Hyderabad: Radhika was delighted when she bought two books for her dearest children. However, to her surprise, both of them disliked her gifts. Her son Rana and her eight-grader daughter did not take any interest in flipping through them and seemed to be busy in their own cocoons.
Perhaps I should have known their taste better before buying them the presents, thought Radhika to herself. Exactly, so! This is why it is advisable that you research well before buying books for your little ones. Age and reading levels are the primary factors that should be considered before buying books for kids.
As parents, one should keep in mind that children reach out to the world through books and their imaginative fervour, too, develops with books relevant to their taste. Parents should thereby try to first understand what exactly their passion is and then figure out books based on their loved topics.
For example, toddlers are more inclined towards grabbing books filled with pictures and nil words. Moving on, five-year-old children prefer books which have words that they have recently learnt at school. So, what they are looking for here is 'familiarity'. If they are told a story with familiar figures, they will eventually show interest in them.
Furthermore, eight and nine-year-olds prefer to own a collection of short stories that magically reveal to them the beauties and magics of the outer world. Topics such as fantasy, adventure, and friendship are on their top cards.
Kids aged ten and more are interested in quiz, general knowledge books as the hunger for not missing out on any bit of information is extreme during this age.
What Can Parents Do?
- Be aware of your child's interests and what the other kids are reading.
- Read book reviews and discuss them with your friends and teachers.
- Seek advice from experienced librarians.
- Book blogs and online stores can also be of great help.
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