| | Lexical Difficulty | Syntactic (a) Difficulty | |
Series/Category | Title | LEX | mean U-value | TPS | Lexile |
Sheldon Basic Reading |
At Home (1st pre-primer, 1961) | -83 | 672 | 2.7 | N/A |
Sheldon Basic Reading |
Here and Near (2nd pre-primer, 1961) | -80 | 628 | 3.7 | N/A |
Dick and Jane |
The New We Work and Play (2nd pre-primer) | -78 | 603 | 3.5 | N/A |
Dick and Jane |
Friends Old and New (2nd grade, part I) (1965) | -59 | 451 | 8.2 | N/A |
Boxcar Children |
The Yellow House Mystery | -58 | 458 | 8.6 | 440L |
Dr. Seuss |
The Cat in the Hat | -54 | 454 | 7.1 | 260L |
Little Critter |
Just Shopping With Mom | -53 | 470 | 6.3 | AD200L |
Dick and Jane |
We Play Outside (through page 82) (1960s) | -53 | 450 | 4.0 | N/A |
Elson Basic Readers |
Book Three (1931) | -51 | 443 | 13.5 | N/A |
Boxcar Children |
The Boxcar Children | -51 | 415 | 11.1 | 490L |
I Can Read Book, Level 2 |
Frog and Toad Together | -50 | 393 | 7.7 | 330L |
McGuffy's Reader |
McGuffy's Eclectic 2nd Reader | -49 | 413 | 12.3 | N/A |
Boxcar Children |
Surprise Island | -49 | 386 | 10.0 | 530L |
Boxcar Children |
Mystery Ranch | -49 | 375 | 8.6 | 440L |
Elson Basic Readers |
Book One (1930) | -49 | 417 | 7.9 | N/A |
I Can Read Book, Level 2 |
Frog and Toad are Friends | -48 | 338 | 8.1 | 400L |
Curious George |
Curious George Takes a Train | -48 | 416 | 8 | AD360L |
Little Critter |
Just a Bully | -48 | 448 | 9.6 | N/A |
Elson Basic Readers |
Book Two | -47 | 393 | 10.0 | N/A |
McGuffy's Reader |
McGuffy's Eclectic 1st Reader | -47 | 416 | 8.8 | N/A |
Little Critter |
Our Friend Sam | -47 | 432 | 7.7 | 220L |
Clifford |
Clifford We Love You | -45 | 416 | 5.2 | 120L |
|
Love & Kisses, Eloise | -45 | 454 | 16.0 | N/A |
Classics Illustrated Junior |
The Wishing Well | -43 | 419 | 8.2 | N/A |
|
Black Beauty | -42 | 421 | 25.4 | 1010L |
Dr. Seuss |
Green Eggs and Ham | -42 | 293 | 5.6 | 30L |
Berenstain Bears (First Time Books) |
The Berenstain Bears Get in a Fight | -39 | 363 | 12 | AD680L |
Elson Basic Readers |
Book Four (1936) | -38 | 370 | 15.9 | N/A |
Little Critter |
Just Fishing With Grandma | -37 | 366 | 8 | N/A |
Narnia |
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe | -37 | 353 | 15.5 | 940L |
Berenstain Bears (Beg. Reading 1) | The Berenstain Bears and the Baby Chipmunk | -37 | 349 | 6.4 | N/A |
|
Houghton Mifflin Literary Readers Book 2 (1989) | -37 | 347 | 8.6 | N/A |
Little Critter |
Just a Snowy Vacation | -36 | 375 | 8 | N/A |
I Can Read Book, Level 2 |
Mouse Soup | -35 | 348 | 7.2 | 240L |
The Great Brain |
The Great Brain | -35 | 355 | 14 | 840L |
McGuffy's Reader |
McGuffy's Eclectic 3rd Reader | -34 | 337 | 17.0 | N/A |
A Picture Book of |
A Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln | -34 | 309 | 9.6 | AD630L |
|
Rikki Tikki Tavi | -33 | 342 | 16.1 | 800L |
|
Babe Ruth Saves Baseball!, by Frank Murphy | -33 | 319 | 6.7 | 450L |
|
From Slave to Soldier | -33 | 298 | 7.4 | 460L |
Oz |
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz | -33 | 348 | 18.7 | 1000L |
|
The Mole Family's Christmas | -30 | 322 | 13.9 | N/A |
