To find a good fit book for children, you should be aware of reading levels. There is a big difference between a beginning reader Level A and a beginning reader Level F. It’s getting better, but many publishers of beginning readers consider Level F books to be a Level 1. To figure out the level where your child is reading, you can ask his or her teacher or peruse the list below.
The text attributes I consider a good Level A book include:
- Text is either non-existent (wordless book) or scant (up to 1 sentence per page)
- Text is repetitive or features only 1-3 words. I include concept books in this category such as books featuring:
- color words
- number words
- prepositions
- opposites
- Text is ideally 16 pt. or greater with good spacing between words
- Picture support is high; words can be read either by looking at the first letter and the picture or by following the pattern
- Sight words included are beginning level sight words (a, the, I, see, etc.)
The text attributes I consider a good Level B book include:
- Text is scant (up to 1 sentence per page); may include return sweep
- Text is repetitive; sometimes the last page may differ a bit
- Text is ideally 16 pt. or greater with good spacing between words
- Picture support is high
- If reader must use phonics to decode a word, the word is a simple consonant-vowel-consonant (C-V-C) word like “tip” or “sat”
- Sight words included are beginning level sight words (can, my, look, is, go, and, etc.)
The text attributes I consider a good Level C book include:
- Sentences of increasing length
- Large text with good spacing between words
- Mostly repetitive text, but may feature multiple changes to pattern (I like the red swing. I like the blue slide.)
- Text patterns that might change slightly from page to page (pg. 1: I can run like a lion. Can you? pg. 2: No. I can swim like a fish. Can you? pg. 3: Yes. I can swim like a fish too.)
- Picture support is high
- If reader must use phonics to decode a word, the word is a usually a simple consonant-vowel-consonant (C-V-C) word like “tip” or “sat”; phonics knowledge needed may include some blends (bl, sk, etc.) or digraphs (th, sh, etc.)
- Sight words included are beginning level sight words that build on those featured in Level A and B books (are, little, this, here, come, etc.)
The text attributes I consider a good Level D book include:
- More than one sentence and more than one line of text on some pages
- Sentences of increasing length
- Text still clear, but size may vary
- Text may be less repetitive than in earlier levels
- Pictures remain important to story
- Text may require knowledge of blends (bl, sk, etc.), digraphs (th, sh, etc.), some long vowel patterns, and some r-controlled vowels (park, fort)
- Increasing number of opportunities to use word attack strategies such as
- sounding words out with phonics knowledge
- getting mouth ready to say the word and
- chunking words (finding parts of a word like a prefix, suffix or base word within larger words)
- Number of sight words required to read texts at this level continues to increase to around 40 or 50 known words
- Text may feature word endings (-ing, -s, -ed), compound and multi-syllabic words, and easier contractions (I’m, he’s, etc.)
- Text includes a greater variety of punctuation (question marks, quotation marks, ellipses, etc.)
To me these are the levels when beginning readers make a first big leap in reading abilities. Many school districts consider Levels E and F beginning first grade levels. The text attributes I consider appropriate for a reader at these stages include:
- Stories increase in complexity and length
- Many pages feature more than 1 sentence and more than one line of text (some pages may have up to 4 sentences)
- Sentence length varies and may included embedded phrases or clauses
- Text size varies
- Repetition may or may not be present in the story
- Pictures remain important to story, but may not be as supportive as in earlier levels
- Text requires additional knowledge of blends, digraphs, long vowel patterns and r-controlled vowels
- Additional opportunities to use word attack strategies such as
- sounding words out
- getting mouth ready to say the word
- chunking words
- rereading and
- reading past the unknown word to figure out what makes sense
- Number of sight words required to read texts at this level continues to increase; the Dolch lists include 40 words on the “pre-primer” list, 52 words on the “primer” list, and 40 words on the “first grade” list
- Text may feature more word endings, compound words, multi-syllabic words, and contractions than in earlier levels
- Punctuation varies
Many school districts consider Levels G, H and I mid to end of year first grade levels. The text attributes I consider appropriate for a reader at these stages include:
- Stories continue to increase in complexity and length
- Some books have chapter-like quality (more for Level I than Level G)
- A large number of sentences may include multiple embedded phrases or clauses
- Font size decreases
- Text features little or no repetition
- Pictures remain important to story, but may not be as supportive as in earlier levels
- Text requires extensive knowledge of blends, digraphs, long vowel patterns, r-controlled vowels and irregular spellings (more and more as students progress from G to I)
- Many opportunities to use word attack strategies
- High number of sight words and sight words increase in difficulty (again, people, round, etc.)
- Text includes a full range of punctuation
What You and a Book Can Do 