News

Calling all BOOK LOVERS…How do we choose ‘good’ books?

“You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need is a book”

Dr Seuss

Gruff has been reading his way through the pile of books he borrowed from the library and as it is Book Week, we thought it would be useful to share some tips on how you can help choose a good book for your child to read.

• Resist making your child read the books you loved as a child. Take them to a bookstore or library and allow them to choose a book that interests them. They are more likely to read a book they have chosen themselves than one being pushed on them.
• Look at the current and past Children’s Book of The Year nominees and winners.
• Encourage a mix of fiction and non-fiction and a range of styles and genres. Novels are not ‘better’ than comics, they are just different.
• Be honest with your child: explain to them that some books need to be read at a later stage. When a book is too difficult to read, the reader will often miss or skip over important parts of the story. But you could read these books together, as reading to your child is just as important as them reading to themselves.
• Consider your child’s reading ability and choose books that are at their ‘reading level’. Try the ‘5 finger rule’.

Choosing a good book is not an exact science, however, all good books should be authentic, credible, captivating and exciting.

Happy reading…and feel free to share with us which books you are enjoying at the moment, or send us a photo of you reading your favourite book!