Reading Grade Level of Children’s Books, Part I

In class, we often discover that participants have written a children’s book and are ready to market it. However, they are unsure of the book’s classification and age range. Following is a frequently used scheme:


Picture book: under 6 years of age
Early reader: 6-7 years of age
Chapter book: 7-8 years of age
Middle grade: 8-11 years of age
Young adult: 12 + years of age


Although a handy guide, it is a bit broad. A more precise identifier focuses on the book’s reading grade level, i.e. the level of complexity and difficulty a student in a particular grade should be able to read comfortably. If your manuscript is a Microsoft Word document, simply pressing a key will give you the manuscript’s reading grade level.


Part II of this thread is a discussion of the function and its use.