a girl is a main character.

Summer Camp Tales (2nd – 6th Grade)

Camp is a staple of the summer season, whether it’s just for the day, or sleep-away. This list is full of fireflies, best friends, embarrassments, canoes, and special memories.

Third Grade Picks (3rd Grade)

This list features our top picks for third graders.

“WHERE is…?” (3rd – 5th Grade)

It’s tough to keep the popular “Who is…” and “Who was…” series on our shelves because curious kids LOVE them. But if you’ve only enjoyed this series on the Biography shelves, your kids might enjoy exploring some of these “Where is…” titles.

“WHAT is/was…?” (3rd – 5th Grade)

Winter Worlds of Adventure and Fantasy (3rd – 6th Grade)

Celebrate the escapism and excitement of winter adventures, disasters, and frozen fantasy lands with this list of cold-weather classics, arctic adventure stories, and magical snow stories.