A Picture Book of |
A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr. | -29 | 304 | 10.6 | AD680L |
|
Half Magic | -29 | 317 | 12.9 | 830L |
Berenstain Bears (Chapter Books) |
The Berenstain Bears and the Red Handed Thief | -29 | 349 | 9.7 | 500L |
Spiderman |
Spiderman (Amazing Fantasy #15, Aug 1962) | -29 | 337 | 7.7 | N/A |
Oz |
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz | -28 | 331 | 17.0 | 1020L |
Magic Tree House | Vacation Under the Volcano | -28 | 296 | 7.3 | 410L |
Hardy Boys |
The House on the Cliff | -28 | 308 | 11.7 | 740L |
Little House |
Little House in the Big Woods (first 1,000 words) | -28 | 308 | 17.4 | 930L |
Curious George |
Curious George Makes Pancakes | -28 | 358 | 9.1 | AD340L |
Oz |
Ozma of Oz | -27 | 321 | 18.5 | 1070L |
McGuffy's Reader |
McGuffy's Eclectic 4th Reader | -27 | 316 | 19.4 | N/A |
Heinlein Juvenile |
Have Space Suit, Will Travel | -27 | 311 | 11.9 | 770L |
Graphic History |
Young Riders of the Pony Express | -26 | 288 | 8.3 | GN670L |
Landmark Book |
Famous Pirates of the New World | -26 | 309 | 15.4 | N/A |
|
The Story of Ferdinand | -26 | 323 | 14 | NC710L |
Richard Scarry |
The Best Balloon Ride Ever | -25 | 291 | 7.6 | N/A |
Harry Potter |
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone | -24 | 290 | 13 | 880L |
A Picture Book of |
A Picture Book of Robert E. Lee | -23 | 262 | 13.3 | AD780L |
|
Animal Farm | -23 | 303 | 17.1 | 1170L |
|
The Picture of Dorian Gray | -23 | 305 | 13.4 | 970L |
Dick and Jane |
More People and Progress (2nd book, 6th grade) | -23 | 293 | 11.3 | N/A |
|
Football Camp, by Tim Green | -23 | 299 | 12.2 | 880L |
A Picture Book of |
A Picture Book of Sacagawea | -21 | 250 | 12.6 | AD800L |
Nancy Drew |
The Bungalow Mystery | -21 | 272 | 12.0 | 770L |
Harry Potter |
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | -21 | 309 | 13.3 | 880L |
Elson Basic Readers |
Book Six | -21 | 290 | 17.8 | N/A |
|
The Berenstain Bears and the Big Election | -20 | 282 | 8.3 | N/A |
|
Golden Book History of the United States (v1) | -20 | 285 | 16.5 | N/A |
|
I Never Had it Made | -20 | 302 | 21.5 | 1130L |
Bailey School Kids |
Frankenstein Doesn't Plant Petunias | -19 | 255 | 9.4 | 570L |
Bailey School Kids |
Angels Don't Know Karate | -19 | 265 | 10.1 | 570L |
|
Treasure Island | -19 | 296 | 21.7 | 1100L |
|
The Ransom of Red Chief | -18 | 275 | 14.9 | N/A |
|
The Fellowship of the Ring | -18 | 273 | 13.8 | 860L |
Merit Badge Mystery |
The Berenstain Bear Scouts & the White Water Mystery | -18 | 267 | 7.4 | 370L |
Pulp: G-8 and His Battle Aces |
Squadron of Corpses | -17 | 264 | 9.1 | N/A |
Chronicles of Prydain |
The Book of Three | -17 | 283 | 11.3 | 770L |
|
The Hobbit | -17 | 286 | 16.1 | 1000L |
Sherlock Holmes | A Scandal in Bohemia | -17 | 291 | 13.0 | 1060L |
|
Baseballs' Greatest Hitters (by S.A. Kramer) | -17 | 250 | 9.3 | 660L |
Chronicles of Prydain |
The Black Cauldron | -16 | 273 | 12.6 | 760L |
|
Knight's Castle | -16 | 268 | 11.0 | 860L |
Sherlock Holmes |
A Study In Scarlet | -16 | 288 | 16.3 | 1060L |
Chronicles of Prydain |
