The Best 35 Books for Your 5th Grader by Level!

For readers of all skill levels, the Fountas and Pinnell system ranks books from easy to difficult, with A being the easiest and Z the most difficult. Teachers and parents can use the numeric level inside a letter level to better select books for their children depending on their reading levels, interests, and talents.

Your child’s reading skills and comprehension will flourish if you provide them with age-appropriate literature. Books that are too demanding can cause dissatisfaction and a failure to grasp the material, while books that are too simple might be uninteresting and fail to present enough of a challenge. Your child’s reading skills and enjoyment of reading will both benefit from your providing books at their reading level. In addition, when kids read books that are appropriate for them, they’re more likely to acquire a love of reading, which is great for their academic and personal growth.

To help you find the perfect book for your child, we’ve broken them down by Fountas & Pinnell reading level below. Determine your child’s reading level and then provide them with these fantastic books!

T Level Books: 1st Quarter

Here are a few popular T level books that are well-reviewed and enjoyed by many readers:

“The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins: Katniss Everdeen faces off against other survivors in a post-apocalyptic world in this dystopian tale.

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling: This timeless work of fantasy follows a young boy as he learns about his magical abilities and enrolls in a school for wizards.

“The Giver” by Lois Lowry: Despite living in a utopia, a little boy in this Newbery Medal–winning novel begins to wonder if he’s really getting what he wants.

“The Maze Runner” by James Dashner: In order to make it out alive, the protagonists of this young adult novel must first find their way through a perilous maze.

“The Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan: The first book in a series about a young boy who learns he is the son of Poseidon and must go on a mission to stop a war between the gods, Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a work of fiction.

“The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton: In this timeless coming-of-age tale, we follow Ponyboy Curtis as he navigates life as a gang member in a rundown section of town.

“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis: The narrative of four brothers who find a mythical kingdom called Narnia via a wardrobe begins with this classic fantasy novel, the first in the Chronicles of Narnia series.

U Level Books: 2nd Quarter

A number of books at the U level have received positive reviews and are suitable for fifth graders.

“The Secret Keepers” by Trenton Lee Stewart: In this action tale, the main character, Reuben, is a little kid who finds a magical pocket watch that grants him invisibility.

“The Secret Series” by Enid Blyton: Throughout the novels in this series, a group of five kids who have formed a secret society gets into all sorts of thrilling scrapes.

“The Secret of the Old Clock” by Carolyn Keene: In the first novel in the Nancy Drew series, the protagonist, a teenage girl named Nancy Drew, investigates the case of a mysterious missing will.

“The Secret of the Golden Pavilion” by Isabel Allende: In this tale, the protagonist, Pia, travels to Chile to spend time with her grandmother, where she finds a secret garden and a mystery to unravel.

“The Secret of the Indian” by Lynne Reid Banks: Omri, a small child, is the protagonist of this action tale. He and his plastic Indian toy uncover a mysterious cupboard that can make them come to life.

“The Secret Keepers” by Trenton Lee Stewart: In this action tale, the main character, Reuben, is a little kid who finds a magical pocket watch that grants him invisibility.

“The Secret of the Old Mill” by Franklin W. Dixon: The Hardy Boys is a mystery tale about two brothers, Frank and Joe Hardy, who try to solve a mystery at a crumbling mill.

V Level Books: 3rd Quarter

Several works at the V level have received positive reviews and are suited for fifth graders.

“The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien: This timeless work of fantasy tells the tale of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who sets off on an adventure to aid a band of dwarves in their quest to retake their kingdom from a dragon.

“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis: The narrative of four brothers who find a mythical kingdom called Narnia via a wardrobe begins with this classic fantasy novel, the first in the Chronicles of Narnia series.

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling: This timeless work of fantasy follows a young boy as he learns about his magical abilities and enrolls in a school for wizards.

“The Giver” by Lois Lowry: Despite living in a utopia, a little boy in this Newbery Medal–winning novel begins to wonder if he’s really getting what he wants.

“The Secret of the Old Clock” by Carolyn Keene: In the first novel in the Nancy Drew series, the protagonist, a teenage girl named Nancy Drew, investigates the case of a mysterious missing will.

“The Secret of the Golden Pavilion” by Isabel Allende: In this tale, the protagonist, Pia, travels to Chile to spend time with her grandmother, where she finds a secret garden and a mystery to unravel.

W Level Books: 4th Quarter

Several works at the W level have received positive reviews and are suited for fifth graders.

“The Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series by Rick Riordan: Percy Jackson is a demigod who learns he is the son of Poseidon and sets out on a journey to stop a war between the gods in this fantasy novel series.

“The Chronicles of Narnia” series by C.S. Lewis: In this fantastical book series, four siblings travel to a place called Narnia after opening a wardrobe and finding themselves in a parallel world.

“The Ranger’s Apprentice” series by John Flanagan: Will, a young orphan, is the protagonist of this fantasy book. He becomes a Ranger’s apprentice and must learn to protect his kingdom from outside threats.

“The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins: Katniss Everdeen faces off against other survivors in a post-apocalyptic world in this dystopian tale.

“The Maze Runner” by James Dashner: In order to make it out alive, the protagonists of this young adult novel must first find their way through a perilous maze.

“The Giver” by Lois Lowry: Despite living in a utopia, a little boy in this Newbery Medal–winning novel begins to wonder if he’s really getting what he wants.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood: This dystopian story takes place in a totalitarian world in which women have no freedom of choice and are treated as property.

Keep in mind that every kid is different when it comes to their reading interests and abilities, so it’s best to ask around to locate the right book for your kid.

To sum up, reading to children from a young age has many positive effects on their growth and development. A 5th grader would benefit greatly from reading any of these novels because they are entertaining and instructive all at once. Each child is different and may have specific reading tastes, so it’s always a good idea to inquire about their reading interests. It’s also worth stressing the significance of a wide variety of literature that accurately reflects the world’s many cultures and viewpoints.

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