Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about the Looky Rating System (LRS)
How does the Looky Rating System (LRS) work?
The Looky Rating System (LRS) analyzes books across 8 content categories: Violence, Romance and Sexuality, Mental Health, Fantasy, Language, Substance Use, Gender Identity & Representation, and Fear. Each category is rated on a 0-5 scale, where 0 means the theme is not present and 5 means it's a central focus of the book. Our AI-powered system analyzes book descriptions, categories, and content to provide transparent, spoiler-free ratings that help families make informed reading choices.
How do you determine age recommendations?
Age recommendations are determined through a multi-step process: First, our AI analyzes the book's description, categories, and publisher information against multiple sources of information and age-appropriate content guidelines. We consider vocabulary complexity, theme maturity, and content intensity. The system assigns one of four age brackets: 4+, 8+, 13+, or 18+. Our AI also provides a confidence score and detailed reasoning for each recommendation, ensuring transparency in our methodology.
How accurate is the AI analysis?
Our AI analysis uses a custom AI agent created for the purpose of rating books. Our state-of-the-art language model, specifically trained to understand content themes and age-appropriateness. Each analysis includes a confidence score (typically 70%-100%) that indicates the system's certainty. The AI is calibrated against multipled sources of information and extensive content databases. While highly accurate for most books, we continuously improve the system and welcome user feedback. For contested ratings, our team manually reviews books to ensure accuracy.
Is this service free?
Yes! Booklooky is completely free for parents, educators, and readers. You can search our database, scan book covers, and view detailed content ratings without any cost or registration required. Our mission is to make age-appropriate reading accessible to all families. Publishers can also contact us about bulk analysis services for their catalogs.
How can I submit a book for rating?
There are two ways to get a book rated: 1) Use our Book Scanner feature - simply scan or upload a photo of the book cover, and our AI will automatically analyze it and add it to our database. 2) Search for the book by title - if it's not in our database yet, you can request an analysis and we'll process it within 24-48 hours. All ratings are added to our public database so other families can benefit.
How can publishers use this service?
Publishers can benefit from Booklooky in several ways. Using our trusted ratings allows Publishers to print our book ratings directly inside their books. This makes it super easy for young readers and parents to check the ratings anytime, anywhere.1) Use our free search tool to see how books in your catalog are rated, 2) Submit individual books for analysis, or 3) Contact us about bulk analysis services for your entire catalog. We offer transparent, objective ratings that can help with marketing, age-targeting, and providing content information to retailers and libraries. Our ratings are non-judgmental and focus on informing families rather than restricting access. Visit our Publishers page or contact us for more information & costs.