Taran Wanderer | -15 | 293 | 12.7 | 870L |
|
D'Aulaires' Book Of Greek Myths | -15 | 280 | 18.3 | 1070L |
Oz |
The Marvelous Land of Oz | -15 | 279 | 19.1 | N/A |
Heinlein Juvenile |
Space Cadet | -15 | 271 | 11.8 | N/A |
|
Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad | -14 | 263 | 25.4 | 1300L |
H.P. Lovecraft Horror | The Statement of Randolph Carter | -14 | 303 | 20.2 | N/A |
W.I.T.C.H. |
W.I.T.C.H. A bridge between worlds | -14 | 276 | 10.7 | N/A |
|
Aesop's Fables (ISBN:0-448-05803-0) | -13 | 266 | 16.3 | N/A |
McGuffy's Reader |
McGuffy's Eclectic 5th Reader | -12 | 267 | 22.5 | N/A |
Pulp: The Shadow |
The Shadow Unmasks | -11 | 257 | 11.1 | N/A |
Arsene Lupin |
The Arrest of Arsene Lupin | -10 | 259 | 14.4 | N/A |
Edgar Allan Poe | The Cask of Amontillado | -9 | 278 | 9.8 | 700L |
|
Tom Swift and His Megascope Space Prober | -9 | 229 | 10.6 | N/A |
Chronicles of Prydain |
The Castle of Llyr | -8 | 245 | 11.4 | 790L |
Pulp: Doc Savage |
The Land of Terror | -7 | 229 | 10.4 | N/A |
|
The Call of the Wild | -7 | 238 | 18.0 | 1120L
c |
Smithsonian Magazine: Biology |
Smithsonian: The Origins of Life (Oct 2010) | -6 | 233 | 19.0 | N/A |
How and Why Wonder Book |
Mushrooms Ferns and Mosses | -4 | 230 | 16.6 | |
Pulp: Doc Savage |
The Man of Bronze | -4 | 227 | 11.0 | N/A |
H.P. Lovecraft Horror |
The Doom that Came to Sarnath | -4 | 229 | 28.6 | N/A |
Pulp Magazine Fiction |
The Masked Alibi | -3 | 214 | 13.3 | N/A |
College Textbook: Physics | Physics, Part 1, by Resnick and Halliday | -3 | 191 | 21.6 | N/A |
McGuffy's Reader |
McGuffy's Eclectic 6th Reader | -3 | 233 | 23.9 | N/A |
Newspaper |
Sports Illustrated Article(s) | -3 | 234 | 20.9 | |
|
The Illiad (Fagles translation) | -2 | 235 | 27.0 | 1330L |
History of Civilization |
The Age of Napoleon | -2 | 210 | 17.0 | N/A |
|
History's 100 Greatest Events | -1 | 217 | 22.4 | N/A |
Smithsonian Magazine: Astronomy |
Smithsonian Magazine: Lucky Bird (October 2011) | -1 | 207 | 19.9 | N/A |
Newspaper | Wall Street Journal Editorials | 0 | 212 | 18.7 | |
Smithsonian Magazine: Biology |
Smithsonian: Something New Under the Sun (Apr 2011) | 0 | 202 | 19.7 | N/A |
| U.S. Constitution (spelling errors corrected) | 1 | 193 | 42.7 | N/A |
Smithsonian Magazine: History |
Smithsonian: The Cherokees vs. Andrew Jackson (Mar 2011) | 2 | 201 | 20.7 | N/A |
Dungeons and Dragons |
AD&D Monster Manual (1st edition) | 3 | 186 | 17.8 | N/A |
Dungeons and Dragons |
AD&D Players Handbook (1st edition) | 4 | 182 | 26.1 | N/A |
|
Washington's First Inaugural Address | 5 | 231 | 55.1 | 1700L
b |
Smithsonian Magazine: Archaeology |
Smithsonian: El Mirador: The Lost City of the Maya (May 2011) | 7 | 194 | 24.1 | N/A |
Smithsonian Magazine: History |
Smithsonian: Fort Sumter The Civil War Begins (Apr 2011) | 8 | 185 | 20.8 | N/A |
Scientific American: Biology |
SciAm: Cancer Clues from Pet Dogs (Dec 2006) | 11 | 193 | 22.5 | N/A |
Court Ruling |
Roe vs. Wade (1973) | 13 | 177 | 25.2 | N/A |
Lit. Crit. Parody |
Transgressing the Boundaries
(explaination) |
20 | 152 | 29.1 | N/A |