# Reading list — John Senior's "The Thousand Good Books"

> **A working edition of John Senior's list**, banded by age and ordered by reading difficulty,
> with reading levels, parent advisories and edition notes. **Compiled:** 2026-10-19.

## How to read this

- **Bands are Senior's age/maturity stages** (Nursery 2–7 · School Days 7–12 · Adolescence 12–16 ·
  Youth 16–20), **not** reading levels.
- **Level** = a **Lexile** measure (e.g. `880L`), shown bold in the tables, where a published one
  exists; otherwise our own **grade estimate** in italics (`est. G4–5` = US grades 4–5). Every cell
  also gives the **US grade and age**: `**880L** · G4 · 9–10 yrs`. Lexile scores sentence length and
  word rarity only; it says nothing about maturity or content. **Codes and the conversion are explained
  in the next section.** **Editions vary** — check the copy you own.
- Within **sections 1–2** I've **ordered roughly easiest → hardest**, so you can pick from the top for
  a fluent 7-year-old and work down. At the young end, **read-aloud vs independent matters more than
  the number**. **Sections 3–4 are alphabetical** (Senior's roll-call), not graded by difficulty.
- **⚠️** = adult content, violence, or dated/offensive material — pre-read or discuss.
- **Titles in the Nursery and School Days tables are links** to free copies on **Project Gutenberg** (a
  library of public-domain books). Open the link, then turn on **Read Aloud** (or **Immersive Reader**)
  in Edge to hear the book and highlight words as it speaks. Six titles have no clean free edition
  (Caldecott, Milne, Gesta Romanorum, John Gilpin, Henty, Little House) — those open a search page
  instead. Sections 3–4 are tables too but **aren't linked** (most are still in copyright).
- Senior insists on **19th-century editions/facsimiles with the original illustrators** (Caldecott,
  Greenaway, Crane, Doré, Cruikshank, Tenniel, Rackham, Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, Potter…).

---

## Lexile codes and grade levels (US grades and ages)

A **Lexile** is one number on a single scale, from **below 0L to above 1600L**; **higher = harder**. It
is *not* a grade and *not* an age. Plain **940L** means only "the text measures 940". A two-letter
**code** in front tells you what kind of book it is:

| Code | Name | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| **AD** | Adult Directed | Written to be **read aloud**. The number rates the *text*, not the child: `AD660L` (*Peter Rabbit*) is for a 4-year-old, but an adult reads it. |
| **NC** | Non-Conforming | Above the usual range for its age group — meant for a **strong reader** who still needs age-appropriate content. `NC1060L` (*Just So Stories*). |
| **HL** | High-Low | **High interest, low readability** — older content at a simpler reading level (teen themes, easy text). |
| **IG** | Illustrated Guide | Reference-style nonfiction, browsed rather than read straight through. |
| **GN** | Graphic Novel | Comic / graphic-novel format. |
| **BR** | Beginning Reader | Below 0L. **The bigger the number, the easier the book**: `BR300L` is easier than `BR100L`. |
| **NP** | Non-Prose | Poetry, plays, songs, text without normal punctuation — **no number is given**. |

### Lexile → grade

Every **Level** cell in the tables below is now written out as **measure · US grade · age**, so you
don't have to look anything up:

> `**880L** · G4 · 9–10 yrs` → a text measuring 880 Lexile, typical of grade 4, age 9–10.

MetaMetrics (the company that owns Lexile) states plainly that **no Lexile corresponds exactly to a
grade**: within any one grade, readers span roughly ±250L, so the bands **overlap** — 1060L sits in the
grade 6, 7 *and* 8 bands at once. To keep one number per book, I assign **the first grade whose
end-of-year text level reaches the measure**. So 1060L → **G6**, because typical grade-6 texts end at
1070L, while grade 5 ends at 1010L.

