Which age group do you recommend picture books for?

Reeta Dhar
Aug 31
4 min read

Updated: 7 days ago

In general, picture books are recommended for 3-8 year olds. However, we do not recommend using age as the main criteria for choosing which books to buy, as the reading skills and interest of children can vary widely. In our experience, parents, grandparents, teachers and nurses have used Willow the Wonderer picture books with children from well before they were born (ie reading to them in the womb) to premature babies still in pre-natal care, to children from the age of 6 months all the way up to 14 years! Reading together helps develop language skills even in very young children. It is also a wonderful way to bond. Our Willow the Wonderer books are tales of high adventure interwoven with timeless wisdom on life and living - even grownups enjoy reading these books. So our tongue in cheek response to the question of age recommendation is usually 0-100 years! Read the blog below for more insights on why we are not fans of using age to pick books.

"Parents enjoyed them as much as the kids."

Picture books are great for young children - even those who cannot read

The reading skills of kids aged between 3-8 years tends to vary a lot. Picture books are great for this age group because it caters for all the different reading levels.

The beautiful illustrations in picture books provide a way for young children, who may not have learnt to read, to engage with the books. This is really important for holding their attention!

Often times, they will start remembering and associating words with the illustrations, and hence very naturally begin to learn new words. Mums and grandmothers of young children have told us that their toddlers will often take out their picture books and flip through it by themselves, whilst narrating the story out aloud.

One mum told us that her 8 month old son would sit for a while and appear to be studying the illustrations. The book she had bought hims was the first, Willow the Wonderer, which is perfect for very young children. And yes, she has since gifted the books to every mum she knows!

Picture books give early readers a sense of accomplishment

Picture books are also great for kids who are just starting to learn how to read, as the low overall word count (500-1000 words) helps them get through the entire book in one seating. They feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of it.

We always use a few interesting and longer words in the stories so even readers who are a bit more advanced will find some new words to grapple with -- always a great challenge.

We recommended adults to accompany young readers so they can help them decipher new words or phrases, and keep them moving along.

Reading is a difficult skill - Age recommendations are guidelines

It is important to remember that reading is a difficult skill -- and that is even before you factor any learning difficulties a child may have.

It is important not to pigeonhole children and books. A child should be able to pick up and read whatever books appeal to them without judgement. This is why we avoided giving age recommendations on our website for a very long time ...

As an example, we have had children as old as 14 enjoy our books as it helped them deal to emotional and learning difficulties.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, a lot of our parents and grandparents have bought our picture books for new born babies, as reading is an all-around wonderful way to engage and bond with young, developing minds.

Even the Royal Women's Hospital in Sydney have used our books in their readathon for pre-mature babies in their care :)

Wisdom for all ages

Finally, we have had adults report back that they liked our books as much as kids. Grown-ups found that our books had something for them too. This is by design.

I realised early on that picture books are generally read in the company of an adult -- teachers, parents and grandparents are reading these to their little ones. I also realised that children keep asking for the same book over and over again - which would make it trying even for the most patient adult!

So when I write these books, I make sure to weave a lot of meaning between the lines -- These are there for the benefit of our older readers. As for the wisdom in our stories, well that for all ages :)

This is why our cheeky age recommendation for our picture books is 0-100 years!

How to choose books

I hope what you take from this is that don't buy books simply based on the age recommendation...

See where your child is, what their reading skills and interests are and how you'd like to raise them - and then choose books that fit.

You can also read what all other readers (who are verified buyers of Willow the Wonderer picture books from our online store) make of our books to help make up your mind: https://kudobuzz.reviews/wiseasstories-willowthewonderer! These reviews also show up on our product pages in the store.

Happy Reading!