Choosing Just the Right Book for Your Child

BEGIN WITH BOOKS has delivered 487,379 books* to babies and toddlers in Charleston County since 2010.  Every book that arrives in the mail has been carefully selected by an expert panel of child development experts, educators, and librarians at the Dollywood Foundation.   These Imagination Library selections are culturally diverse and developmentally appropriate for the age of your child.  By enrolling in BEGIN WITH BOOKS you can be confident in knowing you have just the right books on hand to read to your child.   However, when it comes to choosing books to supplement your child’s library, you don’t have to be an expert – the following provides a brief introduction to the types of books available for young children and some tips to keep in mind as you navigate the many choices available.

Types of Books for Young Children (with examples from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library selections)

Picture Books

These books don’t really tell a story – they have only a few words, but there are lots of pictures to look at and talk about.  For example, when reading Where’s Ellie?, by Salina Yoon, you can name and talk about familiar, colorful objects found in the house and in the garden.  This book is a board book, which are ideal for very young children because they can’t easily be torn.

Picture Story Books

·        Picture story books have both pictures and words that tell the story together.   For example, Little Excavator, by Anna Dewdney, follows Little E as he tries to be of help transforming a vacant lot into a neighborhood park.  Sometimes, the pictures tell you things that the words don’t.  That is why it is important to really look and talk about the pictures in picture story books.  For example, only the picture tells us why Little E is in a jam or why he might be in the way.      

Picture storybooks may be stories that the author made up.  We call made-up stories fiction.  The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle, is a popular example.  It is important to talk to children about the fact that these stories are made up and written by an author.  Look at the pictures that accompany a picture storybook and talk about the fact that they were created by an artist or an illustrator.  Look for the names of the author and illustrator on the book cover.  Picture storybooks may also be stories that are taken from real life – or non-fiction (Baby! Talk!, by Penny Gentieu, for example).  These books are typically not illustrated with pictures, but with photographs. 

Poetry and Action Rhymes

Rhyming books and nursery rhymes teach children about rhythm in a fun and playful way.  Rhyme and rhythm are things that children must understand in order to learn to read and write.  Llama Llama Red Pajama, by Anna Dewdney, is just one of many examples.  For more on how these books are connected to learning and for book suggestions, check out our blog on the importance of rhyming

Alphabet Books

·        Children must learn the letters of the alphabet in order to read and write.  Anna Dewdney’s beloved Llama Llama series continues with Llama Llama Loves to Read.  This book is a good alphabet book because it not only teaches children to name the letters, but teaches them about other aspects of learning to read.  By the end of the day, Llama Llama is recognizing words and can’t wait to show Mama Llama that he’s becoming a reader.  Books like this make learning fun!

Counting Books

·        Children can begin to learn about numbers from a very young age.  Reading counting books like One Leaf, Two Leaves, Count with Me, by John Micklos Jr., illustrated by Clive McFarland, is one of many ways you can help your child learn to count.

Concept Books

·       These books teach children about sizes, shapes, colors, toys – about words and ideas they need to talk about what goes on around them.  Corduroy’s Shapes, by Mary Jo Scott (author), Don Freeman (creator), and Lisa McCue (illustrator), is a good example.  The more words and ideas children know, the more prepared they will be to begin to learn to read.  Books are very useful tools for language learning and building vocabulary.

Wordless Books

·        There is a story but there are no words.  A Ball for Daisy, by Chris Raschka, is one such example.  In order to “figure out” the story that is being told, you have to look carefully at the pictures and follow what is happening from one page to the next.  Demonstrating how you do this is one way to help develop and increase your child’s attention span.

“Toy Books”

These books have features such as lift-the-flap, pull-the-tabs, sounds, movement, etc.   The Pudgy Pat-A-Cake Book, illustrated by Terri Super, provides popular rhymes, games, and finger plays in a bright and lively board book.  “Toy books” are often good for holding the interest of very young children.

Some Things to Consider When Choosing Books for Young Children

Child’s Interest in the Topic

·         Think about the “real-life” interests of your child.  If your little boy or girl likes to watch the machines at work on construction sites, introduce him or her to a book about them.  From time to time, try introducing books to your child that will help him/her discover new interests.  Try making connections between your child’s everyday experiences and books.  After a trip to the grocery store to buy milk and eggs, for example, read a picture storybook about farm animals, and talk about which animals give us the milk and eggs you bought at the store.  Good Morning, Farm Friends, by Annie Bach, is a delightful choice for this.  Make connections between different kinds of books too.  For example, after reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle, you might suggest to your child that you look at a picture book or concept book that shows how caterpillars become butterflies, like Fly, Butterfly, by Bonnie Bader.

Length of the Book/Number of Words per Page

·        Think about the length of the book, the number of words on each page, and how long it would probably take to read it and talk about it with your child.  Is it reasonable to expect your child to remain interested in the book for that period of time? The age of your child should not be your only consideration.  You know your child best.

Illustrations or Pictures

·        Are there pictures that will help your child follow and understand the story?  Will they help keep your child interested in the story?  Are they simple, colorful, easy to “read”?  Remember that the pictures tell the story as well as the words.   Children should be able to look at them and learn from them in the same way they learn about the story from the words.

Language

·        Books are an important way to teach children the meanings of new words.  Often there are clues in the story, and pictures that help children to better understand new words.  However, if there are too many new words or new ideas, your child will not be able to understand the book and will lose interest in it.  Read a page or two of the book and think about how much explanation or clarification would be necessary for your child to understand the ideas presented.  A book that requires too much explanation of words or ideas will not hold your child’s interest.

Show Children Different Kinds of Books

·         Different kinds of books use different kinds of words and language.  Give children all kinds of books to help them learn new words and different ways of speaking.  What favorite stories from your childhood do you remember hearing or having read to you? Why not read them to your child? By doing so you form special memories together, hopefully carrying forward a love of reading that will continue with their own children in the years to come.

E-*Updated 4/23

-- -- Caron Bell, PhD, Early Childhood Development, and beginwithbooks.org volunteer