| Lexile | US grade | Age |
|---|---|---|
| BR–230L | K | 5–6 |
| 190–530L | 1 | 6–7 |
| 420–650L | 2 | 7–8 |
| 520–820L | 3 | 8–9 |
| 740–940L | 4 | 9–10 |
| 830–1010L | 5 | 10–11 |
| 925–1070L | 6 | 11–12 |
| 970–1120L | 7 | 12–13 |
| 1010–1185L | 8 | 13–14 |
| 1050–1260L | 9 | 14–15 |
| 1080–1335L | 10 | 15–16 |
| 1185–1385L | 11–12 | 16–18 |
| above 1385L | beyond school | 18+ |

The grade column is the **Common Core text band** for that school year. Grades are **US**; the UK and
Australia do not use Lexile at all — they use **book bands** (UK) and **PM/Reading Recovery levels**
(Australia), so no year column is given here. As a rough guide, **US grade N ≈ UK/AU year N+1**,
because the school years start a year later there.

**Worked example.** *Alice* is **880L** → the **grade 4** band (740–940L), so the text is about as hard
as a typical 9–10-year-old's reading book — even though the story is routinely read *to* six-year-olds.
That gap between **text difficulty** and **content maturity** is precisely why the ⚠️ flags and parent
notes matter more than the number.

**Matching a reader.** Lexile's own rule of thumb: a good challenge is a book **100L below to 50L
above** the child's own measured Lexile.

---

## 1. The Nursery (Ages 2–7)

### A. Picture books & verse — read aloud
| Work | Level | Parent notes / versions |
|---|---|---|
| [Caldecott — Picture Books (16 vols)](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Caldecott%20Picture%20Books) | picture book · 2–7 yrs | Gentle; foundational. |
| [Greenaway — Apple Pie; Marigold Garden; Mother Goose; Under the Window](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/15809/pg15809-images.html) | picture book · 2–7 yrs | Gentle. |
| [Mother Goose](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10607/pg10607-images.html) | nursery rhyme · 2–7 yrs | ⚠️ a few rhymes are historically violent/dark. |
| [Lear — Nonsense Omnibus; The Owl and the Pussycat](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/982/pg982-images.html) | verse · 2–7 yrs | Gentle, funny. |
| [Stevenson — A Child's Garden of Verses](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/25609/pg25609-images.html) | **1190L** · G9 · 14–15 yrs | Gentle. |
| [de la Mare — Come Hither; Songs of Childhood](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/62119/pg62119-images.html) | verse · 2–7 yrs | Gentle. |
| **[Potter — Peter Rabbit + 23 little books](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/14838/pg14838-images.html)** | **AD660L** · G3 · 8–9 yrs | Gentle. **Buy the individual little books**, not a big collected volume (the small size is deliberate). |
| [Aesop — Aesop's Fables](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/11339/pg11339-images.html) | **940L** · G4 · 9–10 yrs | Animal fables; mild violence/death. **Version:** L'Estrange translation (Senior's pick); modern retellings are easier. |
| [Perrault — Fairy Tales](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/29021/pg29021-images.html) | *est. G2–4* · 7–10 yrs | Standard fairy-tale violence. **Version:** Doré-illustrated Dover facsimile. |
| [Lamb — Beauty and the Beast; Tales from Shakespeare](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/20657/pg20657-images.html) | **960L** · G5 · 10–11 yrs | Adapted; gentle. |
| [Edgeworth — The Parent's Assistant; Moral Tales](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/36132/pg36132-images.html) | *est. G3–5* · 8–11 yrs | Didactic, gentle. |
| [Belloc — The Bad Child's Book of Beasts; Cautionary Tales](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/27175/pg27175-images.html) | verse · 2–7 yrs | Darkly comic; children come to harm (eaten, choked) — humorous warnings, but check sensitivity. |

### B. Easy chapter read-alouds
| Work | Level | Parent notes / versions |
|---|---|---|
| **[Milne — Winnie-the-Pooh series](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Milne%20Winnie-the-Pooh%20series)** | **790L** · G3 · 8–9 yrs | Gentle, warm; fine. |
| [Lofting — Doctor Dolittle series](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/501/pg501-images.html) | **580L** · G2 · 7–8 yrs | Gentle; ⚠️ some dated racial depictions in the original. |
| [Ewing — Jackanapes](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/20351/pg20351-images.html) | *est. G3–4* · 8–10 yrs | Gentle; **sad ending** (death). |
| [Gesta Romanorum (trans. Swann)](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Gesta%20Romanorum) | *est. G5+* · 10+ yrs | Medieval tales; **some grim/violent**; better as a story source. |

