The Giver by the numbers
Lois Lowry · first published 1993 · dataset 2026-07-21
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Length and reading time
| Pages (dataset edition) | 179 |
|---|---|
| Estimated words | 49,000 |
| Reading time, 300 wpm (fast) | 2 h 44 min |
| Reading time, 250 wpm (average adult) | 3 h 17 min |
| Reading time, 200 wpm (careful / younger reader) | 4 h 6 min |
| Days at 20 minutes a day | 10 |
| Lexile measure | 760L |
At 179 pages, The Giver is longer than 41.5% of the 1,664 books on the reading lists we track. It is shorter than the median book listed for grades 6-8 (223 pages).
Word counts and reading times are estimates: pages × 275 words, divided by the reading speed. Your edition's page count and your own pace will differ.
Where The Giver is on school reading lists
61 appearances (0.5% of all 13,258 listings in the dataset), drawn from 19 published lists, in grades 3rd–8th. 61 of the 61 carry a link to the published source document.
States (20): Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin.
| Grade | Listings |
|---|---|
| 3rd | 1 |
| 4th | 1 |
| 5th | 1 |
| 6th | 18 |
| 7th | 23 |
| 8th | 17 |
Sources
- Maine Student Book Award — Maine's statewide children's-choice reading program (grades 4-8): students read the annual nominees and vote for their favorite. Winner list verified from the award's published record. · checked 2026-07-07
- Pacific Northwest Library Association (PNLA) — Young Reader's Choice Award (est. 1940, the oldest children's-choice book award in the US): students in WA, OR, ID, MT & AK read the annual nominees and vote. Winner list 1940-2025. · checked 2026-07-07
- William Allen White Children's Book Award (Emporia State University) — Kansas's statewide children's-choice program (est. 1952; students read the annual nominees and vote). Winner list 1953-2025 per the William Allen White Award record. · checked 2026-07-07
- Newbery Medal (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 1994 Newbery Medal winner · checked 2026-06-20
- Oklahoma Library Association — Sequoyah Book Award, Children's (gr 3-5) + Intermediate (gr 6-8) divisions (student-choice; since 1959); winner roll 1959-2025 · checked 2026-06-15
- Children's Librarians of New Hampshire / NH Library Association — Great Stone Face Book Award (student-choice, grades 4-6; 20 nominees/year, annual since 1980). Winner + nominee rolls via the LibraryThing award/757 mirror of the official sponsor records. · checked 2026-06-12
Questions
How many pages is The Giver?
The Giver by Lois Lowry is 179 pages in the edition recorded in our dataset. Page counts vary by edition and format; at about 275 words per page that is roughly 49,000 words.
How long does it take to read The Giver?
About 3 h 17 min at an average adult pace of 250 words per minute (2 h 44 min at 300 wpm, 4 h 6 min at 200 wpm). At 20 minutes a day that is about 10 days.
Is The Giver on school reading lists?
Yes. It appears 61 times on the U.S. school reading lists, award lists and curricula in our dataset, in 20 states plus 7 national-curriculum listings, most often in grades 6-8. That ranks it #15 of 1,664 listed books.
Related
- The Giver: reading level, grades and similar booksOn ReadingList, our sister site for school reading lists.
- Books of about the same lengthThe Great Gatsby (180 pp.) · The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events #1) (176 pp.) · Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (176 pp.) · Coraline (176 pp.)
- The most assigned books, rankedAll 1,664 listed books start here.
- Book length statisticsHow long assigned books are, by grade.
Cite this page
<a href="https://bookstatistics.com/books/the-giver/">The Giver statistics</a>. Book Statistics, a Figures Bureau site. [The Giver statistics](https://bookstatistics.com/books/the-giver/). Book Statistics, a Figures Bureau site. [url=https://bookstatistics.com/books/the-giver/]The Giver statistics[/url]. Book Statistics, a Figures Bureau site.