How To Find Your Kid’s Next Great Read
Is your kid burning through all of the books at the local library?
Is their ravenous reading leaving the shelves of your local little library barren?
Are you concerned that they might start turning the page on reading if they don’t get their hands on some fresh new pages?
Despair not.
Even when your home shelves are picked over and your library’s selections are bare, you know the internet is always there with more than enough options for the curious mind.
Or, as is often the case, too many options.
Because in the world of children’s book reading and publishing, finding that next new great book amongst all of the masses that are released each year can be a real challenge. With all of the self-published books released on Amazon and all the traditionally published books coming to you through book fairs, it can be helpful to have a discerning eye to make sure you’re getting your kids the right material.
To help with that, we rounded up a few solid sites featuring a mix of children’s classics and new and notable books to make sure the young ones in your life are getting the very best. Take a look below!
Three Great Go-To Sites For Finding New Children’s Books
-
BookTrust’s Bookfinder - When you know a little bit about your child’s likes and interests (and if you can still ballpark their age which, we know, changes every single year), the Bookfinder tool by BookTrust is a powerful little recommendation engine. You’ll choose first between six age ranges (finishing off at 12+), then you’ll choose from types of books that are common for that age group. Younger themes include Daily Life, Looking After Our Planet, and Poetry and Rhyme, while older categories include Love and Relationships, Scary, and Sci-Fi. Though it’s a UK-based site, the categories are English-language books of all kinds.
-
Go Back To The Reading Rainbow - Parents of a certain age will still remember the infinitely singable theme song and the imitable LeVar Burton of the PBS show Reading Rainbow. If you’d like a way to take inspiration from the show without introducing too much more screen time in your kid’s day-to-day life, this Reading Rainbow Booklist from ReadWriteThink could be just right for you. The list features books from the 80s, 90s, and 00s, giving you a wide range of books to choose from that have proven to have staying power on the shelves.
- Trust The Librarians - While it feels like no one reads more than your kids, we know those librarians, quiet though they may be, have read quite a few books in their day. too. That’s why we trust the American Library Association’s list of Notable Children’s Books. Though not as interactive as the Bookfinder tool, this is a more modern list that will help if you’re looking for something fresh and new. The recognition is broken down by the following age ranges:
- Younger Readers – Preschool-grade 2 (age 7)
- Middle Readers – Grades 3-5, ages 8-10
- Older Readers – Grades 6-8, ages 11-14
- and All Ages – Has appeal and interest for children in all of the above age ranges
We hope this selection makes finding a great new read just a little bit easier for you. And if you’ve got an avid reader on your hand, another idea worth checking out is our Early Achievers IRLA pack, which has a special achievement coin specifically designed for reading!
What about you? What’s your go-to way to find new books for your young ones to read?