Book bands

Many schools band books by colour to help children choose the right books for their reading ability. For example, the simplest books are Band 1, which is pink, and the top level is Band 11, which is lime. A selection of titles from Usborne Very First Reading, Usborne Guided Reading, Usborne Phonics Readers, Usborne Reading Programme and Usborne Beginners have been assessed for book banding.

Book band charts

To find out the colour bands for over 200 Very First Reading, Phonics Readers, Usborne Reading Programme and Beginners titles, click on the relevant links below. These documents also indicated National Curriculum levels for England and Wales.

Chart showing colour bands for Usborne Very First Reading.
Chart showing colour bands for Usborne Phonics Readers.
Chart showing colour bands for Usborne Reading Programme.
Chart showing colour bands for Usborne Guided Reading packs.
Chart showing colour bands for Usborne Beginners.
Chart showing colour bands for all banded Usborne titles.

Other pages to help you choose books

Age and Key Stage - explanation of UK National Curriculum Key Stages
Lexile Measures - a system that matches books to a reader's ability
Search for books by age, key stage and more

Illustration from Help your child to read and write.

Browse the complete Usborne catalogue

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