Welcome to our list of world history & geography, biology, and earth science leveled readers! This collection of books includes text and vocabulary that young children can easily read and understand. Although we own many of the books on this list, we don’t own them all and have not previewed them all. And… this is by no means exhaustive, but it provides quite a bit to choose from for the young learners in our families!
The links here are affiliate links, which means we earn a small commission from Amazon at no extra expense to you if you shop through these links. (If you shop through these links, thank you so much for supporting the work we put into this website!) If you’re looking for our list of absolute-most-favorite read alouds and picture books for ancient world history/geography and/or biology and earth science, stay tuned for that coming out later this summer! If you’re in Classical Conversations, this list corresponds with Cycle 1. You can also check out our Cycle 1 Reading Plans, click here.
World History & World Empires
Ancient Egypt
National Geographic Readers: Pyramids (Level 1)
Tut’s Mummy: Lost…and Found (Step into Reading, L4)
DK Readers L4: Secrets of the Mummies
Mummies (Penguin Young Readers, Level 3)
Ickstory: Unraveling the Icky History of Mummies (Penguin Young Readers, Level 4)
Egyptian Gods and Goddesses (Penguin Young Readers, Level 4)
Ancient Greece
DK Readers L3: Greek Myths
Do Not Open!: The Story of Pandora’s Box (Ready-to-Reads)
The Trojan Horse: How the Greeks Won the War (Step into Reading, L5)
Surprise, Trojans!: The Story of the Trojan Horse (Ready-to-Reads)
DK Readers: Trojan Horse (Level 4: Proficient Readers)
The Lion and the Mouse (Step-Into-Reading, Step 1) – Aesop’s Fable
Ancient Rome
Pompeii — Buried Alive! (Step into Reading, L4)
Romulus and Remus (Ready-to-Reads)
National Geographic Readers: Cleopatra (Readers Bios, Level 3)
Ancient China
Hidden Army: Clay Soldiers of Ancient China (All Aboard Reading)
Ready to Read Level 2: Living in . . . China
Welcome to China (DK Readers)
Life in the Gobi Desert (Penguin Young Readers Level 4)
India
Ready to Read Level 2: Living in . . . India
DK Biography: Gandhi
DK Biography: Mother Teresa
Africa
Ready to Read Level 2: Living in . . . South Africa
Amistad: The Story of a Slave Ship (Penguin Young Readers, Level 4)
Americas
Discovery in the Cave (Step into Reading Step 4)
Ready to Read Level 2: Living in . . . Mexico
Life in the Amazon Rain Forest (Penguin Young Readers Level 4)
Around the World
DK Readers L1: Homes Around the World
Science – Biology & Earth Science
Science – Biology
Micro Monsters: Life Under the Microscope
DK Readers L1: Tale of a Tadpole
DK Readers L2: Bugs Bugs Bugs!
DK Readers L1: Born to Be a Butterfly
DK Readers L1: Wild Baby Animals
DK Readers L1: All About Bats
National Geographic Readers: Ants Level 1
Butterflies (Penguin Young Readers, Level 2)
DK Readers: Busy, Buzzy Bee (Level 1: Beginning to Read)
National Geographic Readers: Bees
National Geographic Readers: Plants (Level 1 Co-reader)
National Geographic Readers: Ugly Animals
National Geographic Readers: Deadliest Animals
Monster Bugs (Step-Into-Reading, Step 3)
Why Do Snakes Hiss?: And Other Questions About Snakes, Lizards, and Turtles (Penguin Young Readers, Level 3)
S-S-snakes! (Step-Into-Reading, Step 3)
Coral Reefs: In Danger (Penguin Young Readers, Level 3)
Ocean Monsters (Penguin Young Readers, Level 4)
Giant Squid: Mystery of the Deep (All Aboard Science Reader: Station Level 3)
Tentacles!: Tales of the Giant Squid (Step into Reading)
National Geographic Readers: Weird Sea Creatures
Hungry, Hungry Sharks (Step-Into-Reading, Step 3)
Wild Cats (Step into Reading, Step 4)
Wild, Wild Wolves (Step into Reading)
Owls: Birds of the Night (Penguin Young Readers, Level 3)
Gorillas: Gentle Giants of the Forest (Step-Into-Reading, Step 3)
Whales: The Gentle Giants
Dolphins! (Step into Reading)
Platypus! (Step into Reading, Step 2)
National Geographic Readers: Seed to Plant
Hungry Plants (Step-into-Reading, Step 4)
DK Readers: Plants Bite Back! (Level 3: Reading Alone)
Watch Out!: The World’s Most Dangerous Creatures (Penguin Young Readers, Level 3)
Gross Out!: Animals That Do Disgusting Things (Penguin Young Readers, Level 4)
Fake Out!: Animals That Play Tricks (Penguin Young Readers, Level 3)
Far Out!: Animals That Do Amazing Things (Penguin Young Readers, Level 3)
Maxed Out!: Gigantic Creatures from the Past (Penguin Young Readers, Level 3)
Black Out!: Animals That Live in the Dark (Penguin Young Readers, Level 3)
Bug Out!: The World’s Creepiest, Crawliest Critters (Penguin Young Readers, Level 3)
Freak Out!: Animals Beyond Your Wildest Imagination (Penguin Young Readers, Level 4)
Wild Insects and Spiders! (Wild Kratts) (Step into Reading, Step 2)
Wild Winter Creatures! (Wild Kratts) (Step into Reading, Step 2)
Wild Sea Creatures: Sharks, Whales and Dolphins! (Wild Kratts) (Step into Reading, Step 2)
Wild Reptiles: Snakes, Crocodiles, Lizards, and Turtles (Wild Kratts) (Step into Reading, Step 2)
Wild Predators (Wild Kratts) (Step into Reading, Step 2)
Wild Fliers! (Wild Kratts) (Step into Reading, Step 2)
Wild Animal Babies! (Wild Kratts) (Step into Reading, Step 2)
Science – Earth Science
National Geographic Readers: Rocks and Minerals
To the Top! Climbing the World’s Highest Mountain (Step-Into-Reading, Step 5)
Volcanoes! Mountains of Fire (Step-Into-Reading, Step 4)
Volcanoes! (National Geographic Readers)
DK Readers L2: Eruption!: The Story of Volcanoes
Volcanoes: Mountains That Blow Their Tops (Penguin Young Readers, Level 3)
DK Readers L4: Earthquakes and Other Natural Disasters
Quakes! (Step-Into-Reading, Step 5)
DK Readers: Whatever The Weather (Level 1: Beginning to Read)
DK Readers L2: Twisters!
Clouds (Weather Ready-to-Reads)
Wind (Weather Ready-to-Reads)
Rain (Weather Ready-to-Reads)
The Wonderful Weather Collector’s Set: Rain; Snow; Wind; Clouds; Rainbow; Sun (Weather Ready-to-Reads)
National Geographic Readers: Storms! Level 1
National Geographic Readers: Weather
A printable Cycle 1 Leveled Readers Book List is included in the appendix of our CC Cycle 1 Planner with Planning Resources packet. To view our favorite CC Cycle 1 Picture books, click here.
Other related posts:
CC Cycle 1 Read Alouds
CC Cycle 1 & Cycle 2 Magic Tree House and Imagination Station
CC Cycle 1 & Cycle 2 Who Was Book List
CC Cycle 1 Overall Booklist
CC Cycle 1 Planners
CC Cycle SOTW MOH Reading Correlations
CC Cycle 1 Free Supplemental Resources Page