Age
Level
0-2
Reading Materials
Concept books
Board books
Interactive Books
Alphabet books
Number books
Storybooks
2-4
Picture storybooks
Folktales
Easy to Read
books
Beginning readers
4-7
7-9
9-12
Chapter books
Picture books for
older readers
Science fiction
Historical fiction
Fantasy
Characteristics
Vivid pictures
Simple story
Repetitive text and/or language patterns
Physical durability
Opportunities for the child to interact with
the book or participate with the story
More complex concepts
Increasingly sophisticated vocabulary
Simple plot
Physical skills featured
Folktales/Fairy tales
Stories about children interacting with other
children
Stories about children spending time away
from home
Stories about children beginning school
Stories with interesting facts
Familiar words
Word patterns
Illustration clues
Series books
Match the interests of the reader
Simple non-fiction
Show alternate perspectives
Stories with moral nuances
Stories with past and future elements
Stories about the lives of other children
Adventures in similar neighborhoods or
communities
Complicated story plots (flashback,
symbolism, dialects)
Stories about peers addressing issues of
growing up and becoming young adults
Stories about experiencing growth through
meeting challenges
Examples
Any board books
The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton
Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae
Press Here by Herve Tullet
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Dr. Seuss
Nursery rhymes
Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell
Corduroy by Don Freeman
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Magic Tree House series
Dr. Seuss
Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary
Junie B. Jones Series by Barbara Park
Stink Series by Megan McDonald
Shel Silverstein poetry
Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Books by E.L Konigsburg
Artemis Fowl Series by Eoin Colfer
Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riorden
Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys stories
Stories that present alternate points of view,
nontraditional characters, and moral
dilemmas
Esperanza Rising and others by Pam Munoz Ryan
Books by Gordon Korman and Jerry Spinelli
Books by Lois Lowry and Madeline L’Engle
All genres
Deals with the possibilities and problems of
contemporary life
All genres
Characters are adults
Complicated plots
Allusions to popular culture, literature, and
history
Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer
Books by Libba Bray, Laurie Halse Anderson, John Green,
Maureen Johnson, and Chris Crutcher
Books by Ann Brashares, Meg Cabot and Susan Beth Pfeffer
Graphic novels
Many, many others
Check the “Best Sellers” lists for popular options
Classics (ie Jane Austen, The Brontës, Ernest Hemingway, Charles
Dickens)
Authors such as: Barbara Kingsolver, James Patterson, Jodi
Picoult, Jennifer Weiner, Khaled Hosseini, Gregory Maguire, and
many, many others.
12+
(YA)
Adult