Text Bands
Books assigned to readers who read levels K-Z are not easily
described by a precise list of traits. Text bands are helpful to
show movement from one level text to the next, across a
continuum of increasingly more sophisticated reading and
thinking work. The following are text bands suggested by
Teacher’s College, and the strategies and skills children need to
be able to read and understand these leveled texts. 
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K/L/M
N/O/P/Q
R/S/T
U/V/W
X/Y/Z
Natasha Torre and Amanda Elgert, Darien Public Schools 2012
Work Called For in K/L/M Leveled Texts
Structure:
 Single story line that spans the entire book
 Readers are required to hold on to important ideas as they read across an entire text (from
beginning to end) 
 Readers will be able to see how ideas develop across the page of a text ( from beginning to end)
in order to create meaning
 Books provide a great deal of support
o Books and chapters are short
o Title, and often the chapters, and blurb on back help readers grasp the main through
line
Characters:
 A great deal of dialogue, it’s not always tagged, meaning it doesn’t explicitly say who is talking
and it is sometimes interrupted
 Characters have a few dominant characteristics and these are explicitly labeled, for example
“Horrible Harry”
 Characters tend to be relatively static…they change their feelings over the course of the story,
but traits are fairly consistent and are often related to the main problem
 Character often wants something concrete
Vocabulary and Syntax
 Require the reader to tackle an increasing number of two and three syllable words
 More and more words are not words that they use conversationally and many will be subject
specific
Here are some examples of books within this text band:
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Nate the Great, series by M. Weinman Sharmat
Frog and Toad are Friends, by Arnold Lobel
Frog and Toad Together, by Arnold Lobel
Amelia Bedelia, by Peggy Parish
Cam Jansen (detective series), by David Adler
Horrible Harry and the …(series), by Suzy Kline
Pinky and Rex and the…(series) by James Howe
Junie B. Jones and the…(series), by Barbara Park
Littles and the…(series), by John Peterson
Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House Series), by Mary Pope Osborne
Night of the Ninjas (Magic Tree House Series), by Mary Pope Osborne
The One is the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo, by Judy Blume
The Secret at Polk Street School, by Patricia Reilly Giff
Write Up a Storm with the Polk Street School, by Patricia Reilly Giff
Natasha Torre and Amanda Elgert, Darien Public Schools 2012
Work Called For in N/O/P/Q Leveled Texts
Structure:
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Texts will be more structurally complex
Narrative frame is still present in texts
Readers work to extract the one overarching story line throughout the story
Readers ask themselves, i.e., “What seems to be the central problem?”
Problems will start to be multidimensional
There will be a few subplots
Readers ask themselves “What now does this text seem to be mostly about?”…the answer will
evolve over time
Characters
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Help them think about why characters do what they do
Readers need to link earlier parts of a book to later parts
Main character tends to be complicated, is often conflicted
Feelings tend to be ambivalent
Trouble in the story is internal
Characters are complex but readers are told about the complexity
Character or the narrator will tell the reader the traits of the main character
Readers need only to pay attention to the descriptors and carry them so they can notice when
character acts accordingly
Vocabulary and Syntax
 Encounter more multisyllabic words
 Not only tricky words, but tricky phrases, and tricky passages…usually tricky because they
include a play on language, (ex. pun, metaphor, figure of speech)
 Often world knowledge is required to grasp a point
 More background knowledge is required 
 Language is more complex
Here are some examples of books within this text band:
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The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl
Forever Amber Brown by Paula Danziger
Invisible Stanley by Jeff Brown
You Can’t Eat Your Chicken Pox, Amber Brown by Paula Danziger
Boxcar Children book series by Gertrude Chandler Martin
Chocolate Fever by Robert Smith
Laura Ingalls Wilder by Thomas B. Allen
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
Ramona book series by Beverly Cleary
Judy Moody book series by Megan McDonald
Natasha Torre and Amanda Elgert, Darien Public Schools 2012
Examples of books for N/O/P/Q con’t.
