In this conceptual essay, we offer rationales and evidence for critical components of a working model of text complexity for the early grades. In the first three sections of the article, we examine word-level, syntax-level, and discourse-level features of text, posing questions for future research. In the fourth section, we address elements of text treatments--the collection of texts with which beginning readers will interact longitudinally over the course of their early literacy development. This conceptual essay produces a unified treatment of the complexities of early grade text through the introduction of a theoretical framework, assimilating the extant research into a theory of early grade text and delineating a theoretical and empirical strategy for transforming the framework into a mature model. (Contains 1 figure.)