While there are no hard and fast rules about word count for children’s books or any genre, it is helpful to know what is generally expected. I have found the website DOGObooks to be the most useful place to check the word count of popular books for kids. The word count range for each age level is only a guideline. Obviously, the examples under each category are above and below what is generally accepted.
Children’s Chapter Books Word Count (age 6-9)
Word Count: 5,000 – 15,000 words
Examples:
- Nate the Great: 1,600 words
- Mercy Watson to the Rescue: 1,900 words
- Magic Tree House books: ~5,000 words
- Frindle: 16,000 words
Middle Grade Books Word Count (age 9-12)
Word Count: 30,000 – 60,000 words
Examples:
- Goosebumps Series: 20,000 – 25,000 words
- The Fourteenth Goldfish: 25,000 words
- Charlotte’s Web: 32,000 words
- The Wild Robot: 35,000 words
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: 36,000 words
- The Trumpet of the Swan: 42,000 words
- Hatchet: 42,000 words
- The Phantom Tollbooth: 42,000 words
- The Indian in the Cupboard: 44,000 words
- The Little House on the Prairie: 52,000 words
- Fablehaven: 75,000 words
- The Green Ember: 75,000 words
- Wonder: 73,000 words
- The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson): 87,000 words
Young Teen Books Word Count (age 12-15)
Word Count: 70,000 – 90,000 words
Examples:
- The Giver: 44,000 words
- The Outsiders: 49,000 words
- A Wrinkle in Time: 50,000 words
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: 77,000 words
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: 177,000 words
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: 143,000 words
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: 135,000 words
Young Adult Books Word Count (age 14-adult)
Word Count: 70,000 – 90,000 words
Examples:
- The Fault in Our Stars: 66,000 words
- Maze Runner: 100,000 words
- Divergent: 105,000 words
- The Hunger Games: 100,000 words
- Twilight: 119,000 words
- The Book Thief: 119,000 words
