I Can Read Level 1 Guided Reading Level
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IMPORTANT UPDATE: When I first wrote this post, I believed that predictable leveled texts were the smart choice when finding reading material for brand new readers. After a great deal of study, I now understand that early readers need explicit phonics instruction accompanied by decodable text. The guided reading levels do not line up well, because most of the early books rely primarily on picture support.
I will leave this post here, but please know that my top recommendation for our earliest readers is quality decodable text. Feel free to send me a message via the Contact tab if you'd like more information!
When a parent approaches one of our librarians for books that his/her new reader can read, the librarian points the parent to the "Easy Reader" section.
That poor parent is left to search through hundreds of books in all different series…
I Can Read.
Ready to Read.
Hello Reader.
Step into Reading.
Brand New Readers.
Ack!
After the initial overwhelm, the parent finally finds a "level 1" book that might work. Encouraged, s/he finds a "level 1" book in another series, only to discover that it is much too hard.
If you've been in this situation before, you have my sympathy.
Wouldn't it be nice it someone would tell you which easy reader books reallyare easy… and which ones should wait a while?
I have good news! Today I'm going to do EXACTLY THAT.
In this post I'll rate the quality of popular easy reader series. Then I'll compare them to grade levels and guided reading levels. You can even grab a free printable comparison chart at the end of this post!
For a point of reference, this is how average grade levels compare to guided reading levels …
- Kindergarten – Levels A-D
- First Grade – Levels E-J
- Second Grade – Levels K-M
- Third Grade – Levels N-P
- Fourth Grade – Levels Q-S
Brand New Readers
About this series: Brand New Readers are cute stories featuring fun characters.UPDATE: I will keep these in the list, but I no longer recommend these for beginning readers because readers will have to rely heavily on picture cues to "read" the words.
Reading levels: Brand New Readers come in a single level, and the books roughly correspond to guided reading levels C-E.
Sample titles:
- Beeper and Honk, by Carole Lexa Schaefer – guided reading level C
- Monkey's Loose Tooth,by David Martin – guided reading level C
- Worm boxed set, by Kathy Caple – guided reading levels B-D
Penguin Young Readers
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
About this series:I am super impressed with Penguin Young Readers! The books are high quality with wonderful variety of stories and illustrations in both fiction and nonfiction.
These books also follow a very logical order in terms of difficulty (which is more than I can say for most of the series in this list). They even have the guided reading level of each book listed on the back.
Best for: Level 1 is great for new readers in kindergarten and early first grade. Level 2 is a good level for advanced kindergarten readers and average first grade readers. Level 3 is good for mid to late first grade through second grade, and Level 4 is ideal for third and fourth grade.
Sample titles:
Level 1 (guided reading levels C-E)
- Max Finds an Egg, by Wiley Blevins -guided reading level C (Blevins is an example of an author who can tell a good storywhile using decodable text – double win!!)
- Max Has a Fish , by Wiley Blevins – guided reading level D
Level 2 (guided reading levels F-I)
- Pig and Pug,by Laura Marchesani – guided reading level F
- We Need More Nuts , by Jonathan Fenske – guided reading level G
- The Cow in the House , by Harriet Ziefert- guided reading level I
Level 3 (guided reading levels J-M)
- Fox on Stage , by James Marshall – guided reading level J
- Young Cam Jansen,by David Adler – guided reading level J
- Jackie Robinson He Led the Way , by April Jones Prince – guided reading level K
Level 4 (guided reading levels N-R)
- Amistad, by Patricia McKissack –guided reading level R
- Sacajawea: Her True Story , by Joyce Milton, – guided reading level N
- I am Rosa Parks, by Rosa Parks – guided reading level O
Viking Easy-to-Read series
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
About this series:This series is very similar in quality to the Penguin Young Readers books, although the leveling system is different. You won't find too many books in this series; I did some searching, and I'm not sure they're still being printed.
