The haunted library

Name: The haunted library
Author: Dori Hillestad Butler
ISBN: 9780448462424

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Dori Hillestad Butler

Illustrated by Aurore Damant

Reading Level 3 LE · Mild · Emotional Ages 5-8 Matched

The text is written at a 3rd grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for younger children (ages 5–8), and the content is mild with minimal sensitive material. Its HootRating code, LE, means mild content, mostly emotional.

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About This Book

Above the town library, Claire hears footsteps that nobody else can hear, and the quiet shelves hold a ghost boy named Kaz who has lost his whole family. Dusty book spines, a creaky staircase, and a mystery haunting the stacks are waiting for two new friends. Could the ghost in the library be someone Kaz has been missing all along?

Themes

Friendship Mystery Fantasy World-Building Family

Quick Assessment

When Kaz, a ghost boy, is separated from his ghost family after his haunt is torn down, he befriends Claire, a girl who lives above the town library and can see ghosts. Together they investigate a mysterious ghost in the library that may be connected to Kaz's lost relatives. This illustrated chapter book is gentle and low-stakes, with friendship and mystery at its center and no notable frightening content.

Why we rated The haunted library LE (Mild)

The haunted library is written at a Level 3 reading level across 126 pages. Reading-wise, most kids in grade 4 and up can manage The haunted library on their own; younger readers can enjoy it with a parent or teacher reading along.

We rate The haunted library as LE (Mild, mostly emotional) because the content sits in the "Mild" range — mild conflict — the kind a child encounters in normal play and sibling life. Across our four dimensions (emotional, physical, social, thematic) the book reads as evenly mild; no single dimension stands out as a concern.

Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Loss & Grief.

Thematically, The haunted library explores friendship, mystery, fantasy world-building, and family — these threads give the book room to mean different things to different readers.

Good fit for

✓ Children in the Ages 5-8 range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
✓ Kids drawn to stories about friendship, mystery, fantasy world-building.

Maybe not for

! Children currently coping with grief — the themes may hit close to home.

For Parents

Content Intensity

LE · Mild · Emotional

Emotional

Mild ←

Physical

Gentle

Social

Gentle

Thematic

Gentle

Reading the HootRating code: the first letter is the content intensity (C = Gentle · L = Mild · M = Moderate · I = Intense · V = Very Intense); the second, when there is one, is the kind of content that drives it (E = Emotional · P = Physical · S = Social · T = Thematic). Reading level and age range are rated separately. How we rate

Light conflict or tension. Mild peril resolved quickly.