letting kids choose their own books

[elus0814]

I'm going back and fourth on this with our four and five year old homeschoolers. The only library we are able to check out books from is tiny so we buy a lot of books online and occasionally at a bookstore. We were at the bookstore today and I couldn't help but notice that 3/4 of the children's 'book' section was toys, games, etc. and many of the books are based on tv shows and movies. It left us with two small sections of real books to choose from.

I think of tv/movie books as the junk food of literature, fun on occasion but not something I want them to spend lots of time consuming. It's also an issue since I have to read all but the most simple books aloud and I just can't stand reading disney movie books or novelizations of television shows. The problem is that I keep being told by it seems like everyone that I should get the kids whatever books they want because any reading is good reading. As it is they receive lots of these junk books as gifts so they think they're ok and ask for them what we go shopping for books. I'd like them to have some input but I'm not sure where to draw the line so I'm wondering what other families do.

[SagMom]

I never said "no" to a book that my kids wanted. BUT I would also buy or borrow books that I thought they might like in addition to the ones they chose. They didn't HAVE to read what I picked, but it was there if they wanted.

I found they didn't need me to distinguish "good" literature from "junk"--they formed their own opinions rather quickly. For instance, none of my kids were into "easy readers" because the story lines were bland and the words simplistic. They recognized this. They also appreciated well-done artwork. They each informed me at some point that books (and games!) based on tv and movies were generally horrible.

I think when you've got interesting, well developed stories available kids will appreciate them and they will seek them out over the shallow, meaningless writing that's out there.

[Daffodil]

It makes sense to get books your kids like, but do they only like junk books? If they like quality books too, I think it makes sense to spend your money on those. There's something to be said for letting kids make their own choices, but 4-5 year olds may pick books just based on the cover picture without having any realistic idea of how interesting the book will actually be. At that age, I think it's perfectly reasonable for parents to give input and guide their choices, or even make most of the choices.

If one of my kids really wants a junk book, I'll usually get it if it's cheap - like at a yard sale or library book sale. If it's really junky and I'm pretty sure the kid won't even end up enjoying it that much, I'll try to talk them out of it, but might still get it as long as it's cheap. I wouldn't pay the bookstore price for any book I thought was junk unless my kid really, really, really wanted it. I'd buy books I thought were worthwhile and explain why I didn't think the junk books were worth the money. But I pretty much never shop for new books at a bookstore - there's just no need when it's so easy to find good books at yard sales, library book sales, etc.

[SubliminalDarkness]

I know just what you mean, and feel similarly. And my feelings stretch over into comics as well.

My DS1 is a really good reader, and he LOVES reading. I certainly don't want to squelch his love of reading, but, just like I wouldn't want him watching too many cartoons, I don't want him spending too much time reading junk.

I will not buy junk books. Ever. But I do allow him to borrow some now and then from the library. The only books I buy are books that I feel are good to read multiple times. And his junk to good book ratio on a weekly basis is about two to three, which is ok with me.

[LauraLoo]

DS seems to swing on the pendulum between what I would consider close to junk and fine literature. For example, just recently he finished all of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and then had a lull and wasn't reading much of anything. He then decided to read "Moby Dick" and loved it.

I think we do much better when I don't intervene - since I would have never even thought to suggest anything by Melville.

[kristin0713]

I only buy the "junk" books on occasion and REAL cheap, like the annual booksale around here where I can get paperbacks for .50 and hardbacks for 1.00 I scour through to find the good stuff, come home with at least 50 books and usually a handful of them are things like Clifford, Angelina, etc. that I know my kids will be super excited about. Full priced, I don't buy them. The ones we have, I keep in a separate section of the house (their room.) All our "good" books are downstairs on the bookselves and that is where we read together during the day. When they are on their own for reading time, they can read whatever they want. I do read the other stuff to them if they ask but usually just keeping it in another room prevents them from asking, they will pull a book off the shelf from what is down here already. Library books--I go to the library with a list of what I want to check out based on what we are learning about. I will also have the library pull them for me ahead of time. (We have a pretty big library and I can do this through the online system.) I let them each pick a few books as well, whatever they want, but I also always bring home a lot of good literature. If they bring home a book that I really don't like or don't see the benefit of, sometimes I will put it back in the library bag when they aren't looking and they rarely remember about it.