Sample titles:
Level 1 (guided reading levels E-I)
- Tiny's Bath , by Cari Meister – guided reading level F
- Ugly Duckling , by Harriet Ziefert – guided reading level H
Level 2 (guided reading levels H-K)
- Young Cam Jansen books – guided reading level J
- Willie's Birthday – guided reading level J
Level 3 (guided reading level K)
- Cork & Fuzz – Short and Tall – guided reading level K
- Ant Plays Bear – guided reading level K
Puffin Easy-to-Read series
Level 1 Level 2
About this series: These look like quality books, but I couldn't find very many of them. I suspect that they're being republished as Penguin Young Readers books. I couldn't find enough Level 3 books to get data on the guided reading levels.
Sample titles:
Level 1 (guided reading levels C-I)
- Scat, Cats! by Joan Holub – guided reading level level C
- Shawn and Keeper , by Jonathan London – guided reading level I
- New House for Mole and Mouse , by Harriet Ziefert – guided reading level G
Level 2 (guided reading levels I-K)
- Ant Plays Bear – guided reading level K
- The Teeny-Tiny Woman , by Harriet Ziefert – guided reading level I
- Fox on Wheels – guided reading level J
Ready-to-Read series
Pre-Level 1 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
About this series: There are some really great books in the Ready-to-Read series, such as the ones pictured above, and a fair number of really junky ones (based on television shows or toys).
Be careful with the early levels. There isn't always much phonics support, and if kids are reading primarily by memorizing the pattern or using the pictures, they're not really reading.
As you can see above, Ready-to-Read has changed its branding quite a few times, which can be confusing. But they're all part of the same series.
Pre-level 1 (guided reading levels B-H)
- Have You Seen My Cat? by Eric Carle – guided reading level B
- Go, Otto, Go! , by David Milgrim – guided reading level D
- Puppy Mudge books, by Cynthia Rylant – guided reading levels D/E
Level 1 (guided reading levels H-K)
- Katy Duck and the Secret Valentine, by Alyssa Satin Capucilli – guided reading level H
- The Greedy Python , by Eric Carle – guided reading level K
- Robin Hill School books, by Margaret McNamara – guided reading levels H-K
Level 2 (guided reading levels J-M)
- Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type , by Doreen Cronin – guided reading level M
- Annie and Snowball books, by Cynthia Rylant – guided reading level J
- Henry and Mudge books, by Cynthia Rylant – guided reading level J
Level 3 (guided reading levels N-R)
- Pinky and Rex books, by James Howe – guided reading level L
Hello Readers
My First Hello Reader Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
About this series: I don't think they still make Hello Reader books, but you'll probably still find quite a few on your library's shelves. Overall, I'm impressed by their quality.
One annoying thing is that levels 1 and 2 have so much overlap that they're basically the same level.
UPDATE:Be careful with the early levels. Often, the books require too much attention to pictures or context for students to be able to attend the print itself. Remember that we want our young readers' attention to be on the words – yes, sounding them out – so that their brains can permanently store the words in their sight vocabulary.
Sample books
My First Hello Reader (guided reading levels D-E)
- The Pet that I want , by Mary Packard – guided reading level E
- The Ball Game , by Mary Packard – guided reading level E
- Who am I? by Nancy Christensen – guided reading level E
Level 1 (guided reading levels D-I)
- Footprints in the Snow, by Cynthia Benjamin – guided reading level D
- I Hate my Bow! by Hans Wilhelm – guided reading level F
- We play on a Rainy Day , by Angela Shelf Medearis – guided reading level E
Level 2 (guided reading levels F-I)
- The Cows are in the Corn , by James Young – guided reading level F
- The Day of the Bad Haircut , by Eva Moore – guided reading level H
- N-O Spells NO! by Teddy Slater – guided reading level I
Level 3 (guided reading levels J-K)
- The Blind Men and the Elephant , by Karen Backstein – guided reading level K
- A Girl Named Helen Keller , by Margo Lundell – guided reading level K
- Even Steven and Odd Todd , by Kathryn Cristaldi – guided reading level K
Level 4 (guided reading levels L-Q)
- Buddy: The First Seeing Eye Dog , by Eva Moore – guided reading level M
- Finding the Titanic , by Robert D. Ballard – guided reading level Q
- The Snack Attack Mystery , by Elizabeth Levy – guided reading level L
Scholastic Reader
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 About this series: For a company that is well known for publishing children's books, Scholastic hasn't done the best job with its easy reader series. Levels 2 and 3 have a ton of overlap and are basically the same level. Plus, there's awide variety of difficulty within a single level. They should really have made this a 5-level system.