### C. Harder read-alouds
| Work | Level | Parent notes / versions |
|---|---|---|
| **[Carroll — Alice; Through the Looking-Glass](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/11/pg11-images.html)** | **880L** · G4 · 9–10 yrs | Nonsense the child won't fully get (fine). Some **drug imagery** (hookah caterpillar, "Drink Me", mushroom), mild menace. **Version:** Tenniel illustrations. |
| [Collodi — Pinocchio](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/500/pg500-images.html) | **790L** · G3 · 8–9 yrs (varies by translation) | **Darker than Disney** — Pinocchio hurt/hanged, frightening episodes. **Version:** read an unabridged Collodi translation, not a Disney retelling. |
| [Kingsley — The Water Babies](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/25564/pg25564-images.html) | **1070L** · G6 · 11–12 yrs | ⚠️ **dated racist/ethnic caricature**, death, harsh; some editions abridged. Consider skipping/editing. |
| **[Grimm — Household Stories](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/5314/pg5314-images.html)** | **1080L** · G7 · 12–13 yrs | **Real violence** (Cinderella's stepsisters mutilate their feet, etc.). **Version:** Crane-illustrated Dover facsimile; a selected/pruned edition for younger children. |
| [Andersen — Fairy Tales](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1597/pg1597-images.html) | **860L** · G4 · 9–10 yrs | Often **sad/dark** — death (*Little Match Girl*, *Little Mermaid*). |
| [Lang — colour Fairy Books](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/503/pg503-images.html) | **1120L** · G7 · 12–13 yrs | Fairy-tale violence; ⚠️ some dated content. **Version:** H.J. Ford illustrations (Dover facsimile). |
| **[Kipling — Just So Stories](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2781/pg2781-images.html)** | **NC1060L** · G6 · 11–12 yrs | Written to be **read aloud** (the "NC" = sentences above the intended age). ⚠️ dated imperial/racial language. |
| **[Kipling — The Jungle Book](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/236/pg236-images.html)** | **1140L** · G8 · 13–14 yrs | ⚠️ dated imperial/racial language; violence. |
| **[Grahame — The Wind in the Willows](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/289/pg289-images.html)** | **1140L** · G8 · 13–14 yrs | Gentle and warm; a *read-aloud* despite the high Lexile. **Version:** Shepard illustrations. |
| [Harris — Uncle Remus](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/21605/pg21605-images.html) | *est. G5+* · 10+ yrs | ⚠️ **Verified:** Harris's framing romanticises slavery ("nothing but pleasant memories of the discipline of slavery") and uses minstrel-style dialect; widely criticised (Alice Walker: "Uncle Remus, No Friend of Mine"). **The Brer Rabbit tales themselves are Black American folklore** — better read via modern retellings by Black authors. |
| **[Arabian Nights](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/20916/pg20916-images.html)** | *collection* · no measure | ⚠️ **Best free text for a child — checked against the file.** This is **Wiggin & Smith, *The Arabian Nights: Their Best-known Tales* (1909)**, with Maxfield Parrish's plates. It **omits the frame story entirely** (no wife killed each morning) and keeps the ten best-known tales, including *Aladdin*, *Ali Baba* and *Sindbad*. Not violence-free: Ali Baba's brother is quartered and the thieves boiled in oil; Sindbad meets the Old Man of the Sea. **Verdict:** the best starting point — read aloud at 7–9, independent at 9+. **Fuller but grimmer:** Andrew Lang's 1898 selection ([#128](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/128/pg128-images.html)) has 30+ tales but keeps the sultan **strangling a new wife each morning** — better at 11+. **Burton** is uncensored/adult. Sexual content is removed in both the Wiggin and Lang selections. |

