5 Back to school Books for Third Grade

I love reading to my class and I get started on day one! I love the books First Day Jitters and The Juice Box Bully, but by the third grade, all of my students have heard these books several times. So I try to mix in some different books to keep it interesting. The following books are my very favorite read alouds for the first week of school. I have included an Amazon affiliate link for each book so that you can easily find the book if you want to add it to your classroom library.

I absolutely love Peanut Butter & Cupcake! It is an adorable story about friendship. Peanut Butter is trying to find someone to play ball with him, but everyone already has a best friend. I know that lots of our kiddos feel that way! The illustrations in this book are really cute and none of my students had ever read the book before.

Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun is a fabulous story about being different. It is a cute story that makes the kids laugh. More importantly, it hits on the theme that different is good! You can eat your spaghetti in a hot dog bun if that is what makes you happy! Another good book with a similar theme is The Name Jar!

Enemy Pie is another funny book. The story is about two boys who don’t like one another and how they end up resolving their differences. The boys find they have lots in common. I get a real kick out of just how clever Dad is in this book!

The Exceptionally, Extraordinarily Ordinary First Day of School is a book that is so unique and that is why I like to use it the first week of school. It is a story about a new kid who came from a very unusual school. He is hoping that his new school is a little more ordinary! The pictures in the book are amazing watercolors! 

How to Be Cool in the Third Grade is always my first chapter book read aloud. It is about a boy who wants to be cool, but he doesn’t think he has the right name, school supplies or clothes. It also doesn’t help that his mom kisses him at the bus stop! This is a short but cute book that makes us laugh and is a conversation starter about what “cool” really is. I think that a great follow up to this book is the book Third Grade Angels!

I hope you have a happy back to school that is filled with fun books and students who cannot wait to hear you read!

Here are more back to school posts that you might be interested in: