52

Kindergarten children (ages 5-6)

7

Parents of these children

5

Teachers/educators

The study purposefully included only children who:¹

• Had typically developing language skills, and
• Engaged in shared book-reading often both at home and at school.
  
  

What the study found

Different children prefer different TYPES of books¹

Children’s thoughts about sharing books with adults¹

100% of the children enjoyed engaging in shared book-reading with parents and teachers.¹

In fact, children generally expressed that they wanted opportunities to:

• Engage in book-reading more often with adults,
• Read their favourite books many times.¹

The study highlights the “crucial companionship” children derive through interactions during shared book-reading.¹

Children also wanted a greater variety of books available to them at home and at school.¹

Most children wanted to be more involved in choosing those books. For example, while 70% of the children stated that their parents selected all the books at home, only 8% said their parents considered their preferences.¹ 

What children’s book preferences mean for you

In their own words, young children reinforce the most important message about sharing books with them:

It’s all about their interests!

This is because children are likely to keep an interaction going and communicate more often when adults respond to the things that interest them. The language and literacy learning follows from there.

Based on this research, here are two things you can do to incorporate your child’s preferences to help make the most of your interactions when sharing books:

1. Provide opportunities for your child to engage with all different types of books: storybooks, instructional, and “adapted.”

Previous studies have suggested that one type of book may be “better” for language learning than others. However, the children in this study say differently. While most of the children in this study preferred storybooks, many had strong, clear opinions about why they preferred the other types. For each child, their favourite type of book helped them use language skills in different ways. Perhaps your child is more motivated by informational books, for example, making it easier for you to get an interaction going. 

And, when your child does find a book that interests them, it can be beneficial to return to it as often as they find it interesting.

2. Let your child choose their books.

The parents in this study generally decided which books were available at home. Likewise, teachers decided which books were in the classroom. This study suggests even with our best intentions, as adults we may not always get it right. Furthermore, when adults make all the choices about the books children read, this could actually hinder children’s motivation to interact during book reading.

Of course, one limitation is that parents can only buy so many books. This is what makes your local libraries so magical! You can let your child explore the shelves. Take note of which books they are drawn to. You can bring home a range of different options and see which become new favourites for your child.