---

## 2. School Days (Ages 7–12)

### A. Easier — read-aloud → early independent
| Work | Level | Parent notes / versions |
|---|---|---|
| [Dodge — Hans Brinker](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/764/pg764-images.html) | **960L** · G5 · 10–11 yrs | Gentle. |
| [Burnett — Little Lord Fauntleroy](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/479/pg479-images.html) | **1070L** · G6 · 11–12 yrs | Gentle. |
| **[Burnett — The Secret Garden](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/113/pg113-images.html)** | **970L** · G5 · 10–11 yrs | Gentle. |
| **[Twain — Tom Sawyer](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/74/pg74-images.html)** | **950L** · G5 · 10–11 yrs | ⚠️ dated racial language; read aloud/discuss. |
| **[Spyri — Heidi](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/20271/pg20271-images.html)** | **1000L** · G5 · 10–11 yrs | Gentle. **Version:** unabridged (many abridgements exist). |
| **[Sewell — Black Beauty](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/271/pg271-images.html)** | **1020L** · G6 · 11–12 yrs | ⚠️ **animal cruelty** (distressing). |
| **[Stevenson — Kidnapped](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/421/pg421-images.html)** | **990L** · G5 · 10–11 yrs | Adventure; ⚠️ violence, death. |
| [Shakespeare — The Comedy of Errors](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/49297/pg49297-images.html) | **1060L** · G6 · 11–12 yrs | Gentle comedy; use a good retelling or the Lamb version for younger. |
| [Collins — John Gilpin's Ride](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Collins%20John%20Gilpin's%20Ride) | verse · 7–12 yrs | Comic; gentle. |
| [Browning — The Pied Piper of Hamelin](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/18343/pg18343-images.html) | verse · 7–12 yrs | **Children led away/lost** (dark). Greenaway illustrations. |
| [Aldrich — Story of a Bad Boy](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1948/pg1948-images.html) | *est. G5–6* · 10–12 yrs | Mild mischief. |
| [Tarkington — Penrod series](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/402/pg402-images.html) | *est. G5–6* · 10–12 yrs | Comic; ⚠️ some dated racial language. |
| [Masefield — Jim Davis](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/7369/pg7369-images.html) | *est. G5–6* · 10–12 yrs | Smuggling adventure; mild. |
| [Porter — Freckles](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/111/pg111-images.html) | *est. G6+* · 11+ yrs | Gentle nature story. |
| [Garland — Son of the Middle Border](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/28791/pg28791-images.html) | *est. G6+* · 11+ yrs | Pioneer memoir. |
| [Alcott — Little Women; Little Men](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/37106/pg37106-images.html) | **1260L** · G9 · 14–15 yrs | Warm; **death** (Beth). |
| [Irving — The Sketch Book](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2048/pg2048-images.html) | *est. G6+* · 11+ yrs | Essays/stories incl. *Rip Van Winkle*. |