If it ever came to the point where it was like pulling teeth to get them to read, I would not be so "controlling" about it, LOL. But right now, they love pretty much everything that we read so I can afford to weed out the bad stuff and read the good

[elus0814]

Originally Posted by Daffodil

It makes sense to get books your kids like, but do they only like junk books? If they like quality books too, I think it makes sense to spend your money on those. There's something to be said for letting kids make their own choices, but 4-5 year olds may pick books just based on the cover picture without having any realistic idea of how interesting the book will actually be. At that age, I think it's perfectly reasonable for parents to give input and guide their choices, or even make most of the choices.

If one of my kids really wants a junk book, I'll usually get it if it's cheap - like at a yard sale or library book sale. If it's really junky and I'm pretty sure the kid won't even end up enjoying it that much, I'll try to talk them out of it, but might still get it as long as it's cheap. I wouldn't pay the bookstore price for any book I thought was junk unless my kid really, really, really wanted it. I'd buy books I thought were worthwhile and explain why I didn't think the junk books were worth the money. But I pretty much never shop for new books at a bookstore - there's just no need when it's so easy to find good books at yard sales, library book sales, etc.

They enjoy all kinds of books but do seem to go by the cover to decide if it's something they would like to read. I'm not sure about the idea of buying cheap books just because they are cheap, it's too much like buying kool aid just because it's less expensive than juice. We buy all our books new at bookstores or online, there are lots of good books to be had at yard sales, library sales, and thrift stores but after getting one book with moths in it as a teenager and dealing with moths in other books and other things in the house for several years there is no way I'll bring a used book into the house unless I know exactly where it came from.

[kittywitty]

My kids get all kinds. Sometimes "junk" books. As long as they're not way too inappropriate, then I'm fine with it.

[SubliminalDarkness]

I agree that if my child was a reluctant reader, I'd be a lot less picky. But he is soooo not.

[Daffodil]

Originally Posted by elus0814

I'm not sure about the idea of buying cheap books just because they are cheap, it's too much like buying kool aid just because it's less expensive than juice.

I guess the way I see it, junk books are harmless enough that if I can afford them and my kids really want them, I can't justify refusing to buy them. If buying the junk books meant being able to afford fewer quality books, I wouldn't do it, but if the junk books are cheap enough that we can get both, why not?

I also think kids can often get something of value from books that seem like pure junk to adults. They haven't been exposed to as much, so books that seem predictable and unoriginal to us may actually be fresh and interesting to them. And they don't care as much about whether the book is well written as about whether there is some character or setting that intrigues them and excites their imagination. I wouldn't find anything like that in a Scooby-Doo book, but my kids do, so I don't mind occasionally spending a quarter or two to get one for them.

[SundayCrepes]

Originally Posted by elus0814

We buy all our books new at bookstores or online, there are lots of good books to be had at yard sales, library sales, and thrift stores but after getting one book with moths in it as a teenager and dealing with moths in other books and other things in the house for several years there is no way I'll bring a used book into the house unless I know exactly where it came from.

I buy tons and tons of books used online. http://www.amazon.com, http://www.half.com, http://www.barnesandnoble.com, http://www.borders.com, http://www.thriftbooks.com/, http://www.abebooks.com/. http://www.alibris.com/books?cm_sp=tabNav-_-books-_-na

They have ratings for the condition of the books. Typically I only buy good or better quality. Often I can get library bindings. Frequently you can get the book for a penny plus $3.99 shipping so it's only $4 for a book. I've never had anything but quality books come into my house this way.

We almost never go to new book stores. We either go to the used book store near us that is so big it is in an old grocery store or we buy online. Most of the books my kids read are ones I have chosen them. I had to estimate how many kids' books we own for a research study we are in. I guessed we have 250, maybe more. My kids are almost 2 and 4.5. Almost everyone of those books was bought used. And even though we live in Arizona where there are no moth issues like you had, the books I've bought have come everywhere from Alaska to the UK.

As far as choosing junk books, I'm just not going to let my kids do it. I've allowed one or two Thomas the Train books, a couple Clifford books, and one Disney Pooh book in the house. Beyond that there is no junk. If you want your kids to choose their own books, why not get a catalog of good books and let them choose them out of that. Although we are unschoolers, we buy from the www.sonlight.com catalog. Not all the books, but many of the books. Can you offer your kids a catalog like that?

[mum4vr]

Originally Posted by SubliminalDarkness

I will not buy junk books. Ever. But I do allow him to borrow some now and then from the library. The only books I buy are books that I feel are good to read multiple times.

I do chose books, and encourage wise chooices and discourage poor ones. Why wash their dishes, protecting them from germs, and then let their minds feast on garbage?

