Is Little Women hard to read? Its reading level from A1 to C2
How many words in every 100 you will probably not know, at each level from A1 to C2. Estimated over the whole book with Solaread’s own word-difficulty model.
- Author
- Louisa May Alcott
- First published
- 1868
- Length
- About 182,000 words
- Copyright
- Public domain
Short answer
Just right only at C2: 3.2 new words in every 100. At B1 it is too hard, 10.2 in 100. It is the ninth hardest of the 20 English classics we measured.
New words per 100, by level
Estimated over all 181,842 running words. Character names are left out. The labels follow Solaread’s difficulty scale: Easy means knowing 98 of every 100 words, Just right 95, A little hard 90, and below that Too hard.
Little Women vocabulary by level
At A2
- cry233×
- dear266×
- laugh218×
- herself248×
- aunt142×
- smile152×
- till195×
- begin207×
- sit226×
- lay124×
- gentleman92×
- comfort95×
The 12 words an A2 reader is most likely to stop at in this book, with how often each appears. Together they are about 4% of the new words at this level.
At B1
- aunt142×
- splendid59×
- whisper56×
- spite79×
- amuse45×
- sigh61×
- gentleman92×
- trifle39×
- satisfy60×
- dreadful43×
- glance52×
- parlor36×
The 12 words a B1 reader is most likely to stop at in this book, with how often each appears. Together they are about 3% of the new words at this level.
At B2
- amuse45×
- trifle39×
- to-day32×
- haf30×
- parlor36×
- exclaim31×
- bonnet36×
- spoilt29×
- tenderly26×
- peep32×
- rosy28×
- decidedly30×
The 12 words a B2 reader is most likely to stop at in this book, with how often each appears. Together they are about 3% of the new words at this level.
The opening lines
"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.
"It's so dreadful to be poor!" sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress.
"I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all," added little Amy, with an injured sniff.
"We've got father and mother and each other," said Beth contentedly, from her corner.
The four young faces on which the firelight shone brightened at the cheerful words, but darkened again as Jo said sadly,—
"We haven't got father, and shall not have him for a long time."
Open the free EPUB in Solaread and the words it marks follow your own level, with glosses in the language you choose.
Books with a similar level
- Treasure Island9.7 new words per 100 at B1
- Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde10.2 at B1
- A Christmas Carol10.7 at B1
Questions
Is Little Women hard to read?
At B1 it is too hard, with 10.2 new words in every 100 (about one in 10). It is just right only at C2.
What is the reading level of Little Women?
On Solaread’s scale it is just right only at C2, and the ninth hardest of the 20 English classics we measured. At B2, 6.4 in every 100 words are new.
Where can I get Little Women for free?
It is in the public domain. Project Gutenberg has a free EPUB you can import into Solaread.
Read it with help only where you need it
Import the free EPUB. Solaread marks the words you probably don’t know, at your level.