### B. Middle — independent
| Work | Level | Parent notes / versions |
|---|---|---|
| **[Stevenson — Treasure Island](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/120/pg120-images.html)** | **1070L** · G6 · 11–12 yrs | ⚠️ **violence, deaths, alcoholism, frightening** (Blind Pew). **Version:** N.C. Wyeth illustrations. |
| **[Dickens — A Christmas Carol; Cricket on the Hearth](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/46/pg46-images.html)** | **1080L** · G7 · 12–13 yrs | Warm/ghostly; fine. |
| [Dickens — David Copperfield](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/766/pg766-images.html) | **1070L** · G6 · 11–12 yrs | **Poverty, cruelty, death.** |
| [Hawthorne — Tanglewood Tales](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/976/pg976-images.html) | *est. G6+* · 11+ yrs | Greek myths; violence (standard). |
| [Kingsley — Westward Ho!](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1860/pg1860-images.html) | *est. G7+* · 12+ yrs | Adventure; ⚠️ dated imperial attitudes. |
| [Marryat — Midshipman Easy; Masterman Ready](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6629/pg6629-images.html) | *est. G7+* · 12+ yrs | Naval adventure; violence, dated attitudes. |
| [Pyle — Robin Hood](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10148/pg10148-images.html) | **1200L** · G9 · 14–15 yrs | Medieval violence (standard); Pyle's illustrations. |
| [Verne — Around the World in Eighty Days](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/103/pg103-images.html) | **1070L** · G6 · 11–12 yrs | Adventure; gentle. |
| [Kipling — Captains Courageous](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2225/pg2225-images.html) | **1020L** · G6 · 11–12 yrs | Sea story; ⚠️ dated. |
| [Kipling — Stalky & Co.](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/28940/pg28940-images.html) | *est. G7+* · 12+ yrs | ⚠️ bullying, imperial attitudes. |
| [Cooper — The Deerslayer and others](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3285/pg3285-images.html) | **1340L** · G11–12 · 16–18 yrs | ⚠️ **dated depictions of Native Americans**, violence. |
| [Irving — Rip Van Winkle / The Legend of Sleepy Hollow](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2048/pg2048-images.html) | **1360L** · G11–12 · 16–18 yrs | Sleepy Hollow is a ghost story (mild fright). |
| [Longfellow — Hiawatha](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/19/pg19-images.html) | **NC** (poem) · 7–12 yrs | ⚠️ **Verified:** romanticised, conflated tribes, the "vanishing Indian" trope, and stories **appropriated** from the Anishinaabe (via Schoolcraft); the hero's name is even wrong (Hiawatha is Iroquois; the source was Manabozho). Read with context. **Evangeline** also listed. |
| [Dana — Two Years Before the Mast](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2055/pg2055-images.html) | **1290L** · G10 · 15–16 yrs | Sea life; harsh conditions. |
| [Wyss — The Swiss Family Robinson](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/26274/pg26274-images.html) | **1270L** · G10 · 15–16 yrs | Adventure; ⚠️ colonial attitudes, "savages". **Version:** unabridged vs retellings differ. |
| [Defoe — Robinson Crusoe](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/521/pg521-images.html) | **1270L** · G10 · 15–16 yrs | ⚠️ **colonial attitudes, "savages", Friday**. **Version:** unabridged (retellings are easier). |

### C. Harder — older / discuss
| Work | Level | Parent notes / versions |
|---|---|---|
| **[Stowe — Uncle Tom's Cabin](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/203/pg203-images.html)** | **1050L** · G6 · 11–12 yrs | ⚠️ **slavery at the centre; violence; dated racial language** — powerful but heavy; read with discussion. |
| **[Twain — Huckleberry Finn](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/76/pg76-images.html)** | **980L** · G5 · 10–11 yrs (unabridged) | ⚠️ **the n-word appears ~200 times**; slavery/racism central. **Read aloud and discuss, or wait.** **Version:** annotated/teaching editions; some editions replace the slur (contested — discuss). |
| **[Twain — The Prince and the Pauper](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1837/pg1837-images.html)** | **1170L** · G8 · 13–14 yrs | Mild by comparison. (Senior: **not** the later novels.) |
| [Dickens — Oliver Twist](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/730/pg730-images.html) | *est. G7+* · 12+ yrs | **Poverty, cruelty, death**; Fagin's den and hints of vice/prostitution. Senior suggests reserving some Dickens for adolescents. |
| **[Henty — ~100 "Boys' Books"](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Henty%20100%20Boys'%20Books)** | *est. G7+* · 12+ yrs | ⚠️ **Verified:** aggressively imperialist and racist — prefaces longing for "a strong white power," lines such as "the intelligence of an average negro is about equal to that of a European child of ten years old"; called "spectacularly racist." Popular in conservative home-schooling; **needs explicit framing or skipping.** Abridged/edited 20th-c editions exist. |
| [Burroughs — Tarzan series](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/78/pg78-images.html) | **1000L** · G5 · 10–11 yrs | ⚠️ dated colonial/racial depictions; violence. |
| [Longfellow — Evangeline](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2039/pg2039-images.html) | **NC** (poem) · 7–12 yrs | Historical poem; gentle. |
| [James — Smoky; Lone Cowboy; Book of Cowboys](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/69798/pg69798-images.html) | **NC1440L** · G12+ · 18+ yrs | Westerns; some violence. |
| [Wilder — Little House on the Prairie; others](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Wilder%20Little%20House%20on%20the%20Prairie) | **760L** · G3 · 8–9 yrs | Warm; ⚠️ **dated racial depictions of Native Americans**; some scare. |

