What Reading (Grade) Level Is Harry Potter? [Ages Included!]

The table below shows the Harry Potter reading level by books (Lexile Rank + Grade Reading Level):

In the rest of the article, we will talk a bit more about Harry Potter books, and the needed reading levels for them. Also, if you are wondering if your kid is old enough to read Harry Potter, you will surely find the answer in the article!

Harry Potter Reading Level

Harry is 11 years old in the first book of the series and 17 by the final book, and children usually like to read about characters that are their age or a few years older.

Furthermore, as the books advance, not only does Harry grow older and the material becomes darker, but the books themselves get longer, which is usually indicated for older readers.

They were labeled for only middle school students at the K-8 schools. Some of the subjects are a little confusing for the younger children to learn, which can make reading the books difficult for the children who are too young.

These books are supposed to be read when a child gets older, because you would not want a child younger than second grade reading the seventh book, because even then, they will need to be a little more advanced than the normal second grader.

The reading level is determined by the semantic difficulty (vocabulary) and syntactic ambiguity (sentence length) of the text, which are incompatible with the cognitive appropriateness of the text.

Often, these texts are composed at a higher degree than can be implied by the text’s substance and structure. When pairing intermediate readers with texts at a suitable developmental age, texts labeled “NC” is helpful.

What Grade Level Is Harry Potter For?

One of the most engrossing elements of the Harry Potter series is that the children grow a year older with each book.

They are excited 11-year-olds in book one, and by the time the story hits its climax in book seven, they are 18. We get to see these favorite protagonists mature as they combat sinister powers in a battle between good and bad.

The children are on a mission to destroy the Dark Lord Voldemort in the season. Voldemort intends to destroy both the Wizarding and regular worlds to achieve immortality.

In general, the ideas in these stories evolve as the series progresses. This enables children to progress through each book as they grow and develop. Of course, every child is special.

As a parent or teacher, you will understand your child’s or student’s readiness better than anyone else. These age guidelines are only meant to serve as a roadmap to help you decide when to begin.

The Sorcerer’s Stone, like all Harry Potter novels, explores certain difficult subjects, but in a gentle manner that will encourage constructive conversation.

There are several quite frightening scenes; for example, halfway through the novel, the children encounter an evil troll that they must defeat together.

After the novel, there is a lengthy battle scene between Harry and the wicked Voldemort. It’s also worth noting that this book addresses the subject of parental mortality.

If your child hasn’t already been exposed to it by other books or movies, it’s a good idea to start with a gentle introduction.

Harry Potter Grade Reading Level:

Harry Potter Books Age Range

The appearance of a serial killer is one of the more mature subjects. Unlike past murders in the series, this serial murderer has no ties to several of his victims.

He murders for no reason and on a massive scale. Rowling addresses these ideas in an easy-to-understand manner, and most younger readers are likely to skip over their significance without much consideration.

The reading level expected for books 4 and 5 increases noticeably. The story gets more intertwined and complicated, and it is generally too difficult for children under the age of ten. These books are often longer and demand more concentration than many younger readers can muster.

Book 6 maintains most of the same reading and comprehension standards as the previous two volumes.

There are plot levels and turns to navigate that most children with strong listening abilities can tackle on their own without too much difficulty.

We would recommend the sixth book for 11-year-olds rather than 10-year-olds  if they wished to give it a try due to the complex topics that necessitate a degree of sophistication that many 10-year-olds lack.

The trend of death returns, but with much greater frequency. Characters vital to the plot are killed, and there are some particularly horrific scenes of brutality that overshadow anything seen in the previous novels.

However, since this is the last novel in J.K. Rowling’s epic series, there are a lot of important things to learn about life, death, courage, and commitment that is brilliantly illustrated by the conclusion of the book.

Harry Potter books by recommended age:

Difference Between the Children’s and Adults Editions of Harry Potter Books

There are fictional books aimed mostly at children. The plot centers around a young wizard called Harry Potter, who, along with his two best friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, attempts to defeat the cruel and sinister villain Lord Voldemort, who is also a wizard and wishes to control the whole Wizarding universe and rule over the non-magical people.

Harry Potter and his friends are Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry scholars. Even though it was written for teenagers, the characters and story have a dark feel to them and are equally exciting for adult readers.

As the book became popular with both adults and children, the publishers and the author agreed to print books with two separate covers.

The cover drawings on the children’s editions of the books are very colorful and vibrant, watercolor illustrations, while the adult versions feature more sophisticated depictions using darker and black colors. This step was reached after the publication of the fifth edition.

Older readers feel uneasy reading Harry Potter in public, such as in a café, library, or on trains while commuting.

So it was a marketing choice to release two separate book covers, one for children and one for adults. There is no distinction between the two versions in terms of text or plot.

They are the same. Another distinction between the children’s and adult versions is the font size. The font size in the adult edition is smaller than in the children’s version.

Are the Harry Potter Illustrated Books the Same as the Original?

They are the same when it comes to content on the inside! The beloved Harry Potter series brilliantly illustrated editions are full novels.

These volumes have no abridgments and are written in full color with customizable text margins. The pages are shiny, and the hardbound covers are well-built.

When we’re talking about the inconsistencies between the Harry Potter kid’s and adult versions, we can also note the differences between the U.K. editions and the American version.

The distinction is not in the plot, but in the vocabulary used. As we all know, British and American English spellings vary.

Most of the differences between the American and British versions is the use of the term “sorcerer” and “philosopher”.

There are both complete and unabridged copies, with some exceptions, such as the American edition including some “translations” into American idiom rather than expecting children to glance at a footnote describing the terms that are used only in Britain.

The Harry Potter series is intended for young readers. However, the way they were first published – as soon as they were finished – saw them getting darker and more serious as the original Harry Potter generation grew older. Books were published a couple of years apart, and the readers aged with the books.

Can a 6 Year Old Read Harry Potter?

A 6-year-old might be a little too young to read Harry Potter books. The lowest recommended age to read Harry Potter (first three books), is seven years old.

Can a 7 year old read Harry Potter?

A 7-year-old can start reading Harry Potter books. The first three Harry Potter books that are recommended for a 7-year-old are Philosopher’s Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban.