Developmental Considerations in
Selecting Books for Children

Preschool

Three- and four-year-old children are egocentric and their thinking is concrete. They do not have a precise understanding of yesterday, today, or tomorrow.

It is important that picture books have an equal partnership between words and pictures. Children expand their knowledge of the world through books. If a book’s topic is alien to children’s experiences, pictures help them visualize what they have never seen. Together, pictures and context facilitate children’s efforts to expand their vocabulary.

At this age, children begin to have a sense of competency and seek autonomy, independence, and control. This very independence can make them fearful of elements they can’t control, including their own emotions. Complicating the issue of fear is their inability to separate fantasy from reality.

Fairy tales and fantasies can help children face their fears and dark thoughts in a non-threatening manner. Because of the possibility of high emotional impact, stories should be predictable and have a rational and comforting resolution. Humor can defuse a frightening situation and soothing bedtime stories can distract small children from their fears.

Slice-of-life and nonfiction books that address issues head-on can be very reassuring. Rhyming text and text that plays with words are popular at this stage when children’s vocabularies are rapidly expanding.

Positive self-image is an issue for children. Three- and four-year-olds are often indifferent to differences such as race, gender, or physical disability, but we need to be sure that stories do not stereotype these issues.

Kindergarten and First Grade

Kindergarten and first grade children’s thinking is less egocentric than preschoolers’ but still very concrete. Five- and six-year-old children are beginning to understand logical relationships — yesterday, today, and tomorrow take on real meaning.

Five- and six-year-olds enter a world of realities; schoolwork changes from play-based learning to more structured academics. Most children embrace the challenge of growing up, but often experience anxiety. Slice-of-life books that address everyday anxieties are very popular with this age group and humor can cool off anxiety-producing situations.

Children want to understand what they see around them. They enjoy folk tales that explain the unexplainable and concept books. As their view of the world moves away from themselves, they begin to learn that there are rules about behavior and that the consequences of breaking the rules may be fair or unfair. Fables or stories with a moral and in which there are consequences for behavior are popular with five- and six-year-olds. They also enjoy humorous tales, especially those that poke fun at adults.

Second and Third Grades

Second- and third-graders are reality based. They can understand that people and things exist beyond their personal experience and that the world existed before them and will be there after them.

Seven- and eight-year-olds are interested in people, present and past. Biographies, especially of people children study in school or are aware of, are popular at this age.

Second- and third-graders are interested in sharing stories about the past, especially if it can be linked to the present. They tend to be hardworking and industrious and are able to focus on a task for a long period of time, if it interests them.

By seven and eight, what was a struggle for autonomy has become a battle for independence. Children believe they can function quite well on their own and enjoy books in which the hero is industrious and independent and accomplishes goals without adults.

Building and reinforcing positive self-esteem is critical for children in this age group. These children need to feel that they belong. Books that celebrate a culture or custom or describe a holiday or festival can instill pride and help children look at differences as strengths rather than elements that set them apart.

Second- and third-graders’ sense of right and wrong and fairness can be extended to address social issues. They also love slice-of-life chapter books, especially when the stories combine recognizable events with humor.