My children also receive "junk food" books as gifts occasionally, but they rarely get read, and most often the child nominates them for the thrift store box.

blessings

[bbrandonsmom]

I'm not really sure what "junk" books are. From the time the boys were infants, we've received everything from board books, to simple chapter books (Mickey, spider man, biscuit is a favorite, etc), to an entire Clifford collection, many, many Dr Seuss books and some others.
I don't buy many books, unless they are on sale, since we go to the library. If my library was small, with a limited selection, I'd still let the boys pick out little chapter books or picture books. Some of the "picture" books, I feel have great stories. If you look up books children should read, or check the 5 in a Row book lists, there are some amazing-I think-books on there, and some of them are in the picture book section, but teach a good lesson.
I can't really knock the little books. After ds started reading the Bob books, he wanted to read his Batman chapter book. He was very excited to read it. He likes to read the Biscuit books. But, one of his favorite stories for me to read to him-The Winnie the Pooh collection by Milne. They both chose longer books with fantastic stories for us to read to them, but they chose the smaller books to try reading themselves.
I guess I feel having those smaller books around that they can look at and start to read gives them the confidence when they start reading by themselves.

[luv2homeschool]

I have always let my children choose books, but if they choose too many "junk" books in a row, I would redirect them. My older dd(15) started reading a lot of teen girl trash books and I had to stop it for a bit. She then choose some great classic literature and every once and a while goes back to a few filler books.

My younger dd(6) enjoys many different books. She doesn;t care to much for Disney versions of books- she prefers the movies! Up until recently she would only read picture books. One night I started reading her Ramona the Brave and she was hooked. For the past 2 months she has been reading Blume and Clearly books on her own every night. She has finished several books and is loving her new found reading abilities! And, mom and dad are proud!

Sometimes kids need some of the junk books to jumpstart their love for reading. As long as you, the parent, help your child make some good choices they will be fine!

I do have to add that we don't buy many books as we have a great library system. We are doing Sonlight next year and 75% of the books my library has!

[zeldamomma]

I feel the OP's pain. This is why I rarely take my kids to the bookstore, unless we have talked about wanting to buy something specific. Publishers know what to put on the cover of a book to make a kid want it, and they do.

I would happily buy "junk" books if they got read and enjoyed, but typically they don't (in part because the stories are often terrible, and I hate to read them ), and it's frustrating to me to spend what can be a significant amount of money on what is basically a printed commercial for a toy or television show.

So, most of our books are bought online-- the prices are better, and I can shop based on content instead of my kids choosing based on the cover.

Even for my reluctant reader, I find that choosing books carefully instead of letting her choose leads to better results. I can pick well-written graphic novels, and other stories with lots of content for their reading level. My experience is that a lot of the "junk" books just aren't very well done, and either jump all over the place reading level-wise, or have poorly developed characters or other flaws that are keep my reluctant reader from getting drawn into reading them.

I will let my kids check anything at all out of the library.

[Momma Aimee]

we are very rural and have a very samll libary -- where we loove the staff.

we try to go once a week.

I let Big Brother -- 4y 8 m -- pick books on his own. He is careful to make a stack and take them to the desk and ask Miss Anna nicely if she will check them out for him and he remembers to thank her too.

However Momma picks out books too. I try to seek out books that we have not checked out before, or that have stunning art. I avoid all the character books (the million Author books or Franklin the turtle for example). I also look for older books, not the new “library binding” books but older books; often you find hidden treasures that way.

Big Brother’s picks from last week

•The Berenstain Bears get the Gimmies.
•Tiger Can’t Sleep. By Fore
•*Doom in a Box (Superman). by Sudduth
•*Robo Monster (Superman). By Black
•*Race Against Crime (Batman) by Black
•*Heads or Tails (Batman) by Suddoth
•*Ironman: Destructive Reentry (A comic book in library binding)

Little Brother’s Pick

•Just me and My Puppy. By Mercer Mayer

Momma’s Picks:

•Cabbage Moon. By Chadwick
•Holey Moley. By Pfister
•One Hundred Hungry Ants. By Pinczes

Ually I pick more, my stack is usally bigger than his.

*these are not by any stretch good literature or even decent literature. I will not buy them, and try to make it clear i do not want them as gift. not the Franklin ones either, or the diseny stuff. we are lucky the people who gift us books are mostly like me !! and go for teh unsual (the storyof Ping and so on). the peole like MIL who'd give us tv show books buy crapy toys and not books.

I won’t even call them literature; they are mass produced poorly written books vying for a slice of the market based on the big superhero on the cover. I am honest.

