How long has it been since you read with your child?

Part1. Starting from the needs of children

No.1

Respect your child's interests

In the process of selecting books, it is important to start with your child's interests.

When choosing books for your child, you may want to fully respect your child's opinion and start with the type of work your child likes.

If your child is interested in cars, not only should you not restrict him from reading car-based story books, but you can also recommend books related to race tracks, car manufacturing, racing history, racers, or car design.

Simply put, the front and back covers of the book, the illustrations in the book, and the chapter headings can help parents quickly determine, in a short period, whether or not the book is of interest to their child.

No.2

Measuring your child's reading ability

When helping children choose books, parents need to pay attention to whether their children can recognize and read most of the words and phrases in the book.

Many parents want to use reading to help their children know more words and develop reading habits. Unbeknownst to them, too many out-of-the-way words can cause a child to lose confidence, lose the will to read, and then give up on the book.

To determine the right book for your child's reading level, we recommend the "Five Finger Reading Method", the most popular method in North America.

The "five-finger reading method" means: first open a book, turn to a page in the middle, let your child start reading, and raise one finger for each word or phrase he or she does not know, then count the number of fingers he or she has raised after reading.

0-1 unrecognized words: the book is too easy to read.

2-3 unrecognized words: the book is good for reading

4-5 words you don't know: the book is too difficult to read.

No.3

Measuring your child's comprehension ability

When parents buy books, they are often attracted by the testimonials on the book covers and tend to ignore whether the content of the book matches their children's comprehension, resulting in books being bought one by one at home, accumulating more and more, but children seldom look through them.

For a book with unclear content, children can also quickly confirm whether the book is close to or in line with their reading level through a method, that is - turn the page at random to see if they can understand the general meaning.

In addition, be careful to choose children's books that are "thinner," the average children's book, even if it is a long story, is only about 70,000 to 80,000 words. Books that are too long or too difficult can be frustrating for children, and may even ruin their enjoyment of reading as a whole.

No.4

Observe the child's mental development

Parents should consider whether the written expressions and atmosphere within the books are suitable for younger students. Some books depict profound values such as good and evil, life and death, and parents need to measure whether they are suitable for their children's psychological development level.

For example, Sophie's World is a great philosophical primer that is generally recommended for middle school students because it is a bit too difficult for elementary school students.

The development of a child's ability to generalize at the elementary school level goes through a gradual process.

However, because of the obvious differences in personality between children, some children can already read some classics at the age of five or six, but some children are still reading picture books, so in addition to considering the age, we should also consider the child's level of psychological development.

Generally speaking, books with too much abstract and discursive content are not appropriate for children with slow psychological development.

Part2. Other criteria for choosing books

No.1

Choose a regular publisher

The publisher is equivalent to a book brand, generally, in a large brand there must be a star product, and this star product can be used as a starter product for parents to choose from, especially since some of the publishers do mainly picture books, can be a preferred object.

Moreover, the books launched by regular publishers can guarantee quality to a large extent.

In addition to the content, paper, printing, and other factors also need to be taken into account.

There are books with high white reflective paper, hurt eyesight, some books with a pungent ink smell, some books fall off after a few pages, and some books with sharp corners easy to hurt children. Of course, these books are mostly found in pirated children's books.

No.2

Children's book award

When parents don't know what to read to their children, they can learn about some domestic and international awards to choose the right children's books for their children.

Internationally, the field of children's literature has its own "Nobel Prize in Literature" - "Hans Christian Andersen Literature Prize" and "Newbery Award ".

The International Hans Christian Andersen Literary Award is an international literary prize established by the International Board of Books for Boys and Girls (IBBY) in 1956. It is awarded every two years to children's book authors and illustrators as a reward and appreciation for writing good books.

"The Newbery Medal is awarded once a year for children's literature published in English in the previous year, with one or more gold and one or more silver prizes.

In China, the Bingxin Award and the Chen Box Children's Literature Award are also worthy of reference.

No.3

Choose the author or brand

If you find a set of very reliable and favorite books, you can pay attention to the author of this set of books, many writers will be very generous in their works, and introduce their favorite other writers or works.

There are also some more well-known domestic children's book writers whose works have been tested over the years and are still active in the market, such as Zheng Yuanjie, Yang Hongzhuo, Cao Wenxuan, etc. Their works are more numerous and of relatively high quality, which can be used for parents' reference.

If parents are also interested in foreign children's books but do not know how to pick, then this selection of books tips you must get: look for well-known translators of works catalog to see the original works, which must be right!

In addition to the author, the brand can also serve as a very important reference. Children's book brands are usually indicated on the front or back cover. The works published by the same brand are generally more stable in terms of level and style, and this choice will also reduce the risk of buying the wrong book.