My
eight-year-old daughter enjoys reading books.
However, I noticed she wasn’t reading anything of late beyond her
third-grade assignment. When I asked her
about it, she said she didn’t like any of the books that she had stored in her
crowded bookcase.
I
was a bit surprised by her answer, first because she has a lot of books and
second, I would expect her to speak up to tell me that she wants something to
read.
We
sat down at her bookcase and I realized she had stored a lot of books that
she’d already read or she had others that her older brother handed down to her,
both of which she lacked interest in.
There
were also some other books, like Little
House on the Prairie, that my wife used to read as a kid. Those two she seemed uninterested in.
I
asked her if there were any books that she enjoyed that were part of a
series. We found three or four, each a
part of a different series. Now we were
cooking. I suggested we go to the
library and get more books from these series.
She agreed.
I
also suggested she ask the librarian for suggestions on things to read, perhaps
other series that are similar to the ones she liked. In the process of trying to find her books
that she would enjoy I realized that there are many ways to go about this hunt.
Here’s
what I will do with her and suggest that others do for their kids:
1.
Check
out the reviews of School Library Journal,
Publishers Weekly or other reputable
publications.
2.
Ask
kids of similar age to your child what they are reading.
3.
Scan
the shelves of your local independent bookstore or ask the store owner for a
recommendation.
4.
Browse
the shelves of your library or ask the librarian for some suggestions.
5.
Take
note of what your child likes to read or the interests they express and seek
out reading material that matches.
6.
Go
with the classics. There are many
old-school books that you can introduce to a child.
7.
Take
a look at the best-seller lists for age-appropriate books.
8.
Pick
a theme and find books to support it.
For instance, this month only read sports biographies or books about
historical figures or mysteries.
9.
Read
the book that a popular movie was based on.
10.
Read
books by certain writers. Maybe they are
local writers or they are writers who are a particular gender, ethnicity,
religion or nationality. Read writers
who won certain awards or accomplished great things.
Book
choice can be overwhelming. There are
literally too many books published for any parent, educator, or librarian to
keep up with. In the end, you must
encourage your child to experiment. Don’t pigeonhole them into one genre. Allow them to try a free range of books, even
on subject matter you have no interest or experience in.
Reading
should not be a chore, nor can it be left to chance. Adults should encourage kids to read and reward
them for doing so. They should engage
their reading habits and help them feel stimulated by the words and images on a
page. Books can raise a new generation of thinkers and doers. All that we need to do is get them to open a
book – any book – and let the books do the rest of the work.
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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog
are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter
@theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more
important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by
BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2016 ©.
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