Reader Age Groups for Children's Books - Cover2Cover Book Design

There are many things to consider when it comes to Children’s books. It is important to addressed these things before going too far into the process. The first things to consider are what reader age group the story targets and what type of book to produce. So, let’s explore reader age groups, the appropriate types of books, and some of the considerations for writing and marketing to each specific group.

Reader Age Groups at a glance

Reader Age Group	Book Type	Binding	Illustration Type	Page Print Color	Page Count
Newborn – Age 3-5	Story Books or Novelty Books	Hardcover	Color	Color	24-40
Ages 3–8	Coloring and Activity Books	Softcover	Black line drawing	Black	40-80
Ages 5–9	Early Level Readers	Hardcover or Softcover	Color or Black	Black or Color	40-60
Ages 6–10	Chapter Books	Softcover or Hardcover	Black	Black	60 & up
Ages 8–12	Middle Level Readers	Softcover or Hardcover	Color or Black	Black or Color	80 & up
Ages 12 – 14 & up	Young Adult (YA) Novels	Softcover or Hardcover	Usually not illustrated	Black	120 & up

Reader Age Groups book types, illustrations, printing, and considerations

Newborn + Age 3-5: Illustrated Story Books

For the reader age group Newborn + Age 3-5 laminated hardcover or ‘board books’ are most popular. The story should be simple and enjoyable to both the child and an adult reader in a shared reading experience. The flow of the story, along with single or double page illustrations help entertain this young and tender age group. The text should be in a large text size and font that is easy to read. Break the text into small paragraphs that early learners can easily follow as someone reads the book aloud. Books produced for this age group also have size options to consider that depend on the intended use of the book. A large book fits nicely in a library of favorite bedtime reading, but a more compact size fits in a tote for outings where people enjoy reading.

*A sample of double page illustration with a full-page bleed designed for a 8.5 x 11 full-color Children’s book.* Note that the center part of the illustration lacks important elements that the binding will obscure.

Ages 5–9: Early Reader

The Early Reader group includes ages 5–9, so the story content targets early vocabulary with relevant illustrations to enhance comprehension and enjoyment. These types of books allow printing in several book sizes with full color or black ink only layout depending on story content.

Ages 6–10:First Chapter Books

Ages 6–10 are exploring their first chapter books. The vocabulary of this age group is growing and comprehension is expanding to understand a segmented story line. These books are usually in black text, but they can also have simple black line or gray-scale drawings used on chapter title pages or inserted in the story text as appropriate. A 5.5″ x 8.5″ or 6″ x 9″ perfect bound (softcover) book is typical for this age group. Or, if you would like to also offer a hardcover choice, we can use the same layout and cover for both editions.

Cover design for Youngen by Maria J. Andrade — Maria Andrade wrote this book for the 6-10 reader age group. The laminated hardcover book has a full color cover with a black only inside page layout.

*The page adjacent to the text they are illustrating contains the illustration examples to the right. Each chapter page as a small illustration taken from the illustration for the chapter.*

*Black gray scale illustrations are typical for a Middle Reader age group*

Ages 8–12: Middle Reader

Ages 8–12 are in a Middle Reader book level. The story needs to support a more sophisticated vocabulary and understanding of personal and social situations. Authors should write stories that appeal to a wider range of reading capabilities while ensuring relevant content for entire age group.

Include simple black line drawings or gray-scale illustrations on chapter title pages or insert them into the story as appropriate.

Hardcover or perfect bound (softcover) books in a variety of trim sizes suit this age group depending on the intended use. If you would like to also offer a hardcover choice, we can use the same layout and cover for both editions.

Samples of a Children’s book page layout for Ages 8-12 in the Middle-Grade Reader age group. This layout has page layouts using strategically placed illustrations along with pages with no illustrations. Hal Blakeslee wrote this book, published by Blakeslee Publishing, to challenge the reader’s vocabulary with humorous verse and includes equally humorous illustrations by Jacky Wilk.

Ages 12-14 & up: Young Adult

Ages 12-14 and up are in the Young Adult (YA) age group. YA novels use adult vocabulary and reflect young adult ideas, situations, and imaginative storylines to entertain a younger audience than most adult novels. Like their adult counterpart, publishers are most likely to print Young Adult novels in perfect bound books in the 5.5″ x 8.5″ or 6″ x 9″ trim sizes. If you would like to also offer readers a hardcover choice, we can use the same layout and cover for both editions.

Content Dependent Reader Age Groups

Designers most often create Coloring and Activity books for Ages 3–8, but the latest craze in adult coloring books may expand that age group to Ages 3 to Adult depending on content.

Eugenia Onwu Ukpo, a teacher working in Africa, writes this workbook using words and situations familiar to her students local environment. She wanted illustrations to reflect the unique content by concentrating on the local items used as examples in the lessons.

Sample pages of an activity workbook for early reader vocabulary and handwriting lessons, illustrated with line drawing for each letter and a layout that is easy to read and to follow the instructions.

The designers created the full color cover using colorized versions of black line drawings as illustrations in the book layout.

Game & Novelty Books designers create interactive content, pop-ups, foldout maps, and games, and they can include toys or objects relevant to the story. These books usually gear themselves to a range of Ages 3 and up, depending on content. Beware: these types of books are expensive to produce, requiring specialty printers, costly set-up fees, and minimum orders that are usually beyond the budget of a self-published author or small publisher.