---

## 3. Adolescence (Ages 12–16) — independent

> Adult themes are the norm (romance, violence, crime, death, faith). Senior intends this as the
> bridge to the "Great Books." **Alphabetical**, not ordered easiest→hardest. Level figures are
> **band estimates, not measured Lexiles**; many titles are still in copyright.

| Work | Level | Parent notes / versions |
|---|---|---|
| Brontë (Emily) — Wuthering Heights | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | ⚠️ Destructive romance. |
| Collins — The Moonstone | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Dampier — A Voyage Round the World | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Daudet — Tartarin | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Dickens — Barnaby Rudge; Nicholas Nickleby; The Old Curiosity Shop | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Doyle — Sherlock Holmes; The White Company | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Du Maurier — Trilby | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Dumas — The Three Musketeers | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | Violence. |
| Eggleston — The Hoosier Schoolmaster | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Eliot — Romola; Adam Bede; The Mill on the Floss | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Fabre — Souvenirs entomologiques | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Hughes — Tom Brown's School Days; Tom Brown at Oxford | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Hugo — Ninety-Three; Les Misérables; The Hunchback of Notre-Dame | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | ⚠️ Prostitution, poverty, death. |
| Ibáñez — Blood and Sand; The Four Horsemen | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Le Sage — Gil Blas | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Park — Travels in Africa | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Parkman — The Oregon Trail | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Poe — Tales and poems | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | ⚠️ Horror. |
| Polo — Travels | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Reade — The Cloister and the Hearth | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Rhodes — Best Novels and Stories | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Scott — Ivanhoe; Rob Roy | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Shelley — Frankenstein | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | ⚠️ |
| Shakespeare — A Midsummer Night's Dream; Romeo and Juliet; The Merchant of Venice | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | ⚠️ *Romeo and Juliet*: suicide. |
| Sienkiewicz — Quo Vadis; With Fire and Sword | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Swift — Gulliver's Travels | **≈1300L** · G10 · 15–16 yrs (unabridged) | ⚠️ Adult satire; crude passages. **Version:** children's adaptations ≈590L. |
| Wallace — The Four Just Men; Sanders of the River | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | ⚠️ |
| Wells — The Time Machine; The Invisible Man | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |
| Wister — The Virginian | *est. G7–10* · 12–16 yrs | — |

---

## 4. Youth (Ages 16–20) — adult literature

> Mature content is the norm (adultery, violence, faith, suffering). **Alphabetical**, not ordered
> easiest→hardest. Level figures are **band estimates, not measured Lexiles**; many titles are still
> in copyright.

| Work | Level | Parent notes / versions |
|---|---|---|
| Austen — Pride and Prejudice | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Balzac — Père Goriot | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Bellamy — Looking Backward | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Bernanos — Diary of a Country Priest | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Blackmore — Lorna Doone | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Borrow — The Romany Rye | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Brontë (Charlotte) — Jane Eyre | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | ⚠️ The "madwoman in the attic". |
| Buchan — The Thirty-Nine Steps | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Butler — The Way of All Flesh; Erewhon | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Cabell — Jurgen | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Cable — Old Creole Days | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Cather — My Ántonia; Death Comes for the Archbishop | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Chekhov — Stories and plays | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Chesterton — Father Brown; The Everlasting Man; The Man Who Was Thursday | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Columbus — Four Voyages | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Conrad — Lord Jim | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Cook — Captain Cook's Explorations | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| de Maupassant — Stories | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Dickens — Bleak House; Our Mutual Friend; Martin Chuzzlewit | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Dostoyevsky — Crime and Punishment; The Brothers Karamazov | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Doughty — Travels in Arabia Deserta | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Fielding — Tom Jones | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | ⚠️ Sexual content. |
| Hakluyt — Voyages | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Hope — The Prisoner of Zenda | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Hawthorne — The Scarlet Letter | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | Adultery at the centre. |
| Irving — Life of Columbus; Conquest of Granada; Life of George Washington | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Jackson — Ramona | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Lagerlöf — Jerusalem; Gösta Berling | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Loti — An Iceland Fisherman | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Manzoni — The Betrothed | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Melville — Moby-Dick; Billy Budd | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Moore — Lalla Rookh | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Morris — News from Nowhere | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Scott — Scott's Last Expedition | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Shakespeare — Macbeth; Hamlet; The Taming of the Shrew; As You Like It | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Stendhal — The Red and the Black; The Charterhouse of Parma | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Stanley — How I Found Livingstone | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | ⚠️ Colonial attitudes. |
| Thackeray — Vanity Fair; Henry Esmond | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Tolstoy — War and Peace | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Trollope — Barchester series | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Turgenev — Fathers and Sons; A Nest of Gentlefolk | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Undset — Kristin Lavransdatter | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Verga — The House by the Medlar Tree | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |
| Washington — Up from Slavery | *est. G9–12* · 14–18 yrs | — |

