Understanding children&039s books age groups

including genres, number of words and many examples!

Here at Get Your Book Illustrations, we have the pleasure of working with many children’s book authors to provide illustrations for their fiction or non-fiction books.

I have seen some confusion on more than one occasion about age groups for children’s books.

You are reading: Age range for books

confusions like:

  • Do I really have to choose an age group for my book?
  • How do I choose which age group to write for?
  • How do I know if my what is the book suitable for my intended age group?
  • what are the differences between books for different groups?

Let’s start answering the first question right now.

yes, you must choose an age group.

It is crucial to have a clear age group for your children’s book. children grow in their understanding and sense of humor, and what they like changes. a book for a 1-year-old, a 4-year-old, a 10-year-old, and a 16-year-old are very different.

so let’s review:

  • what is a children’s book? (the answer may surprise you!)
  • the different age groups and types of books for each
  • examples of each and every type of book mentioned

crucial considerations for authors about age groups

There are some important points authors should keep in mind when choosing and writing for their age group:

  • write for the group you want to write for, not the one you feel you “should” write for, for whatever reason.
  • after that, write what you like to read or they are drawn to.
  • read lots of books for this age group (in the genre you write or want to write in).
  • build an audience in one age group first before writing for another (if you want to change). otherwise, you’ll more or less start over each time.
  • Main characters in children’s books for any age group should be a little older than the book’s intended audience.

what is a children’s book?

First of all, what is classified as a children’s book? It may surprise you that it covers books from ages 0 to 18. therefore, young adult books also fall into the category of children’s books.

These are guidelines. if you search, you’ll see that the descriptions of these groups vary from website to website, but not by much.

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It’s probably clear to you whether your book is for young children or teenagers, but let’s get into more specific subdivisions.

the different age groups and types of books for each

here’s a quick list of age groups and the different types of books for them:

  • newborn to 4 years: picture books in the form of board and soft books
  • 2 to 5 years: first picture books
  • 5 to 8 years : picture books, coloring, activity, and novel books
  • ages 4-8: early (easy) readers
  • ages 6-9: first chapter books and graphic novels
  • ages 8-12: mid-level novels and graphic novels
  • ages 12-18: young adult novels (already) and graphic novels
  • also there are non-fiction books for all these age groups

a note on illustrations and age groups

Although the story, word count, and types of books vary from age to age, most illustration styles can work for any age group.

Your options are many. the main thing to consider is whether a child of his age will like and understand the drawings. too abstract will not work for young children. too childish can turn off older children.

A young adult book rarely contains illustrations, but it still might (especially for the cover).

Top Tip: Look at other books for your age group to see what sells.

illustrated books

A picture book is a book where the text and pictures work together to tell the story. Without the illustrations, the book will be meaningless or incomplete.

A picture book is designed to be read aloud, so write it with that in mind. in fact, read them out loud and make sure they read well, flow well, and sound good.

There are picture books for different age groups, from 0 to 8 years old, so you will see it a few times below.

from 0 to 4 years-illustrated cardboard and soft books

children**Note: I cite many examples in this article.

you can enlarge the thumbnails on each book page and/or use the “look inside” option

function to better see these books.**

board books for infants and toddlers are shorter and have many full-color illustrations. These can be storybooks, concepts, or novelties.

concept books can cover almost any topic. these books teach factual information with illustrations and text (often single words). Common concepts covered are shapes, body parts, colors, spatial relationships, counting, the alphabet, opposites, and animals.

novelty books are books with pop-up windows, flaps to lift, textures or buttons for sound, or with pages that unfold like a concertina.

Board books are typically 12-16 pages long and the word count is less than 200 words for babies and 500 words or less for toddlers.

examples

storyboard book examples

little blue truck by alice schertle

deborah diesen’s pouting fish

examples of soft books (cloth or plastic)

soft cloth smart books for babies and toddlers

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See Also: Dean Koontz – Strangers Audiobook – Free Audiobooks

examples of concept board books

set of the first 100 boxes

my first books, set of 4 board books for babies and toddlers

examples of innovative and interactive board books

bookscape board books: the seasons of a forest by ingela p arrhenius

tactile words: rilla alexander clothes

little shark: book of finger puppets by klaartje van der put

2 to 5 years old: first illustrated books

A picture book for children ages 2-5 can be up to 800 words, but it’s best to aim for fewer than 500 words. these books average 32 pages and have lots of full-color illustrations (usually on every page).

