Genre definitions

Non-academic or professional books that are non-fiction. Common genres include: memoirs, information texts, travel writing and essays.

Exceptions: newspapers, magazines, reviews and letters will not be counted. The rationale for this is that the challenge wants to support students by developing reading fluency and stamina. Many articles are too short for sustained reading and therefore do not promote the aims of the challenge.

Children's literature that is often used for reading aloud to children.

Exceptions: some picture books have no words. These titles are known and will not be counted.

These are chapter books that have language and topics that appeal to children from 8 years of age to 17 year olds (bigger kids can read them too). They often have pictures to support the story, less complex language, fewer words per page and are generally shorter than adult fiction.

Levelled reading books are used in guided reading and in home reading programmes. Their vocabulary and language complexity are controlled and they are organised on a spectrum. These books are used for young readers to practise their reading strategies and make meaning from texts.

Adult fiction encompasses the largest genre. It includes novels, novellas, plays and whole poetry books.

Notes on submissions: Individual poems are not counted unless they share the same title as the book. e.g. Pisan Cantos by Ezra Pound or the Four Quartets by T.S. Elliot.

Comic books and graphic novels are image driven stories with speech bubbles and narration boxes. They can be thought of as plays with pictures and should be read.