0+ Books suitable from birth
5+ Books recommended for infant school children and/or children in the first stages of learning to read.
7+Books recommended for children becoming who are becoming more confident in their reading.
9+ Books recommended for independent readers.
11+ Books recommended for pre-teen readers, including longer novels and subjects of interest to this particular year group.
14+ Books recommended for younger teenagers, including those dealing with subjects which might not be suitable for younger readers.
16+Books recommended for older teenagers /young adults. These titles might include explicit material and/or subjects that will require some emotional maturity.
Please note:
I do not in any way advocate age-banding in books. In fact, I support the No to Age Banding campaign which objects to age recommendations being printed on the back covers of children’s books (see here for an example).
The age categories here are merrily a loose indication of possible suitability, as well as a way of facilitating searching for reviews. They are in no way prescriptive and I invite readers to browse both lower and higher categories when searching for titles specifically for a child as they might also find something suitable there.