
A Dog's Life
by Ann M. Martin · Grades 4–6 · Children's
A Dog's Life by Ann M. Martin is on US reading lists at grades 4–6. It appears on 4 lists: 4 book-award lists, across 4 states. Every citation below links to the primary source.
Before you buy: Grades 4–6 · 182 pages. The button opens the paperback edition (ISBN 9780439717007). If the class uses a set edition or translation, match its ISBN first.
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Widely assigned — 4 curriculum lists · 4 states
Grade placement varies by school — the median assigned book spans 4 grade levels (83% span three or more, across 13,258 source-cited assignments).
This page shows where A Dog's Life is assigned in US schools — curricula, states, grades, and the primary-source citations behind each placement. Not a summary or study guide.
Reading level at a glance
- Grade range
- Grades 4–6
- Pages
- 182
- Reading time
- about 3h 20m (est.)
- First published
- 2007
- Genre
- Children's
- ISBN-13
- 9780439717007
Sources: grade range from the cited lists below, last checked 2026-09-24; pages and year from our catalog record (sources); reading time is an estimate at 250 words a minute.
Good fit for grade 4?
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New to these terms? Reading levels by grade
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About this book
Book facts and sources (4)
- On award reading lists
- Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award (source: library.arkansas.gov)
- Young Hoosier Book Award (source: cdn.ymaws.com)
- Pacific Northwest Young Reader's Choice Award (source: Wikipedia)
- William Allen White Children's Book Award (source: Wikipedia)
- Catalog record
- First published 2007 · 182 pages (edition lengths vary) (source: how we source book data)
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Why widely assigned
This children's title is typically read at grades 4–6. Written in the 2000s; cited on 4 lists: 4 book-award lists.
Where this book is recommended
Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award
- recommended·4th grade · Arkansassource: Arkansas State Library — Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award past winners, 2008 winner (grades 4-6)
- recommended·5th grade · Arkansassource: Arkansas State Library — Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award past winners, 2008 winner (grades 4-6)
- recommended·6th grade · Arkansassource: Arkansas State Library — Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award past winners, 2008 winner (grades 4-6)
Pacific Northwest Young Reader's Choice Award
- recommended·4th gradesource: Pacific Northwest Library Association — Young Reader's Choice Award winners (1940-2022), via Wikipedia — 2008 Winner
- recommended·4th grade · Washingtonsource: Pacific Northwest Library Association — Young Reader's Choice Award (the oldest children's-choice book award in North America, since 1940; students across the Pacific Northwest, including Washington, read the nominees and vote for their favorites)
- recommended·5th gradesource: Pacific Northwest Library Association — Young Reader's Choice Award winners (1940-2022), via Wikipedia — 2008 Winner
- recommended·5th grade · Washingtonsource: Pacific Northwest Library Association — Young Reader's Choice Award (the oldest children's-choice book award in North America, since 1940; students across the Pacific Northwest, including Washington, read the nominees and vote for their favorites)
- recommended·6th gradesource: Pacific Northwest Library Association — Young Reader's Choice Award winners (1940-2022), via Wikipedia — 2008 Winner
- recommended·6th grade · Washingtonsource: Pacific Northwest Library Association — Young Reader's Choice Award (the oldest children's-choice book award in North America, since 1940; students across the Pacific Northwest, including Washington, read the nominees and vote for their favorites)
William Allen White Children's Book Award
- recommended·4th grade · Kansassource: Kansas William Allen White Children's Book Award (Emporia State University) — winner list (grades 3-5 + 6-8 divisions) via Wikipedia — 2008 winner
- recommended·5th grade · Kansassource: Kansas William Allen White Children's Book Award (Emporia State University) — winner list (grades 3-5 + 6-8 divisions) via Wikipedia — 2008 winner
- recommended·6th grade · Kansassource: Kansas William Allen White Children's Book Award (Emporia State University) — winner list (grades 3-5 + 6-8 divisions) via Wikipedia — 2008 winner
Young Hoosier Book Award
- recommended·4th grade · Indianasource: Indiana Library Federation — Young Hoosier Book Award past winners, 2010 winner (Intermediate)
- recommended·5th grade · Indianasource: Indiana Library Federation — Young Hoosier Book Award past winners, 2010 winner (Intermediate)
- recommended·6th grade · Indianasource: Indiana Library Federation — Young Hoosier Book Award past winners, 2010 winner (Intermediate)
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Common questions
- What grade level is A Dog's Life?
- A Dog's Life is listed for grades 4–6. It appears on 4 book-award lists across 4 states. Exact placement varies by school and district.
- How long does it take to read A Dog's Life?
- It takes about 3h 20m to read A Dog's Life (182 pages) at an average adult reading pace of about 250 words per minute — roughly 200 minutes. Faster or slower readers will vary; the estimate is a planning guide for assigning the book.
- What curricula assign A Dog's Life?
- A Dog's Life appears on reading lists for Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award, Pacific Northwest Young Reader's Choice Award, William Allen White Children's Book Award, and 1 others. Each assignment on this site links to its primary-source citation.
- Is A Dog's Life banned in schools?
- A Dog's Life does not appear in PEN America's Index of School Book Bans 2022-2024. No documented multi-district removals on record, but individual districts may challenge titles locally.
Why this book is on this list
How we classifyHide
Each dimension below is sourced from a public reference. The full framework is documented on the classification standard page.
- Lexile measure
- Not classified — this book has no published Lexile measure.
- Grade band
- Grades 4–6 — drawn from the book-award lists citing this book.
- Curriculum alignment
- Cited in 4 curricula on this site (see “Where recommended” above for primary-source links).
- State-level evidence
- On state book-award lists in 4 states (see citations above).
- Removal / banning records
- No tracked removal or challenge records in cited sources.
- Seasonal / contextual tags
- Tagged for: book-club, read-aloud.