How to Choose a Book for a Young Child

I have heard people ask me numerous times what they should buy for a three-year-old, eight-year-old, or some other age child, as though all children of a certain age will like the same book. It's true that a few classic books might appeal to most children in a certain age range, but to find that book that really delights, you need to know the person you are giving it to.

I don't think any two five-year-olds are alike. Before anyone can help you choose a book, they need to know more about the child you are buying the book for. Boy? Girl? Active? Like to play quietly alone? Crazy about trucks or dolls or cats or puppies? Or maybe likes to find creepy-crawlies in the yard and bring them in to raise? Perhaps there is a passion for snakes or growing things. The more you know about the child, the better you will be able to choose a book that child will love.

Is your special child an only child or does he have brothers and sisters? To which ethnic group does he belong? Which holiday does he or she celebrate? Is he or she reading at all yet ? Who will be most likely to read to this child -- a mom or a dad? All of these factors can play into choosing the right book.

That being said, there are certain things that appeal to almost all five-year-old children. They like color and engaging pictures. They will want to look at the pictures again and again. At this age they can get lost in the details of a book by Peter Spier or Steven Kellogg, or just enjoy the experience of seeing great paintings in the books of Thomas Locker. They like word play such as you will find in the Amelia Bededia books by Peggy Parrish.

I remember the first Christmas after we had our foster children, Jason, and Sarah, and we were fostering with the intention of adopting them. Jason was easy to know because he always talked about his interests. His interests were often very different from mine. I know he loved big rigs. He envisioned himself as a truck driver one day. When we went to the library he picked out a book about big rigs. He wanted me to read it to him several times. It had photos of numerous trucks and pages where their parts were labeled, etc. I have to admit that at the age of five he knew more about big rigs than I had ever thought of wanting to know. To me, a truck was something I didn't want to be behind on the road. To him a truck was something to learn as much as he could about because he planned to drive one someday. It took a lot of doing, but I managed to special order that truck book for one of his Christmas presents. Did his eyes ever light up when he unwrapped that book! He would sit with it and pour over it. I had hit the jackpot. It's not that he didn't like stories, but he LOVED trucks. Here are some of the pages from this book:







That brings me to another couple of points. When you are planning to buy a child a book, remember that it's for the child, not for you. Just because you remember liking the book when you were young or because you like the subject or think it's good for the child doesn't mean the child you are buying for will like it. If you will be the one reading the book to the child, you should also really like it, because you will probably have to read it aloud many times. The more you enjoy reading the book, the more the child will catch your enthusiasm as you read . If possible, read the book in the store if you haven't read it before. If you don't like it, your child may not like it either. If you, as an adult, find it tedious, it might not be very well written. You should like the art work and you should not feel the book is only for a child because only a child would like it. A first-class author will not talk down to children as some early childhood teachers seem to. You will find he or she is also talking to you. The best authors will engage the adult reading the story on another level than the level at which he is engaging the child. It's good to find a book you really think would be fun to ham up as you read aloud. If the book is funny or has some interesting plays on words, young children will probably appreciate it.

The other thing to consider is that nonfiction books are just as much "real books" as fiction. When I was holding week-long book fairs in schools, it used to break my heart when parents came in with their children and the parent and child would argue over the book. The child might have his heart set on a wonderful book about snakes because he wants to know all there is to know about them. He believes books can answer all the questions he has about his world. That's a legitimate reason to read. The parent, on the other hand, would often insist the child buy a story, instead, because to the parent, only a story was a "real book." Believe me, if a child has his heart set on a book about snakes, or trucks or turtles or jets, he probably won't be very interested in the story book you think he should read. Get him the snake book and then pick out an adventure story to go with it -- maybe one with a snake in it.

They like to lift flaps, search for hidden animals or other objects, count objects, repeat refrains, and play with words. They are imaginative and love stories with colorful and humorous pictures. Boys are often obsessed with interests in things like trains, jets, cars, trucks, creepie crawlies, baby animals, reptiles -- you name it. They are curious about nearly everything in the world around them and in outer space. Girls are also often interested in these things, but they also like stories that help them explore relationships with family and friends. Nearly all children this age like books about pets and other animals. They also like repetitive, rhyming stories and poems. The picture shows three of my own childhood favorites.

The rhyming story is also very simple, and appropriate for even toddlers -- especially those who like kitties. This little kitten explores its surroundings, and each new discovery and adventure is photographed almost life size in black and white. There are some adorable pictures here for cat-lovers of all ages, so even though it's for the preschool set, there's no need to limit it to that. Because the foods are short and few, little ears will soon have them memorized and will be ready to "read" this simple book themselves on the path to really reading it. This is now out of print, but you can buy it here.