Age groups for reading lists and anthologies

We are aware it is not always easy to define what age group a story is written for. If a child understands and enjoys a story depends on many different factors, and age is but one of them.

Nevertheless we decided to sort our reading lists by age groups. We hope this will facilitate to find a story adequate for the child or the children you're  reading to. Don't hesitate to tell us if we blatantly misjudged one of the stories!

2-4 years

Picture books and read-to stories, illustrated short stories.

"Easy readers"— easy vocabulary, straight, simple storyline.

4-6 years (kindergarten)

Picture books, read-to stories.

More complex picture books, for example dealing with specific, sometimes problematic themes.

Simple chapter books, preferably illustrated.

6-8 years (elementary school)

First reading experiences and read-to books.

Chapter books with longer, developed storylines.

8-10 years (lower middle grade)

Exploring the world of stories.

Stories for this age group may come from different genres like adventure, mystery, fantasy or even science fiction.

10-12 years (upper middle grade)

Chapter books from a wide range of different genres.

The borders to teen fiction tend to be blur. However, we won't accept stories that fall clearly into the category of teen fiction or concentrate solely on first love / romance. This profile is dedicated to children's fiction, after all.