---


## 5. Spiritual Reading (all ages)
- **The Bible** — Senior's picks: **King James Version** (Protestant) or **Douay-Rheims** (Catholic).
  ⚠️ Many passages (violence, sexual content) are **not for young children** — read selectively.
- **Bunyan — The Pilgrim's Progress** — allegory; some frightening episodes. **Version:** a good
  children's illustrated edition, or the full text for older readers.
- **St Francis de Sales — Introduction to the Devout Life** — for older readers.

---

## 6. Music (Senior's beginner order)
Beethoven *Violin Concerto*; Beethoven *Pastoral Symphony*; Verdi *Rigoletto* (read the libretto in
English first, then follow scenes in Italian); Puccini *La Bohème*; Mozart *Clarinet/Oboe Concerto*,
*Jupiter Symphony*, piano music; Beethoven *Symphony No. 7*; Brahms *Symphony No. 4*; Chopin
selections. *Plus live concerts.* (One work for at least a week, repeated, until the themes are
recognised.)

## 7. Art
Kenneth Clark's *Civilisation* (book + series); **museum and gallery visits** above all.

---

## Versions & editions worth knowing

| Title | What to look for |
|---|---|
| **Arabian Nights** | **Wiggin & Smith, *Their Best-known Tales* (1909)** — best for children: no frame story, Parrish plates, Aladdin/Ali Baba/Sindbad. **Lang (1898)** — fuller (30+ tales) but keeps the wife-killing frame. **Burton** — uncensored/adult. |
| **Aesop** | L'Estrange translation (Senior); modern retellings easier. |
| **Grimm** | Crane-illustrated Dover facsimile; a selected/pruned edition for younger. |
| **Perrault** | Doré-illustrated Dover facsimile. |
| **Pinocchio** | Unabridged Collodi translation (not a Disney retelling). |
| **Gulliver's Travels** | Unabridged (≈1300L) vs children's adaptation (≈590L). |
| **Robinson Crusoe / Swiss Family Robinson** | Unabridged vs retellings. |
| **Bible** | KJV / Douay-Rheims (Senior). |
| **Pilgrim's Progress** | Children's illustrated edition vs full text. |
| **Huckleberry Finn** | Annotated/teaching edition; some editions replace the slur (contested). |
| **Treasure Island** | N.C. Wyeth illustrations. |
| **Alice / Wind in the Willows** | Tenniel / Shepard illustrations. |
| **Peter Rabbit** | Individual little books, not a collected volume. |
| **Henty** | Abridged/edited 20th-c editions exist; needs framing either way. |

---

## Scholarly sources for the advisories

Found via **CiteKit** (academic index); useful if you want the criticism behind a flag.