The most common types of picture books are picture books of stories (or fiction), concepts, activities, and novelties. these may overlap (for example, a book may be a concept and a novel picture book). these can also be written in rhyme.

examples

examples of picture books of stories

julia donaldson’s gruffalo

eric carle’s very hungry caterpillar

examples of concept books

the cement mixer alphabet: good night, good night, construction site by sherri dukey rinker

chicka chicka boom boom by bill martin jr. and john archambault

examples of activity books

these books are interactive and require the child to color, draw, do puzzles or quizzes, or write, for older children.

click here for herve tullet

my first coloring book for toddlers – fun with numbers, letters, shapes, colors and animals! by tanya emelyanova

examples of novel books

janet lawler sheets (do yourself a favor and check it out!)

world of eric carle, around the farm by mark rader

small green chunky ginger swift frog

The site’s best pop-up books also have amazing examples.

from 5 to 8 years old-illustrated books

Picture books for ages 5-8 can have up to 1,000 words, lots of full-color illustrations, and a strong story.

Novelty and activity books are also common, with activities suitable for this age group.

examples

examples of picture books of stories

where the wild things live by maurice sendak

sam and dave dig a hole for mac barnett

how to catch a mermaid by adam wallace

ages 4-8: early (or easy) readers

Classified as early readers, this age group is a step ahead of picture books. the best books for this age group are short with lots of illustrations. word count can range from 1,000 to 3,000 words.

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Short books often come in a series so children can devour them one after another. this helps them develop their reading skills.

examples

sarah weeks macaroni and cheese

big shark, little shark of anna membrino

ages 6 to 9-books with chapters

After the short books, we have the chapter books. Like short books, they also often come in series, but the word count is higher: 5,000 to 10,000 words per book.

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These books usually contain sketches and not full color illustrations.

examples

amelia bedelia by peggy parish

unicorn academy #1: sophia and rainbows by julie sykes

from 9 to 12 years old-intermediate grade

high school students want books with advanced story and prose. At this age, readers have advanced reading skills. as such, they can read books with 30,000 to 50,000 words per book.

These books have fewer or sometimes no illustrations at all.

examples

diary of a wimpy kid by jeff kinney

harry potter by j. k. rowling

charlie and the chocolate factory by roald dahl

12 to 18 years old – young adult

Books are already sometimes divided into two age groups, which are 12-15 years old and 16-18 years old. however, an interesting point to note is that around 50% of readers are adults.

Typical word count is between 50,000 and 80,000 words.

examples

the hunger games by suzanne collins

divergent by veronica roth

the eden east novels by sacha black

non-fiction

There are non-fiction books for all age groups. These include biographies, autobiographies, books about countries, animals, history, and other factual information. these are often illustrated or contain photos.

non-fiction publications tend to have a higher word count than their fiction counterparts for the same age group.

examples

children from 2 to 5 years old

welcome to our world – a celebration of children everywhere! by moira butterfield

children from 6 to 9 years old

bruce betts cool space facts

medium degree

5000 Amazing Facts (About Everything!) By National Geographic Kids

already

the boy who harnessed the wind by william kamkwamba and bryan mealer

Are you excited to dive into age groups now that you know more about them?

Choosing an age group is a big step in your journey and has a lot to do with the success of your book. I hope this article was helpful!

the best advice I can give you is to consult many books of the age group that interests you. familiarize yourself with their topics, how they are written, presented and illustrated. this is the best way to learn.

If you’re writing for any of the younger age groups, getting the illustrations right is critical. we would love to help you with this step of your journey as an author. if you want, take a look at our portfolio here. Or schedule a call if you want to chat or have any questions!

I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

See Also: 15 Best Free Audiobook Apps – Rigorous Themes

  1. what age groups are your favorite books?
  2. have you chosen an age group to write? which one?

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