Choosing books for young readers

A few weeks ago I wrote a post called Reading – Choosing what to read in the holidays? and included an infographic. In the first week of our school holidays I have spent my time looking after three primary school children. Two are just beginning to read on their own. The weather has been cold so although we have spent some time outside, we have also done a few indoor activities as well. Reading with the two boys was part of it. It was a great way to share my enjoyment of some of my favourite children’s books. The boys enjoyed snuggling up and being read to as well as having a go themselves. The Peter Rabbit stories are currently being televised as a cartoon and this was a great starting point.

I thought would share this infographic that seeks to give some advice about books for younger readers if  you are interested in some more  ideas about what might make good starting point. The following is another infographic, created by Personal Creations, that might be a useful starting point. They have analyzed over 50 popular children’s books, from the classic The Tale of Peter Rabbit to the more contemporary bestseller, Harry Potter and given some idea about how long it might take younger readers to finish the books.

They followed the fluency standards for elementary grades, based on academic fluency standards (US) and calculated how long it takes kids to read these books.

How Long It Takes Kids to Read Popular Books shows each book accompanied with the number of words, and the reading time – split into three grades: 2, 3, and 4.

Wondering where your child falls in this list? Follow the fluency standards for elementary grades 1 – 6 below and you can quickly calculate how long it’ll take your eager reader.

Grade 1: 50 words per minute (wpm)
Grade 2: 70 wpm
Grade 3: 100 wpm
Grade 4: 130 wpm
Grade 5: 140 wpm
Grade 6: 160 wpm

Reading comprehension is not built into calculations and it is important to talk about what the young reader has understood about the text and illustrations, but most of all the activity needs to be about encouraging an enjoyment of reading.

Please include attribution to PersonalCreations.com with this graphic.

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