Buying books for children

For Parents, grandparents, family friends and teachers.

Buying books for children is an important step to aid children's development. Books can broaden horizons for children with limited access to activities.. 

     They can help children to understand others and to help them empathize with others. Being able to identify with a character helps them to put themselves in another person's shoes, so to speak.

    In our age of instant gratification, ie  television, videos and other visual modes of entertainment, it's certain that they don't engage the brain in the way that reading does. In an age of dwindling attention spans, reading can also help with concentration. 

     Reading is good for children and is the foundation for education. Children that don't read often, miss out. on vital steps in learning. In very young children, books play an important part in the development of language.

    Books can also be useful in helping to promote stronger bonds between parent and child when the the child is read to. 

    There's no doubt that books are crucial for education and enrichment of children's lives. Reading can help a child's imagination and help creativity. 

A love of reading is always positive.

     Of course we mustn't forget those children who have dyslexia and find reading difficult.  Even then there are books that can be helpful for them. 

    There is such an amazing range of books for all ages of children. There are many books available from books for babies to Teen-fiction (not in our remit) and everything in between. Choosing what's the best book for you child is  not always easy. It depends on your aim.  If your child is fascinated by a particular subject such as transport, or creativity, you will look for non-fiction books that meet that need. There are many good non-fiction books available for children. Knowing your child or children is important in choosing the right books for them. That isn't as easy as you might think. Children change all the time and they move on in a very short time. Also fashions in children's literature moves on. Whilst books that we loved when we were children still have followers ie Roald Dahl's books, Enid Blyton etc. new characters have been created and new classics such as Harry Potter simply cannot be ignored.

    There are many new books on the market to discover. Because of the growth  of independent publishing the market has grown beyond all expectation in the last few years. So, there's a wealth of literature to choose from. Research into new titles and what they're about may be needed.

     Finding the right age-appropriate book is also important There is a huge catalogue of picture books on the market and many more are being produced, both from traditional publishers and self-published authors, every day.

    If you have particular moral stances that you believe in, you need to know what a particular book contains.  

       Then we come to books in series:

       From the time that C'S Lewis  wrote the Narnia books, there was and is an enthusiasm for books in series and a varacious young reader will devour books  from, shall we say, books 1--5 and beyond, as a hungry child devours food..  For older children books are more often available in series, mainly because authors make more money from series than stand-alone books. Buying books for them maybe easier if you ask what series are they reading. 

   All in all, encouraging children to read is a positive thing that we can do for our children. If we remember the books that we read when we were their age and how they benefitted us as children,  we will want the same for them in this generation. If you are buying books for you children, happy hunting

John Parnham