One thing that I know many people struggle with is finding good books for their kids to read. It's a complicated process because every reader had their own needs, and there isn't really a one size fits all answer to the problem. Some parents have kids who don't like to read, so they have to find things that their child is extremely interested in to get them to even attempt to read. While other parents have kids that will read anything and everything and have trouble finding enough books to keep their child happy. There are also the kids who read above or below their age level, so it's hard to find books that are challenging and appropriate, or easy enough and still interesting. There are a few simple rules I use when evaluating a book for a child.
Reading level:
I am most familiar with AR, but I also use
Lexile. There are some great conversion charts you can use if you know one of them and need the other. The picture to the right has a link to one I use often. As a teacher I usually have access to kids levels, or access to the tests to find their level, but some parents don't have access to this and it makes it even more difficult to find the right book.
If you don't know your child's reading level, you can ask their teacher, or you can find a book you know they can read easily, and look up it's level. You can start with this level and adjust from there. Once you know their reading level, you can use the website AR Book Finder to help you check the level of books you are looking at.
I also teach kids a strategy to see if a book is to hard or too easy for them in the classroom. It's called the 5 finger rule. I have them find a page in the book (usually a full page for the strategy to work best) and I have them read it (if you are with them, have them read it aloud so you can hear any mistakes they make). Have them put up a finger for every word they struggle with on the page. If they hit five fingers in the one page, then that book is probably too hard to read alone and we look for an easier book.
Age Appropriate:
Finding age appropriate books that are at kids reading level is even more difficult. I have had several kids including my own, that are either way higher readers than most kids their age, or way lower readers. Both present challenges.
For my kids that are reading way above their grade level, it is hard to find books that are long enough and hard enough for them to keep them interested while also having age appropriate content. Often time the books that are are at the appropriate reading level for these kids have themes that are too scary, or dark for them. One way I have taught my kids to check age appropriateness is to look at the age of the main character. If your child and the main character are the same age, then the chances are the author was writing for that age range (this is not always true, but it s a good place to start.) Another way I like to check the age appropriateness of a book is to look it up on Common Sense Media.
This is a free website that gives you a quick snapshot of books and movies. It not only recommends a reading age, but it also tells you about things in the story that might be questionable, and has a What Parents Need to Know section for each entry.
For my kids that are reading under their grade level, I have found that they are usually more willing to read expository (non-fiction) text. Fortunately there is a great resource for expository text at all grade levels. My go to is the National Geographic Kids books. They have books in every reading level from the very beginning readers and all the way up. They also have a great variety of subjects. There are many books on different animals, as well as robots, trains, cars, people, etc. I can usually find a book in this series that will grab my readers and help them want to read.
I'd love to hear other ideas about finding the perfect book! Let me know your ideas in the comments.
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