How to Find Out If a Book Is OK to Read?
- 1). Read the book. The best way to know whether a book is safe for your child is to read it yourself first. This way you are able to check the content, the language and the plot of the book to determine for yourself whether it is the type of material you'd like your children exposed to.
- 2). Read reviews of the book written by other parents. These reviews will be open and honest about whether a book is safe for children to read and whether the content was offensive. Try reading reviews by the American Library Association. Also, check awards lists for recommendations such as Newberry, Caldecott and Bluebonnet.
- 3). Enlist the help of the child to determine if the book's reading level is too advanced for them. Teacher and writer Pamela Martin suggests having the child "select a page in the middle of the book. As the child reads it, they should hold up a finger for every unfamiliar word. One or two fingers means the book is at an independent reading level and the child should read it for fun, but not for a school assignment choice. Three or four fingers means the book is at the instructional level and the child will be challenged by reading the book, but should be able to read it with little help. Five or more fingers and the book will be too difficult for the child to read alone."
- 4). Use NoveList to find grade-level appropriate children's books. NoveList is a database owned by the popular academic search engine, EBSCO. You can access it through the Mid-York Library System website. It indexes books for children based on Lexile Ranking. The higher the ranking number, the more difficult the reading level.
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