←
→

Growing Bookworms – Age groups for children’s books: Early Readers #GrowingBookworms #childrensfiction

Posted: April 10, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Books, Children's Books, Fiction, Growing Bookworms, Interactive Books | Tags: , , , |47 Comments
Picture caption: Growing Bookworms banner depicting a squirrel drawing in coloured pencil by Robbie Cheadle

Encouraging children to read is very important. Reading helps children build language skills, learn about the larger world and also, develop empathy and emotional awareness. Parents reading to their children is one of the greatest gifts you can give.

In order to ensure the children are fully engaged in the book and story, it is important to read age appropriate books. If a story is to complex for a child, he/she will not fully engage and will lose interest. If the book is to easy for the child, he/she will not learn anything new and there will be no progression.

This is a summary of the different age groups for children’s books:

Books for toddlers

These books are aimed at children up to approximately 3 years old. They are printed on hard cardboard for durability and usually contain interesting pictures with accompanying words and/or phrases.

Early picture books

The age group for these books is 2 to 5 years old. These books are driven by colourful illustrations and often teach a life lesson about friendship, empathy, and kindness. They help teach children the social skills they need for school. The text is simple but stimulating.

Picture books

Picture books are aimed at children aged between 5 and 8 years old. These books contain a full story, sometimes told in rhyming verse, and contained beautiful pictures and illustrations to maintain interest and aid reading. These books are usually between 600 to 1,000 words in length and often include educational material.

This is the target market for most of my children’s books which are interactive and also include recipes (Sir Chocolate books), activities for children (Sir Chocolate Highdays and Holidays books series) and wildlife facts, photographs and wildlife videos (Southern African Safari Adventures Books).

Picture caption: Banner including a picture of Sir Chocolate and Lady Sweet and including the covers of the first six books in the Sir Chocolate books series
Picture caption: An introductory limerick to Amahle, the pregnant giraffe from Neema the Misfit Giraffe.

First chapter books and graphic novels

These books are aimed at children who have learned to read on their own. They are usually between 3,000 and 5,000 words in length and contain a more complex story line. While these books still contain illustrations, there is more text than pictures in the book. The storylines often still adhere to the concepts of acceptance, friendship, and sharing. These books can also expand into more complex areas such as nature conservation and exploration.

Michael and my book, Haunted Halloween Holiday, fits into this category. This story’s primary messaging is around acceptance and diversity. The family unit around which the story revolves comprises of Count Sugular, a vampire, Witch Honey, their baby, Baby Howler, who is a banshee, and Skelly, Count Sugular’s brother who is a skeleton.

I created a short YT video story called Haunted Halloween Safari which uses some of the characters from Haunted Halloween Holiday and gives an idea of writing and creative level of this type of book.

Next month, I’ll be chatting about middle grade and graphic novels as well as young adult novels and graphic novels.

About Robbie Cheadle

Photo of Robbie Cheadle standing in front of trees.

Award-winning, bestselling author, Robbie Cheadle, has published fifteen children’s book and three poetry books. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.

Robbie also has two novels published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

The eleven Sir Chocolate children’s picture books, co-authored by Robbie and Michael Cheadle, are written in sweet, short rhymes which are easy for young children to follow and are illustrated with pictures of delicious cakes and cake decorations. Each book also includes simple recipes or biscuit art directions which children can make under adult supervision.

Robbie and Michael’s new Southern African Safari Adventures series is aimed at teaching young children about Southern African wildlife in a fun and entertaining way. Each book contains a rhyming verse story about a particular animal, as well as illustrations by Robbie Cheadle, photographs and links to video footage about that animal.

Robbie’s blog includes recipes, fondant and cake artwork, poetry, and book reviews. https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/

_____________________________________________

Want to be sure not to miss any of Robbie’s “Growing Bookworms” segments? Subscribe to Writing to be Read for e-mail notifications whenever new content is posted or follow WtbR on WordPress. If you found it interesting or entertaining, please share.

