Choosing Books for Children and Families

Respecting the Family’s Choice

When possible, offer a few different books during a visit and allow children and families to choose which one they would like to take home. Ask children and parents about their interests and how different books might resonate with their family for different reasons. 

Selecting Developmentally Appropriate Books

When selecting books for children consider early literacy milestones and what appeals to them at each developmental stage.  

Young Infants (0-6 months)

• Books with rhyming text, or those that can be sung to newborns as they recognize familiar voices.
• Books that foster loving interactions.
• Books with lullabies to incorporate into bedtime routines.
• High-contrast books that are engaging and can be used to facilitate tummy time. 
• Soft cloth books, and books with tactile elements that encourage babies to explore.
• Books with large pictures of baby faces that attract their attention.
• Books with animals for pointing at and making animal sounds. 

Older Infants (7-12 months)

• Books with photographs of babies and familiar objects.
• Books with bright colors and simple images.
• Books with sturdy construction (board books or cloth books), and small size, that allow babies to handle books independently.
• Books with textures and fine motor activities for exploring.
• Books with flaps for exploring and playing games like peek-a-boo. 

Toddlers (1-2 years)

• Books with colorful pictures and pages where toddlers can find and name real-life objects.
• Books with simple text and repetitive phrases or rhymes that can help toddlers predict what comes next.
• Books on topics that relate to daily activities, like bedtime, and communicating with others. 
• Books about naming and handling emotions that promote warm interactions with caregivers.
• Silly and funny books.
• Sturdy board books are still good, but by around 30 months, children can often turn paper pages and enjoy picture books as well. 

Preschoolers (3-5 years)

• Books with longer stories.
• Books with text they can start to fill in and memorize.
• Books relating to their interests (e.g. animals, transportation, science).
• Books with familiar and relatable topics (going to school, making friends, handling emotions) that can spark conversations and help with social and emotional development.
• Books about unfamiliar topics, themes, and characters that can help broaden knowledge and cultivate empathy. 
• Counting books, alphabet books, books with rhyming words

Early Readers

• Books with simple but engaging language they can master independently. 

Multilingualism

• If possible, offer a variety of books in languages spoken by the families in your clinic.
• Consider dual-language books that present the text in two languages side-by-side, fostering language development in both.
• Encourage families to read in their home language​ (the language that is most comfortable for them)​.  Emphasize th​at​ reading aloud in​ their home​ language promote​s​ literacy skills and cultural connection.
• Support families who speak more than one language at home. Emphasize that multilingualism is an asset and not a risk factor for language delay.
• Acknowledge that finding books in languages other than English can be difficult. These books can sometimes be found in libraries and cultural centers. Selecting wordless books (see below) can make shared reading more accessible to families who speak languages other than English. 
• When only books in English are available, encourage families to share those books with their child in their home language by pointing to and asking questions about the pictures, and making up stories with their child based on the pictures. These positive interactions around books can help children and caregivers bond and can build important pre-literacy skills (see below). 

Caregivers with Low Literacy Skills

• Focus on books with vibrant pictures that depict the story, avoiding books with large blocks of text. Wordless books (see below) can also be helpful. 
• Encourage caregivers to “share” rather than “read” the books with their child by making up their own stories to go along with the pictures and making the book fun and interactive by asking lots of questions.
• Model for caregivers how to do this in the exam room by engaging with the book and explicitly pointing out that you don't need to read the words on the page to make it fun.
• Point out to parents that these positive language-rich interactions around books can help children develop important pre-literacy skills and can nurture a love of books and learning that can help a lot when they start school. 
• Encourage parents to engage in other language rich interactions with their child including story-telling and singing. 
• Provide information about resources in the community (such as library story hours, preschool, Head Start, adult learning opportunities). 

Wordless Books

Reading with young children is critical to their early literacy skill development. However, these early literacy skills are not all based on the words in the book. Joint attention, book-handling skills like understanding how a book is held and how to turn a page and understanding how stories develop are all essential skills that are developed during book sharing. These skills can also be developed with wordless books, as caregivers and children can make up their own stories based on the pictures. This helps children develop their imagination, think creatively, and connect concepts as they develop stories. Wordless books can also help caregivers practice other skills like counting, and identification of colors, shapes, and patterns with toddlers and preschoolers. ​​​​​​​​ 

Books as Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors

“Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created or recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in books.” (Bishop R. S. (1990). Mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors. Perspectives, 6(3), ix–xi.) 

• Choosing books that invite children and families to become part of the story through immersive narratives and relatable characters fosters a love of reading by allowing children connect with the stories on a personal level.
• Including books that depict the experiences, identity and culture of the families that you work with in your clinic, helps caregivers and children talk about how the book relates to their own lives and can help foster a sense of validation, self-worth, and belonging.
• Offering books that positively represent various cultures, perspectives and experiences can spark conversations and help families nurture their children’s curiosity and cultivate empathy and appreciation for the diversity of the world around them. 

By incorporating high quality books that portray diverse abilities, cultures, and families positively, you can create an enriching and inclusive reading experience for all children, promoting empathy, understanding, and a lifelong love for literature. 

By incorporating these guidelines into your book selection process, you can create a culture of literacy promotion that fosters a love for reading, supports language development, and celebrates diversity, ultimately empowering children to become lifelong learners. 

Booklists

• Reach Out and Read
• American Library Association
• Multnomah County Library
• New York Public Library
• Seattle Public Library
• Cooperative Children’s Book Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison 
• Colorin Colorado
• Reading Rockets
• The Children’s Book Council
• Common Sense Media
• Understood

AAP Healthy Children.org

• Diverse and Inclusive Books
• Books that build character and values