The Children’s Book Council (CBC) has announced the first-ever “Reading Beyond” book lists, created to provide guidance to parents, caregivers, teachers, librarians, and others interested in discovering books for children who read at an advanced level and are seeking more challenging, but still age-appropriate, books.

Envisioned and created by the ALA-CBC Joint Committee, the Reading Beyond book lists include 25 titles in each of three categories: Kindergarten -1st graders reading at a 3rd grade level; 2nd– 3rd graders reading at a 5th grade level; and 4th– 5th graders reading at a 7th grade level.

These 75 books were chosen from over 600 submitted by publishers and librarians. The books were evaluated for their content as well as the challenge they would present to advanced readers, along with the consideration of a variety of genres and formats.