Discover more from Writing to be Read

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

47 Comments on “Growing Bookworms – Age groups for children’s books: Early Readers #GrowingBookworms #childrensfiction”

  1. Darlene's avatar Darlene says:
    April 10, 2024 at 12:51 am

    A great summary of children’s books and the appropriate age groups. I agree with you on the importance of encouraging children to read. My son had some difficulty reading as a child, and the teacher suggested he read comic books. He now reads autobiographies.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • robbiesinspiration's avatar robbiesinspiration says:
      April 10, 2024 at 12:01 pm

      Hi Darlene, the schools have loosened up since I was at school. I was also told to get Michael to read anything that interested him. When I went to high school, my English teacher told me that Agatha Christie didn’t count as a book.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply
  2. SelmaMartin's avatar SelmaMartin says:
    April 10, 2024 at 1:19 am

    Only age appropriate books add value to children.
    children treasure things they remember by heart first in books read to them. It’s then that scribbles in the page become words they understand. Then they’re on their jolly way to discover more. The process is amazing.
    thanks for your passion with children books, Robbie (besides other projects)

    thanks. Just thanks. Lovely post. Thank you.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  3. Dave Astor's avatar Dave Astor says:
    April 10, 2024 at 3:26 am

    Excellent sum-up of youth-oriented literature and its categories, Robbie!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  4. beetleypete's avatar beetleypete says:
    April 10, 2024 at 3:33 am

    Lovely stuff, Robbie! Shared both posts on Twitter.

    Best wishes, Pete.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  5. kayelynnebooth's avatar kayelynnebooth says:
    April 10, 2024 at 6:44 am

    I think you must have created this post just for me, because of all my questions about the My Backyard Friends series, Robbie. Thanks for this. It clears things up nicely. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  6. Jacqui Murray's avatar Jacqui Murray says:
    April 10, 2024 at 8:32 am

    That together time with parents-toddlers as they read is irreplaceable. Good article.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  7. C.E.Robinson's avatar C.E.Robinson says:
    April 10, 2024 at 11:41 am

    Thank you, Kaye Lynne for showcasing Robbie’s books. I’l be buying them for my growing up great grandkids when they begin to read more advanced books. Your interviews are amazing & thorough. 📚🎶 Christine

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  8. petespringer's avatar petespringerauthor says:
    April 10, 2024 at 5:04 pm

    I’ve been paying close attention to age levels and word totals as I query my manuscript. I’m writing MG (10-13), but it’s at the high end so more for “tweens.” 60,000 words is a little high for that age, but I’m content with it.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  9. memadtwo's avatar memadtwo says:
    April 10, 2024 at 5:10 pm

    My girls and I still read to each other. During Covid isolation we would do Zoom readings almost every night and finished re-reading the entire Swallows and Amazons series, wishing again that there were more books in the series to read. They both still re-read books they enjoyed as children. (K)

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  10. Carla's avatar Carla says:
    April 11, 2024 at 4:36 am

    Great post, Robbie. I think it is important to let people read books from all areas, reading levels etc. When I was a teacher librarian, I encouraged my intermediate students to read picture books when they came to the library. They really enjoyed them and for those who had difficulty reading, it gave them a satisfaction when they finished the book and had enjoyed it. I love reading picture books as an adult as well.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  11. Unknown's avatar Growing Bookworms – Age groups for children’s books: Early Readers #GrowingBookworms #childrensfiction – Patty's Worlds says:
    April 12, 2024 at 2:49 am

    […] https://writingtoberead.com/2024/04/10/growing-bookworms-age-groups-for-childrens-books-early-reader… […]

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  12. Resa's avatar Resa says:
    April 12, 2024 at 5:08 pm

    Lol, I’m not a kid, but I sure enjoyed Haunted Halloween. The video is wonderful.

    Im sure in today’s age a video like this is more popular than a book. However, it could get a child to read a book.

    I love all the Sir Chocolate books.

    Reading sets us free.

    Thank you for all these wonderful articles you do, Robbie.

    Resa x

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  13. Resa's avatar Resa says:
    April 12, 2024 at 5:09 pm

    OH! Kaye Lynne.. thank you for having Robbie guest post!

    It’s a wonderful thing!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  14. Jennie's avatar Jennie says:
    April 13, 2024 at 6:08 am

    Wonderful post, Robbie!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  15. olganm's avatar olganm says:
    April 15, 2024 at 5:52 am

    I’ve always been reluctant to read and review children’s books, because I’m never sure if I’ll know if they are pitched to the right age or not. This is a very informative post. Thanks, Robbie. Oh, and I agree reading to children and finding the right books for their age is very important.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

Leave a comment

←
→