Target Age Group Descriptions

Children Books Photos

We are witnessing the greatest output of good book for children, featuring Black characters than ever before. Today, books for children have surged in popularity on AALBC. To help visitors find age appropriate children’s books, we have defined the following five “Target Age Categories;” Board Book, Picture Book, Early Reader, Middle Grade, and Young Adult.

The age ranges provided are meant as guilde — not firm rules. Every child is different, so the age range and subject appropriateness will vary from child to child. Also check out the related links below for more great children’s books — enjoy

Board Book (Infant to 3 Years)

These books, designed for durability, are printed on thick paperboard to to be easily handled by toddlers. They often rhyme and repeat lines. They usually have fewer than 20 pages and 300 words. These books can be a lot of fun to read to young children by voicing characters and emphasizing the lyrical nature of the prose. Here is a curated list of more than 100 Board Books.

Picture Books (3 to 6 Years of Age)

Picture books are dominated by illustrations which are typically found on each page. The images and text create scenes on every page the text and the illustration are equally important advancing the story. Picture books are generally less than 48 pages in length. Here are examples of some excellent picture books.

Early Reader (6 to 10 Years of Age)

Easy Readers are geared toward childrens who are starting to read on their own. This titles are still fun to read to children as well. Books for early readers are usually shorter than 70 pages. There may be fewer pictures and illustrations, as the books are driven by more complex text than picture books. Examples include, Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement and Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl.

Middle Grade (8 to 12 Years of Age)

Book cover Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis Middle grade books are generally 100-150 pages, but can be much longer. Pictures (if any) are few as stories are driven primarily by text. Books in this category are often called chapter books. Text, begins to become more complex, incorporating more characters, subplots, richer vocabulary than Early Reader books. Examples include, Bud, Not Buddy and Genesis Begins Again.

Young Adult (12 and older)

Young Adult (YA 12 Years of Age and Older) books will contain more complex language and deal with more mature themes, can would be appropriate for Middle Grade books. Examples include, Brown Girl Dreaming and Not So Pure and Simple.

There are many ways to categorize books for children; these description are used by AALBC. We categorized our books manually, so there may be some mistakes. If you discover a book that you believe has been miscategorized please let us know.

Children’s books are written with children in mind and from their point of view. However, adults enjoy reading childrens’s books as well. I’m sure I enjoyed reading Bud, Not Buddy to my kids as much as much as they enjoyed me reading it to them.

Check out these other excellent sources for children’s books;


Last Updated: Sunday, March 8, 2020