I am also not a supporter of “any reading is good reading” argument – at least not in the long run. I grudgingly accept it as a “get them in the water” tool – but long term if a child is not challenged to read better and better literature their skills and abilities and desires will not mature. I do not believe a child left to their own constant choices of junky books will spontaneously, all on their own, start choosing better and more challenging literature. I see junk books like junk food. As a occasional addition to a good diet they are harmless (and something I too am guilty of) but they have to be a small percentage of the total consumption.

I admit to being happy at seeing Big Brother return to the shelf again and again for a well known books even if it is poorly written because that shows me he is returning to the love of reading and the love of our BOOK TIME; however I am much happier to see him return again and again to “better books” that he also loves. A little junk is ok, but I freely admit there are junk and I do not try to claim that they are anything else. I do struggle with allowing Big Brother to pick them, again and again and again. I let him because I do make a real effort to balance them with better books (better language, better art, and better stories). Also because they are not all he wants, he likes Seuss and Curious George and many many others. Also usually I only allow 2 of them, not all 4 the Library owns. But this week there were a lot of people there and I was allowing Little Brother to look also (he was not on my back) so I decided to skip the potential fight. Normally Big Brother would be allowed 2 superhero books and the rest of his pile would have to be something new or different. Additionally I admit to the need for superheroes and other “over coming” fantasy in a children’s life; just as play has a vital role in a child’s ability to cope and make his or her world fit together in a meaningful way so does superheroes and other fantasy.

almsot all ourr books are from amazon.com or libary sales or thrifts stores -- all shopping I do ALONE.. I do not take my kids to books sotres -- i am greatly distrubed that there are many toys in the children's secition (not just a stuff George or something) that you might as well be in a toy story with books. I know our selection is good and solid, i strive to add good books to it each gift giveing event we have -- so a little fluffy borrowed from the libary is alright.

also at book time we take turns choocing the books (i do all th reading) so even if he choose 3 superhero books in a row; i have chosen 3 others! and generally he won't. he'll choose a junk super hero first, but he likes the other stuff too.

I also admit my son is young, not even 5, so to ask him to resist superman on a book at the libary is a bit much.

[Catherine12]

We just have a rule - no books based on movies/tv. Since we've always had this rule, our dc accept it and it's really never caused problems.

I will sometimes steer dd (6yo) away from a book due to content or price. If we are buying it for her to read, I will make sure she chooses something that is an appropriate reading level for her.

These "restrictions" still leave many, many books for her to choose from and I am happy to let her pick what she wants within these limits.

I tend to be more lenient at the library since I'm not paying for those books - I'll only disallow a library book if I really have a problem with the content, which is rare.

[Lit Chick]

My son is too little to "read", but reading is a huge part of my life. I was allowed to pick out my own books since I can remember. (To this day, I get excited going to a library or bookstore, which I do at least monthly).

Sometimes I picked utter junk. Sometimes I picked classics. It depended on my mood. The first non-picture book I read was Bambi, and I got it because I thought it was the Disney Bambi. I thought I'd get some "junk", and instead a whole new world opened to me. I read Animal Farm when I was in 4th grade and understood it, and it blew my mind. I originally picked it up because it was about talking animals.

I was always a voracious reader (see screen name) and was a Lit major in college and was the #1 student in my program. It was not because I was smarter than my classmates - it was because I was more passionate. I LOVE BOOKS. Pretty mcuh any book. I kind of do think that any reading can be good reading. The more, the better. A variety of styles, tones, and topics will make for a critical reader later in life. What you want to encourage early on is a love of reading, of being transported into a different world. Letting a child choose the books will certainly result in some terrible (and/or questionable) material, but it can also lead them to magical discoveries. And there is nothing like the thrill of an unexpected treasure!

[jeteaa]

the parents in the know how at our library seem to put on hold all the good books. The hold shelf is HUGE..... I need to start doing this. I'll need to do some research and make a long book list. Then when we go to the library I'll let my dc choose a few books on their own, but also (hopefully) check out the good books too.

[luv2homeschool]

Originally Posted by jeteaa

the parents in the know how at our library seem to put on hold all the good books. The hold shelf is HUGE..... I need to start doing this. I'll need to do some research and make a long book list. Then when we go to the library I'll let my dc choose a few books on their own, but also (hopefully) check out the good books too.

We do this. I will read about a book, or will need one for our schoolwork and put them all on hold. I usually have a handful to pickup when we go in the library. But, we also walk around the children;s section picking up books that look good too!