Choosing Books for Your Child

Helping your child select books for independent reading can be a challenge. First, talk to your child’s teacher for recommendations. Ask the teacher for your child’s Guided Reading Level or Lexile Reader Measure. The following websites allow you to search for books at your child’s level.

Usborne Books & More

Usborne and Kane Miller books are the most exciting, engaging, and educational books on the market today. They are high-quality, innovative, lavishly-illustrated, and best of all, they are the books kids love to read. Choose from over 1,800 bright, colorful, and fun titles covering a wide variety of subjects.
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Scholastic Books

You can search for book titles by Guided Reading Level. You can also enter a book title to see its reading level.
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The Lexile Framework for Reading

You can search for book titles using your student’s Lexile Reader Measure. The site also allows you to search for books in a student’s areas of interest.
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Booksource

Although intended for teachers, Booksource is easy to navigate and displays leveled book lists with many popular titles for kids.
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Michaels Associates

This site for teachers allows you to print a Guided Reading Leveled List to take to the library or book store.
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Local public libraries offer a great selection of books and usually hold summer reading incentive programs. The Children’s Librarian can help you find books to fit your child’s reading level.

 

The two charts below compare various reading measures.  Use the charts to make comparisons between Guided Reading & Lexile levels.

For example:

  • You know your child’s Lexile Reader Measure is 500-599.
  • Your child finds a book that interests him.  When you look for the book’s reading levels on the websites, you only find a Guided Reading Level listed for the book.  It identifies the book’s reading level as “S.”
  • Both comparison charts list level “S” as equivalent to a Lexile of over 700, which is higher than your child’s measure of 500-599.  Therefore, this book will be too difficult for your child to read.

View Harcourt Achieve Reading Level Comparison Chart

View Beloit Library Reading Level Correlation Chart

About Heidi

Heidi Hildebrandt, Owner and Tutor at Steps 2 Reading, LLC, is committed to helping students achieve their reading potential. She assists children and adults in developing reading and spelling skills and in increasing their self-confidence.