The Bramble-Bush

Book Grading

‘I struggled through the alphabet as if it had been a bramble-bush;

getting considerably worried and scratched by every letter.’

— Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, Chapter 7

When a child finds reading hard, the wrong book scratches at them on every page – too many unfamiliar words, too much guessing, and the sense that reading is something other people find easy. The right book, pitched where a child can actually manage, lets them read instead of struggle. This page grades books finely, so you can choose ones that sit at your child’s level rather than just their age.

How the grading works

I use the Cumbria Reading Intervention grading system, developed by Hatcher and colleagues. It’s a finer scale than the book bands most schools use, so a child can move up in small, manageable steps rather than jumping between broad levels. The aim is to keep a child on a level where they can read around 97% of the words accurately – the easy or independent level, where the text holds together and the effort of reading doesn’t swamp the meaning. The system was developed for dyslexic readers and is now used in the Reading and Language Intervention for Children with Down syndrome (RLI). I’m a current accredited trainer for RLI, and I grade books the same way for my students.

What you’ll find here

The reviews are organised by level. They cover books that I, my own children, or my students have actually read. Some reviews are detailed; some note little more than the level – the priority is that the grading is available, so other parents and educators can useit. This is a work in progress. New books are added as they’re read and graded. Sign up to The Hearth below to hear when more go up.

How to use the levels

Read within the same level until your child is reading it comfortably and fluently. Staying on a level a little longer does no harm; moving up too quickly usually does. For children right at the start, I’d recommend a good phonics-based decodable scheme first, before these levels:

These all work the same way, underpinned by linguistic phonics (sometimes called ‘the Science of Reading’). My list of free, downloadable decodables is here if that’s where you are.

Not sure where to start?

If you’re not sure which level to begin on, or you’d like help using the system, a Raking the Fire consultation is the place for that – we work out where your child sits and talk through approaches that might help. You’ll find it on the Before the Fire page. If this page has been useful, please consider a donation to the Williams Syndrome Foundation, a small charity supporting families affected by Williams Syndrome. The reviews below are organised by level. If you’re after a particular book, use the search above to see whether I’ve graded it.

If you’re looking for a particular book, use search bar above to see if I’ve graded it.

Scenic landscape of a lake surrounded by green hills and mountains with cloudy sky.
A landscape of mountain range with snow-capped peaks and green rolling hills in the foreground. There are some small buildings on the hills.
Modern house with wooden exterior walls, large window, surrounded by plants, mountains in the background.
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O
Level 13
Level 14
A collection of children's books and activity books with colorful covers featuring titles like 'Dolphin Ride,' 'Lazy Jack,' 'The Upside-down Browns,' 'The Big Match,' and 'Mount Rescue,' among others.
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Snow-capped mountains in the background with a grassy hillside and modern building in the foreground.
Modern wooden house with large window on rocky hillside with mountain in background.
A collection of children's books with titles such as 'Captain Comet and the Dog Star,' 'Miles and Miles of Reptiles,' 'The Masked Cleaning Ladies Save the Day,' 'Lego Super Heroes Phonics,' 'Hard to Please,' 'Pet Poems,' 'Oh, the Pets You Can Get!,'
21
22
23
24
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28
29
30
A modern wooden house with outdoor stone stairs, surrounded by natural grasses and mountains in the background at sunset.
A landscape with rolling hills, mountain peaks in the background, and a modern wooden building at the base of the hills.
Modern wooden house in a field of tall, dry grass with mountains in the background under a cloudy sky.
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
A modern house with wooden exterior and large glass windows, built on a hillside with stone steps and a stone wall, surrounded by grassy vegetation, with mountains in the background during sunset.
A wooden building in a grassy, hilly landscape with mountains in the background.
A modern house with a wood exterior in a field of tall grass, with mountains in the background.
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
Scenic view of a lake surrounded by green hills and mountains with cloudy sky.
A scenic landscape with snow-capped mountains in the background and rolling green hills in the foreground, with a small building visible on the hill.
Modern house with wooden and concrete exterior, large window, set against a mountainous landscape with sparse vegetation.
51
52
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56
57
58
59
60
A scenic landscape of a mountain range with a lake in the foreground and cloudy sky above.
Mountains with snow-capped peaks in the background and a small building on grassy hills in the foreground.
Modern house with wooden and white exterior in a mountainous landscape with low shrubbery
61
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69
Scenic landscape of a lake surrounded by rolling hills and tall mountains with a cloudy sky.
Modern house with wooden exterior in a mountainous landscape, stone pathway and steps leading to the house, grassy terrain with mountains in the background.
A wooden building in a grassy valley with hills and snow-capped mountains in the background, and some blurred greenery in the foreground.
70-80
81-90
90-100