About this series: For a company that is well known for publishing children's books, Scholastic hasn't done the best job with its easy reader series. Levels 2 and 3 have a lot of overlap and are basically the same level. Plus, there's awide variety of difficulty within a single level. They should really have made this a 5-level system.
(As a side note, it seems that Scholastic has transitioned its Hello Reader books into this system.)
A good thing about this series is you should be able to find a lot of them, as they're still being published. Also, the stories are mostly good.
Sample books
Level 1 (guided reading levels C-J)
- Buzz Said the Bee , by Wendy Lewison – guided reading level G
- Pizza Party , Grace Maccarone – guided reading level F
- Bats , by Lily Wood – guided reading level J
Level 2 (guided reading levels H-O)
- Two Crazy Pigs , by Karen Nagel – guided reading level I
- Magic School bus Arctic Adventure, by Gail Herman – guided reading level M
Level 3 (guided reading levels J-O)
- Penguins , by Kate Waters, guided reading level M
- Poppleton in Winter , by Cynthia Rylant – guided reading level J
- A Girl Named Helen Keller , by Margo Lundell – guided reading level K
Level 4 (guided reading levels M-Q)
- Buddy the first seeing eye dog,by Eva Moore – guided reading level M
- Finding the Titanic, by Robert D. Ballard – guided reading level Q
- A Dinosaur Named Sue,by Fay Robinson – guided reading level P
- Five Brilliant Scientists , by Lynda Jones – guided reading level Q
I Can Read!
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
About this series: I Can Read has been around for a long time. At one point they must have decided to start assigning levels to each of their books like the other easy reader series were doing. BUT … they forgot to change the actual difficulty of the books!
This is crazy, but even though "I Can Read" has four levels, they're all basically the same! Yep. Here's how it breaks down. Level 1 is pretty much guided reading levels J-L. So is level 2. And so is level 3! Level 4 is only slightly different, with guided reading levels L-M.
The stories are mostly good, but obviously they're only a good fit for a small window.
Best for: All four levels are for kids in late first grade through mid-second grade.
Sample books
Level 1 (guided reading levels J-L)
- Fancy Nancy Sees Stars , by Jane O'Connor – guided reading level L
- Danny and the Dinosaur – by Syd Hoff – guided reading level J
Level 2 (guided reading levels J-L)
- My Weird School books, by Dan Gutman – guided reading level J
- Long, Tall Lincoln, by Jennier Dussling – guided reading level L
- Frog and Toad are Friends , by Arnold Lobel – guided reading level K
Level 3 (guided reading levels J-L)
- Minnie and Moo books, by Denys Cazet – guided reading level J
- Josefina story quilt , by Eleanor Coerr – guided reading level L
- The Golly Sisters Go West , by Betsy Byars – guided reading level K
Level 4 (guided reading levels L-M)
- First Flight , by George Shea – guided reading level K
- The Animal Rescue Club , by John Himmelman – guided reading level J
Let's Read and Find Out
Level 1 Level 2
About this series: Technically, the Let's Read and Find Out series isn't advertised as an early reader series. But I love these books and wanted to make sure you see them!
These are high quality science books for kids.
Best for: Level 1 is for kids in second grade. Level 2 is for kids in second and third grade.
Sample books
Level 1 (guided reading levels K-M)
- Nest full of Eggs , by Priscilla Belz Jenkins – guided reading level M
- From Seed to Pumpkin , by Wendy Pfeffer – guided reading level K
Level 2 (guided reading levels L-P)
- Let's Go Rock Collecting , by Roma Gans – guided reading level L
- Germs Make Me Sick , by Melvin Berger – guided reading level O
National Geographic Kids
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
About this series: National Geographic Kids books are high quality nonfiction. But you should know that the whole series is only good for kids in second through early fourth grade.
Best for: Level 1 is for second grade. Level 2 is for second and third grade. Level 3 is for third and fourth grade.
