Children’s books are often divided up into different age groups of the child. This is a necessary step because different age groups can read at different levels and prefer different types of books. If you are an author or aspiring author of children’s books, then you definitely want to understand what these different areas are and which one you should be writing in. If you’re just getting started, check out Reedsy’s post on book writing software. Let’s take a look at each of them one by one.

Board Books

Board books are named because they are made out of thick cardboard. This is no accident. Board books are made so that children can chew on them without doing too much damage. They are geared towards the age where children chew on everything. They are likely not even be able to read these books yet, but their parents can read it to them and just having a book in their hands can be beneficial.

Picture Books

Picture books do not have to be quite is reinforced as board books. Often, picture books are paperback and have pages they can easily be torn out if someone were so inclined. However, picture books are intended for older children that are either just barely learning to read or are still having books read to them at bed time.

Easy Readers

Easy readers are books that are really intended for young children that are just entering the school system. Kindergartners will often have access to easy readers and teachers will encourage parents to start them on these books or on picture books if they have not been exposed to them before. Easy readers can range all the way up to around age 7 or 8.

Chapter Books

Chapter books are generally defined by the fact that they have chapters throughout them. Some of them still have pictures, but many do not, and children are able to read them all the way through. However, chapter books are a lot shorter than books for slightly older children. They may only be 10 or 11 chapters and less than 5000 words.

Middle-Grade (Specification)

Middle-grade is a tricky genre that you will often notice is followed by an age group or a grade level in parentheses. This is because middle grade basically runs the gamut from age 7 to age 14 where children start getting into young adult books. Obviously, a 13 or 14-year-old will have very different reading tastes that a seven-year-old, so middle grade books will be written to target children of that age.

Teen or Young Adult Books

As for teens and young adults, you will notice that these books have the same themes and problems that adult books do. The only difference is that the covers are usually geared towards teens, the protagonist are either teens themselves or just barely out of their teenage years and the books are a little bit shorter than the adult books that you would find of the same genre. Of course, there are always exceptions. The Harry Potter books can be considered teen or young adult books and they are longer than many other adult works.