New words will be added every week until the list is complete.
AGE LEVELS/GROUP: Every publishing house, bookstore, and online retailer has its own idea of how books should be classified. Parents and teachers also decide what’s appropriate for their readers based on their experiences. Many books, such as the Harry Potter series, easlily cross age levels. So, keep in mind the following groups are flexible and overlap:
Basic Groups
Baby/board book: Birth-2 years (Pajama Time, Sandra Boynton)
Picture book: 3-5 years (The Napping House, Audrey & Don Wood)
Chapter book: 6-8 years (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Jeff Kinney)
Middle grade: 8-12 years (Al Capone Does My Shirts, Gennifer Choldenko)
Young adult: 12+ years (Twilight, Stephanie Meyer)
Note: Some publishers use the terms “early/easy readers,” “early/beginning chapter books,” “transition books,” and “tween.” Generally, these refer to books that fall between major categories. For example, easy readers and picture books cover about the same age range (3-5 years), but easy readers are segueways to early chapter books. Books such as First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (easy reader), have shorter sentences and use many sight words for those children who are learning to read solo (moving to early chapter books). “Early chapter books” is often used interchaneably with “transition books.” They include Jeff Brown’s Flat Stanley and Mary Pope Osborne’s Magic Tree House series. “Tween” is yet another in-between category. Tween books are geared toward ages 9-11, and include titles such as Rachel Renee Russell’s Dork Diaries series.
BABY/BOARD BOOK: Created for children birth to two years, board books are built for durability. Often they are constructed of thick pieces of small cardboard or soft, plastic pages intended to fit in toddlers’ hands (and survive chewing!). Most board books contain 1-5 words per page. Examples include Sandra Boynton’s Moo, Moo, Baa, La La La! and Barnyard Dance!
CHAPTER BOOK: Chapter books have an age range of about 6-8 years, though children a bit younger and older enjoy them as well. They tend to have few illustrations sprinkled throughout the text but not on every page like picture books. Examples include E.B. White’s classic Charlotte’s Web and Gail Carson Levine’s Ella Enchanted.
EARLY CHAPTER BOOK/TRANSITION BOOK: Early chapter books (or beginning chapter books) fall between easy readers and more advanced chapter books. They’re created for the 6-8 crowd. Mary Pope Osborne’s Magic Tree House books are examples. Magic Tree House books feature subjects like history, but charaters and themes are not as complex as they are in middle grade novels.
EARLY/EASY READER: Early readers are books designed for emergent readers approximately 3-5 years of age. They feature short sentences, sight words, and many illustrations to help children learn to read independently. Examples are Dr. Seuss’ Ten Apples Up on Top and Mo Willem’s Elephant & Piggie: I Am Invited to a Party!
MIDDLE GRADE: Middle grade books (ages 8-12) are more complex in both theme and structure compared to most chapter books. They have few, if any, illustrations. Most Newbery Medal winners are middle grade books. Titles include Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins, Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi, and A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck.
PICTURE BOOK: Authors and illustrators share equal creative space in picture books. Nearly every page of a PB is illustrated. Although the target audience is children 2-5 years, many kids younger and older than this range enjoy PBs. Though many publishers prefer books less than 600 words, some will produce longer works (though a 1,500-word PB is rare in the current market). Examples of picture books include Anna Dewdney’s Llama Llama Red Pajama and Mo Willem’s Knuffle Bunny.
TWEEN BOOK: For ages 9-11, tween book titles include Kazu Kibuishi’s Amulet series, Rachel Renee Russell’s Dork Diaries series, and Kristin Cashore’s Graceling. Many books for tweens could also be categorized as middle grade.
WORD COUNT: Editors at traditional publishing houses decide for themselves what the appropriate word count is for each genre. They will make exceptions as they see fit. The range of an acceptable word count is especially wide for middle grade and YA books. Factors such as fiction/nonficiton and genre (fantasy books, for example, tend to run longer) affect word count. Before you submit your manuscript to a traditional house, check the length of similar works from that publisher.
General Word Counts [note the examples of books that are exceptions to the range*]
Baby/board book: 0-300 words (Goodnight Moon = 131; The Very Hungry Caterpillar = 221)
Picture book: 200-1,500 words (Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale = 211; The Napping House = 268; )
Chapter book: 5,000-15,000 words (Diary of a Wimpy Kid = 19,784; Charlotte’s Web = 31,938*)
Middle grade: 25,000-50,000 (Al Capone Does My Shirts = 49,509; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire = 190,858*)
Young adult: 50,000-90,000 (Chains =75,475; The Hunger Games = 99,750*; Twilight = 118,975*)
YOUNG ADULT: YA books are intended for ages 12 and up. YA books tend to be longer than either middle grade novels or tween books, but content is the main divisor. YA books feature mature social and physical themes. Examples of YA books are Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight, Suzanne Collins’ Catching Fire, and Laurie Halse Anderson’s Wintergirls.
