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🪜 Top 10 ways to pick a book at the right level

Three of the ten are Peabody's own tools, and they say so; the other seven need nothing but a book.

The ten, in order

1. Read the first page aloud. The quickest check there is: if a child reads the first page smoothly and can say what happened, the book fits. If every line is a struggle, read it together instead.
2. Count the hard words on one page. A classroom rule of thumb, not a test: one or two words a child cannot read on a page is about right; five or more is a book to share rather than read alone.
3. Peabody's three-line check (ours) · ours. Three opening lines from real stories, read aloud: easy, OK or hard. It points to one of Peabody's nineteen levels and its free books.
4. Books for every level (ours) · ours. Peabody's free stories at each level, 0 to 18, with the kids' lists and series that fit a reader there.
5. Let interest lead. A child who loves sharks will read a harder shark book than a story they do not care about. Level is a guide; wanting to know what happens is the engine.
6. Ask a children's librarian. They know the shelves, the new books and what the children in your town are reading, and they are free.
7. Use a series to step up. The first book of a series is often the easiest, and a reader who loves it reads the next ones a little harder each time.
8. Read above level together. A book a level or two above is good to read aloud together: the child hears new words in a story they can follow.
9. Let re-reading count. Reading a favourite again builds speed and confidence; in Peabody's challenges a re-read on another day counts again.
10. Peabody Teach's level finder, for grown-ups (ours) · ours. A closer look for a teacher or a parent who wants more than the three-line check.

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Checked 30 October 2026 · Free, no account, nothing you do here leaves this device · v0.4.0