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Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
Geronimo book series by Geronimo Stilton
Bunnicula by James Howe
Encyclopedia Brown series by Donald Sobol
Magic School Bus series by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen
Gooseberry Park by Cynthia Rylant
Homework Machine by Dan Gutman
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
Superfudge by Judy Blume
Natasha Torre and Amanda Elgert, Darien Public Schools 2012
Work Called For in R/S/T Leveled Texts
Structure:
 Trend towards stories becoming more layered with meaning
 Problems are big enough and layered enough that they are not all solved
 Story line is about characters who encounter problems and work to respond to those problems,
changing and learning in the process
 Setting becomes a force in the story, influencing characters and the plot
 Readers are expected to cumulate a growing understanding of the setting, as it evolves
 Important for readers to hold more parts of the book in mind such as, subplots and minor
characters, that seem to be inconsequential, often fit into the synthesized whole at the end
Character:
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Trend towards complexity increases
Characters are characterized by complex internal, emotional lives
Readers are left to infer what the character is feeling
Readers often realize things about the character that the character does not know about himself
Vocabulary and Syntax
 Often chapters are tricky
 You can say, ‘Huh?’ and read on, expecting things will become clearer in the end.
Here are examples of books within this text band:
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Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Dunc and Amos books by Gary Paulsen
Fig Pudding by Ralph Fletcher
Flying Solo by Ralph Fletcher
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
The House of Wings by Betsy Byars
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
Lily’s Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff
Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse
Matilda by Roald Dahl
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis
A Light in the Storm by Karen Hesse
The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
Blubber by Judy Blume
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Natasha Torre and Amanda Elgert, Darien Public Schools 2012
Examples of books for N/O/P/Q con’t.
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Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Poppy and Rye by Avi
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Natasha Torre and Amanda Elgert, Darien Public Schools 2012
Work Called For in U/V/W Leveled Texts
Structure:
 A few elements are apt to become especially complex, ex. passage of time
 Back story is increasingly prevalent…reader can learn about it throughout the book…usually it’s
not a flashback, but involves the character telling or discovering background info
 Often have multiple plotlines, often have new characters narrate different chapters
 Characters and setting symbolic of bigger themes
Characters:
 Continue to become more complex and nuanced
 Increasingly, characters are teenagers…if the reader is not a teenager, he can have a hard time
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empathizing
Point of view more multidimensional…it is necessary to consider the perspectives of characters
other than the protagonist
Narrator’s point of view is incomplete…often figuring out past and present of the story as it
unfolds…apt to be times that the reader feels as if he sees more
Reader often has to hold onto large cast of characters
Some important characters are adults, so readers must bring an understanding of the
complexities of the adult world
Stories are also a statement about the world and life, as well as, social issuesHere are examples
of this type of book: 
Here are some examples of books within this text band:
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The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
Sky Dogs by Jane Yolen
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
The BFG by Roald Dahl
Wringer by Jerry Spinelli
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
Jip: His Story by Katherine Paterson
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Holes by Louis Sachar
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
“Series of Unfortunate Events”: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
Natasha Torre and Amanda Elgert, Darien Public Schools 2012
Examples of books for U/V/W con’t.
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
Missing May by Cynthia Rylant
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Sister by Eloise Greenfield
Local News by Gary Soto
Wings by Jane Yolen and Dennis Nolan
The Messenger by Lois Lowry
Natasha Torre and Amanda Elgert, Darien Public Schools 2012
Work Called For in X/Y/Z
 Notably complex
 Many employ a postmodern structure in which multiple genres are included, multiple voices
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heard
Perspectives overlap and conflict
Whole chapters jump back in time
Take risks with form and genre
Usually using complex structure to convey ideas
Books include the idea that our lives and the world defy any attempt to be pinned down or
pigeonholed
Books include the idea that it is not easy to communicate and understand each other
Readers need to be willing to figure things out while reading
Readers expected to have and draw upon a lot of knowledge of the world and other books
Literary references are not essential to understanding the characters, but greatly enhance the
reading experience if they are understood
Readers expected to like challenging books, often set up like puzzles
Here are some examples of books within this text band:
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Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan
Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The Black Pearl by Scott O’Dell
The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
The Journey that Saved Curious George the True Wartime Escape of Margaret and H.A. Rey
by Louise Borden
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Jesse by Gary Soto
The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Bull Run by Paul Fleischman
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Johnny Tremain by Ester Forbes
Redwall by Brian Jacques
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
A Summer Life by Gary Soto
Natasha Torre and Amanda Elgert, Darien Public Schools 2012
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Natasha Torre and Amanda Elgert, Darien Public Schools 2012