How Many Pages are in a Children’s Book?
One of the questions I get asked most frequently is how long a typical children’s book should be. The answer varies depending on the age range and genre, but there are some industry standards to keep in mind. Let’s break it down by category.
Picture Books
For young children, picture books are a staple. These are usually aimed at kids ages 2-5 and rely heavily on illustrations to help tell the story. The vast majority of picture books clock in at 32 pages, or 16 double-page spreads.
Why 32? It comes down to printing efficiency. Picture books are printed on large sheets of paper, called “signatures,” which are divided into 8 book pages. A page length that is divisible by 8 is therefore cost-effective for publishers. For picture books, the sweet spot for page count is 32, however there are exceptions. Nonfiction picture books may be longer, due to their more complex subject matter. And while 32 is the most common, some picture books come in at 24, 40, or 48 pages (with about 3-6 of those pages dedicated to front and back matter, like title pages and copyright info.)
An equally important consideration when writing picture books is word count. Standard word count for today’s picture book is 1000 words or less for non-fiction and 500 words or less for fiction.
Early Readers and Chapter Books
As children start reading independently, they graduate to early readers and chapter books. These are a step up from picture books in terms of word count and complexity.
Chapter books often run between 40-150 manuscript pages, with chapters ranging from a half page to 12 pages in length (though 5-8 pages is most common.)
Middle Grade
Middle grade novels, aimed at 8-12 year olds, run longer than chapter books but not as long as YA. Often, they fall between 40-150 manuscript pages, but they can also be longer. From this level and up, font size tends to be pretty consistent and manuscript pages are approximately 250 words per page.
Young Adult
Young adult novels, for ages 12 and up, tend to be 50,000-80,000 words, though this varies by genre. Contemporary YA averages 69,000 words while fantasy averages 83,000. At the standard 250 words per page, that’s about 175-200 pages.
The Most Important Rule
While these are helpful guidelines, the most important rule is that your book should be as long as it needs to be to tell the story well. Don’t feel the need to pad or cut to hit some magic number. Focus on crafting a compelling tale, and the pages will follow.
I hope this overview helps provide some clarity on typical page counts for children’s books. Happy writing!
