Which age do you recommend picture books for?

Reeta Dhar
3 days ago
3 min read

In general, picture books are recommended for ages 3-8 years old. In our experience however, readers of all ages have enjoyed Willow the Wonderer picture books so we recommend not to use age recommendations as the main criteria for buying books. I explain more below.

"Parents enjoyed them as much as the kids."

Picture books are great for early readers

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

For very young children who are just beginning to read or learn alphabets, the beautiful illustrations in picture books provide a way for them to directly engage with their books while they listen to the stories being read out aloud. This is really important for holding their attention!

Often times, they will start remembering and associating words with the illustrations (especially if like our picture books they are written in rhyme) and this way they begin to very naturally learn and start recognising 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 young children a sense of accomplishment

Picture books are also great for kids who are just starting to master how to read, as the low overall word count (700-1000 words) helps them get through pages and even the entire book. 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. Nonetheless, it is helpful for an adult to accompany them and help them keep moving along if they get stuck at a word or phrase.

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 in any learning difficulties a child may have. It is therefore 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 also why we avoided giving a specific age recommendation on our website for a very long time ...

In fact, we have had children as old as 14 really enjoy our books as it helped them relate to some emotional difficulties they were going through at the time.

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 also 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 the books had something for them too - This is by design. Picture books are generally read in the company of an adult -- teachers, parents and grandparents. I make sure that there is depth to what we write - the meaning between the lines are there for our older readers to engage with. 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 here: https://kudobuzz.reviews/wiseasstories-willowthewonderer! These reviews also show up on our product pages in the store.

Happy Reading!