Building Young Readers: How to Choose Books Your Child Will Actually Love

The Scholastic Book Fair is coming to Child's World Woodland Hills from May 18 through 22, and with an entire fair full of options, it helps to walk in with a little guidance. Here is what we know about helping young children find books they will genuinely connect with.

Follow their interests, not their age level

The single best predictor of whether a child will enjoy a book is whether it connects to something they already care about. If your child is obsessed with dinosaurs, bugs, space, or trucks, find books about those things. When children read about subjects they love, they are far more likely to ask to hear the book again, to remember what they learned, and to start asking questions about the world around them.

Let them choose

Bringing your child to the Book Fair and letting them pick something out for themselves is genuinely powerful. Children who choose their own books feel ownership over their reading lives. Even if they choose something you would not have picked, the act of choosing builds the belief that books are for them, and that belief is more valuable than any individual title.

The sweet spot for read-aloud books

For reading aloud together at home, look for books with rich illustrations, satisfying rhythm, and language that is just a little more complex than what your child uses every day. Those slightly-above-level vocabulary words, heard in a safe and warm context, are exactly how young children expand their language. You can pick something up at our Book Fair and read it together at bedtime starting that same night.

Donating to your child's classroom

Every teacher at our Woodland Hills campus has a wish list of five books they would love to add to their classroom library. When you donate a book from that list, it gets used every single day for every child in the room. It is a small investment with a long reach.

We will see you at the Book Fair, May 18 through 22, starting at 2:30 PM each day. Bring your little book-lover and let them lead the way.