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Interest Ages and Reading Ages
Unsure what we mean when we talk about the interest ages and reading ages? No worries. We've pulled together the following information to guide you through the basics.
What is the interest age?
The interest age is the age that the book was written to appeal to.
A book with an interest age of 10 to 12 is written to appeal to 10 to 12 year-olds.
What is the reading age?
The reading age is about matching the book to the reading level of the reader – the lower it is, the easier the book.
It is a commonly used mode of tracking people’s reading ability and amongst teachers it is understood that a reading age of 9 means that a child can read at the level of an average nine year old.
At this point, we’d like to remind you that in reality, there is no such thing as an average child. Every child's reading ability moves at a different pace, so if your child is progressing slightly more slowly than their peers, don't immediately panic. But, if it continues, don't hesitate to ask their teacher whether they are eligible for additional support.
How do I find out someone’s reading age?
In the first instance, you should ask their teacher. Alternatively, you could use another method of measuring reading ability to find a book that is the right level for them, such as Book Bands or Accelerated Reader Level.
What is a high interest age, low reading age book?
‘High-low’ books are books that are specially designed for struggling readers – those who have an interest age that is higher than their reading age. (In other words, while they’ve grown up, their reading age has stayed the same, or not developed at the ‘average’ rate.)
High-low books ‘match’ that. For example, if a nine-year-old child has fallen behind and is reading at the level of an average seven-year-old, a book written with a higher interest age of 8-10 years and a lower reading age of 6-7 years will be suitable for them.
Why are high-low books so important?
If struggling readers don’t read, they only fall further behind. We need to break that cycle, and that means presenting them with something that they will want to read.
Now, if anyone is given a book that is too young for them, the book comes across as patronising and insulting – a definite switch-off. Giving them a book they can’t read is an instant demotivator too… Put the two together, you’ll see a book is only going to succeed with a struggling reader if it is both age-appropriate and accessible.
Most books out there don’t do that – they’ll be either too hard to read or too babyish in their appeal – but high-low books do…
That’s why they’re so important.
A guide to Ransom’s high-low books
Ransom has been specialising in high-low books for over 20 years.
Our books are perfectly pitched, carefully levelled – and they use a lot of special techniques to hook even the most reluctant of readers.
(You can find out more about these ‘special techniques’ here.)
