Children's Fiction Neil Workshops Writing for Children These age bands are a rough guide to how publishers divide up age groups. The word counts are approximate, but useful. Lots of children fall outside of these bands in terms of their reading abilities and also in terms of their interests and tastes. Picture Books: 3 - 5, up to 600 words Early Readers: 5 - 7, 800 - 1500 words Chapter Books: 6 - 9, 2000 - 8000 words Middle Grade: 8 - 12, 15,000 - 40,000 words Young Adult: 12 - 18, 40,000 - 70,000 words Almost all children's books are purchased by adults. Almost all picture books are first read by adults to children and then, as the child progresses, they might be read by the child alone. More than half of all Young Adult fiction is bought by adults for themselves or other adults to read.

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