- **Henty** — McMahon, "Quick, Ethel, Your Rifle!" (*Studies of the Novel*, 2010); Logan, "Henty and the Ashantis" (*Children's Literature*, 1991); *A Complete Identity: the Image of the Hero in G. A. Henty* (2008); *The Imperial Curriculum* (1993).
- **Uncle Remus** — Moore & MacCann, "The Uncle Remus Travesty" (*Children's Literature*, 1986); Zobel Marshall, "Nothing but Pleasant Memories of the Discipline of Slavery" (*Marvels & Tales*, 2018); "Jim and Uncle Remus: stereotypicity versus authenticity" (2016).
- **Hiawatha** — Stewart, "Hiawatha / Hereafter: Re-appropriating Longfellow's Epic" (*American Indian Quarterly*, 2013, DOI 10.1353/ari.2013.0036); "The Indian Legend of Hiawatha" (*PMLA*); U.S. National Park Service, "Hiawatha" (Longfellow House).
- **The Water-Babies** — "Charles Kingsley's *The Water-Babies*: Industrial England, the Irish Famine…" (2017, DOI 10.1017/s1060150316000498).
- **Tarzan** — "The Journey from Savagery to Civilization: A Lacanian Reading of *Tarzan*" (2022, DOI 10.21608/jwadi.2022.253404).
- **Little House** — "Writing Back to the Canon: *The Birchbark House* as Counter-Narrative to *Little House on the Prairie*" (2025, DOI 10.21747/2182-9934/via14_1v2).
- **Robinson Crusoe** — "Colonialism and Capitalist Ideology in *Robinson Crusoe*" (2021, DOI 10.46630/phm.13.2021.13); "Expanding Empires, Expanding Selves" (2003).
- **Deerslayer** — "James Fenimore Cooper and the Image of America" (2018, DOI 10.7591/9781501726057-007).
- **Grimm** — "Sex and violence in fairy tales" (*J. Paediatrics & Child Health*, 2013, DOI 10.1111/jpc.12432).

*Lexile note: **verified** from published measures where reachable — **42 of 142 rows** carry a measured Lexile (bold); the italic figures are our grade-band estimates. **Verified:** Huck Finn 980L, Little House 760L, Pinocchio 790L (varies by translation), Alice 880L, Pooh 790L, Peter Rabbit AD660L, Aesop 940L, Tom Sawyer 950L, Secret Garden 970L, Kidnapped 990L, Heidi 1000L, Black Beauty 1020L, Just So Stories NC1060L, Treasure Island 1070L, Grimms 1080L, Christmas Carol 1080L, Jungle Book 1140L, Wind in the Willows 1140L, Little Women 1260L, Robinson Crusoe 1270L, Swiss Family Robinson 1270L, Gulliver ≈1300L, A Child's Garden of Verses 1190L, Tales from Shakespeare 960L, Doctor Dolittle 580L, The Water-Babies 1070L, Andersen 860L, Blue Fairy Book 1120L, Hans Brinker 960L, Little Lord Fauntleroy 1070L, Comedy of Errors 1060L, David Copperfield 1070L, Robin Hood 1200L, Around the World 1070L, Captains Courageous 1020L, Deerslayer 1340L, Two Years Before the Mast 1290L, Uncle Tom's Cabin 1050L, Prince and the Pauper 1170L, Tarzan 1000L, Smoky NC1440L. **No published Lexile exists** for Caldecott, Greenaway, Mother Goose, de la Mare, Perrault, Edgeworth, Belloc, Ewing, Gesta Romanorum, Uncle Remus, Arabian Nights, John Gilpin, Pied Piper, Story of a Bad Boy, Penrod, Jim Davis, Freckles, Son of the Middle Border, Sketch Book, Westward Ho!, Marryat, Stalky & Co., Hiawatha, Henty, Evangeline — those keep estimates. **Conflicting by edition:** Oliver Twist (850–1060L) and Tanglewood Tales (1200/1260L), so no single figure is given. Sections 3–4 carry no measured Lexiles at all. No number was invented; Lexile is edition-specific, so check your copy.*

---

*Source: "The Thousand Good Books" by John Senior (his incomplete life-long reading list). This is
our own annotated working copy. **Levels:** Lexile where verified; italics = estimate. **Parent
notes are guidance only** — pre-read your edition; editions and translations differ (esp. expurgated
vs complete).*