The 58 newly created Benchmark Books are the centerpiece of the Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System. These books, written expressly for assessment, provide the material for the student’s oral and silent reading from which the teacher can observe many dimensions of reading behavior.

The fiction and nonfiction books were all written and edited under the leadership of Fountas and Pinnell to conform to the designated Fountas and Pinnell level.

They each reflect the specific characteristics of the designated level as outlined in Leveled Books, K–8: Matching Texts to Readers for Effective Teaching (Fountas and Pinnell, 2006).

• Realistic fiction
• Simple animal fantasy
• Historical fiction

• Simple factual texts
• Biography
• Informational texts on science and social studies topics

1. Level
2. Book Introduction
3. Running Words for the Reading Record
4. Number of Errors
5. Total Running Words
6. Genre