Level 1 (guided reading levels K-L)
- Seed to Plant , by Kristin Baird Rattini – guided reading level K
- Trains , by Amy Shields – guided reading level L
Level 2 (guided reading levels K-O)
- Alligators and Crocodiles , by Laura Marsh – guided reading level K
- Planets , by Elizabeth Carney – guided reading level O
Level 3 (guided reading levels O-Q)
- Deadliest Animals , by Melissa Stewart – guided reading level P
- Cats vs. Dogs , by Elizabeth Carney – guided reading level O
Step into Reading
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
About this series: There are some good books in this series, but you will have to sort through a lot of junky TV and movie-based books to find them.
I don't like how much overlap there is in difficulty from levels 1-2.
Best for: Level 1 is for kids in kindergarten through mid-first grade. Level 2 is for first grade. Level 3 is for late first grade through mid-second grade. Level 4 is for late second grade through mid-third grade. It has a level 5, but I couldn't find more than a couple of books for that level.
Sample books
Level 1(guided reading levels D-H)
- I like Fish , by Margaret Wise Brown – Level E
- Big Egg , by Molly Coxe – E
- I Like Bugs , by Margaret Wise Brown – Level E
Level 2 (guided reading levels E-J)
- Wake up, Sun! by David L. Harrison – guided reading level E
- Shampoodle , by Joan Holub – guided reading level J
- Five Silly Fishermen , by Roberta Edwards – guided reading level G
Level 3 (guided reading levels I-L)
- Arthur Loses a Friend , by Marc Brown – guided reading level K
- Hungry, Hungry Sharks , by Joanna Cole – guided reading level L
- Little Lucy , by Ilene Cooper – guided reading level K
Level 4 (guided reading levels L-O)
- Joan of Arc , by Dan Andreasen – guided reading level N
- Soccer Sam , by Jean Marzollo – guided reading level M
Green Light Readers
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
About this series: The stories are good, and I like that there isn't much overlap in difficulty between the levels. The guided reading level is printed on the back of each book.
UPDATE:Be careful with the early books. I don't recommend using them if you notice that your child will need to use picture or context clues to "read" most of the words.
Sample books
Level 1 (guided reading levels A-F)
- Big Pig and Little Pig , by David McPhail – guided reading level D
- What I See, by Holly Keller – guided reading level A
Level 2 (guided reading levels F-K)
- Catch me If You Can, by Bernard Most – guided reading level F
- Digger Pig and the Turnip , by Caron Lee Cohen – guided reading level G
- George and Martha, the Best of Friends , by James Marshall – guided reading level L
Level 3 (guided reading levels K-L)
- Iris and Walter books, by Elissa Haden Guest – guided reading level K
DK (Dorling Kindersley) Readers
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4
About this series: DK Readers has changed its branding a number of times, which can be confusing. DK Eyewitness Readers are the same thing. These are fine nonfiction books, although I often feel that there is too much happening on a single page.
I really don't like that books within a single level have such a wide variety of difficulty. Level 2 spans ten guided reading levels!
Best for: Level 1 is for kids in late first grade through the middle of third grade. Level 2 is for late first grade through fourth grade. Level 3 is for third and fourth grade. Level 4 is for fourth and fifth grade.
Sample books
Level 1 (guided reading levels I-O)
- Lego the Batman Movie: Team Batman , by Beth Davies – guided reading level N
- All About Bats , by Caryn Jenner – guided reading level I
Level 2 (guided reading levels I-R)
- Amazing Bees, by Sue Unstead – guided reading level M
- Journey of a Humpback Whale, by Caryn Jenner – guided reading level O
Level 3 (guided reading levels O-S)
- Ape Adventures , by Catherine Chambers – guided reading level O
- Star Wars – Finn's Mission , by David Fentiman – guided reading level R
Level 4 (guided reading levels S-W)
- Horse Heroes, true stories of Amazing Horses , by Kate Petty – guided reading level S
- Atlantis, the Lost City? by Andrew Donkin – guided reading level W
I Can Read Level 1 Guided Reading Level
Source: https://www.themeasuredmom.com/making-sense-of-easy-reader-books/
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