UWCSEA Grade 3 Reading List

Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose attend detective camp and stumble into a real mystery. Short chapters, satisfying clues, and the confidence boost of solving it before the characters do.

Hector, the son of a deep-sea diver in a seaside town, longs to find the legendary Pearl. He finds it on his very first dive, and that is when his troubles start. Translated from the Italian, illustrated throughout.

A team of kids with special knowledge explore and protect the rainforest. Real science facts woven into an exciting adventure.

The night told from the side of the Carpathia, the small liner that picked up Titanic's distress call, ran into an ice field in the dark and rescued 705 people. Illustrated non-fiction.

A girl discovers her magical abilities on a mysterious island inspired by Southeast Asian mythology. Rich world-building from a Newbery Honor author.

Nelson, a nerdy boy living in a junkyard with his grandmother and his cousin Kenny, wakes on his tenth birthday to find he has become a ninja. Heavily illustrated, fast-paced, book one of the series.

Weir Do is the new kid at school, saddled with the weirdest name, the weirdest family and the weirdest haircut. Laugh-out-loud school comedy, book one of the series.

Rex thaws out of a glacier sixty-five million years late, lodges with Bigfoot the yeti in his city flat, and is coached to pass as human while he looks for work.

Ice cream from her late grandad's old ice-cream van lets a girl travel through time, and she uses it to go back and see him again. 112 pages, one sitting.

Pigeons are secretly crime-fighting superheroes with special powers. Absurd, illustrated, and wildly popular with the 7-9 age group.

Ivan is a gorilla who has spent his life performing in a mall. When a baby elephant arrives, he realizes he must fight for a better life. Based on a true story. The kind of book that changes how kids see the world.

Tomas discovers a dragon fruit tree that grows real dragons. Keeping them secret from his family is harder than it sounds. Warm, funny, and full of dragon chaos.

In Draconis everyone believes dragons are extinct. Tomas, an orphan working at an inn, is recruited into the secret Dragonseer Guild and finds he can summon a dragon of his own. Book one.

An illustrated A to Z of lesser-known Southeast Asian mammals: colugo, dhole, siamang and the rest, each with its habitat, behaviour and food. By Singapore authors.

The failing Underdog Detective Agency in Dogtown hires its first ever cat detective, a one-eyed street cat, to go undercover among the sceptical dogs.

Oliver starts middle school and wants to be an astrophysicist. A cartoon-filled diary that explains black holes and the Big Bang between notes on his teachers and his annoying sister.

Danger Dan and Gadget Girl take readers behind the scenes at Changi: the taxiways, the runways, the apron, Jewel, baggage screening, and why plane food tastes bland.

Tola is the smallest in her family in Lagos, Nigeria. But she carries water, braves the market, and proves that small does not mean weak. Three warm stories about everyday courage.

Zanzibar is a crow. When a lizard journalist comes looking for someone remarkable to write about, Zanzibar sets off to lift a dromedary with one wing. The name is the crow's, not the island's.

Daisy's class catches space fever, and she sets about turning her bedroom ceiling into the universe with glow-in-the-dark stars and superglue.

The first Sherlock Holmes story, retold for young readers: Watson meets Holmes, they take rooms at 221B Baker Street, and investigate a murder in an empty Brixton house.

In 2120 Zack's family moves from Texas to the planet Nebulon. He is the homesick new kid at Sprockets Academy, and makes his first Nebulite friend.

Lola loves soccer and writing. When she accidentally injures a classmate during a game, everyone calls her mean. A story about being competitive, being kind, and being yourself.

A junior novel: young Patty takes up basketball expecting to be instantly brilliant like his uncle, and has to learn practice, teamwork and how to handle a bullying teammate.

Rosie visits the Blue River Riveters, women who built aeroplanes in the war. When one of them breaks both wrists before an art contest, Rosie invents a way for her to paint.