Understanding reading levels

I am a bit confused. Kathleen has just graduated from kindie and is moving on up to the big old year of Grade 1 in September. She is very excited. Her report card was pretty non-descript - she met all levels. Reading the highly (highly highly) standardized phrasing of public school reports, I grasped she met all requirements without any hesitation - a bright kiddo, but not over the top, beyond the boundary of normal range. I am extremely happy with that positioning.

Kathleen started reading the little readers sent home every other day with incredible ease in the last two months of school. The reading bulb just happened to go on one day. HOwever, these books weren't anything to be doing backflips - highly repetitive, only a few words per page, large pictures - good starter readers, nothing extraordinary.

On Friday, I decided that I had best not let this burgeoning reader forget everything over the summer, so I pulled a 'Nate the Great' book off the bookshelf (part of a Scholastic order) - interesting story, more words per page, much longer so have to hold the comprehension of a story over several days. Kathleen did a wonderful job meandering her way through the story. She missed a few words here and there, but otherwise knew most of the words by sight or easily sounded them out.

So, as I know the internet yields all answers, I wanted to figure out the 'rating' of the book - the reading level. I was a bit shocked to learn this is a "K" rating (or 2.1/2.5 - on two different scales). This means this book is a solid Grade 2 reader. I don't think my child is tremendously advanced (sorry, little one, you are most definitely bright) but to think this is what we expect from an average 7-8 at the beginning of Grade 2 - I was a little put-out.

I guess, important to note, my benchmarks of reading skills are only two other children - my niece who is six months older than Kathleen was reading basic chapter books in November (and easily reading all the words on the Seaworld screen during the Shamu show) and a bright little neighbour, eighteen months Kathleen's senior, who had read three of the Harry Potter books at last discussion.

In general, this is the problem when people start pushing the reading/accomplishment levels of their children - maybe there is just something wrong with the average expectations. I think the story line, the size of text, the nature of the pictures makes this Nate story a solid early Grade 1 reader. I didn't think it would be appropriate material for an older child.

Am I just hugely disconnected between the commercialism and the 8 year old (i.e Hannah Montana) and the associated material of a "Nate the Great" book?