How to Choose a Children's Book, Part 3 - The Themes of a Book

This is the third in a series of articles on how to choose a children's book. Last time, I argued for the crucial importance of choosing books with subjective appeal, i.e., books that a child will like, and not books that are merely good for a child in some way. In this article I will begin discussing the considerations that make up a book's subjective appeal. Specifically, I will discuss the role of a book's themes in rendering it appealing to a child, and I will try to give some specific guidance on what to look for in the themes of a children's book.What do I mean by the "themes" of a children's book? By "themes" I mean the specific content of the book, or what the book is about. For example, in a science book about snakes, the theme might simply be snakes. Or, in a book like The Invention of Hugo Cabret, the themes might include coping with loss, or finding one's purpose in the world. In a book like Martin's Big Words, the themes might include justice, equality, and love.
The key to choosing a book with themes that will make the book appealing to a child is to choose themes that directly relate to the experience of the child. Some aspects of a child's experience will be shared with most every other child in her age or developmental category.For example, most every child in the infant-to-two-years category is acquiring basic language and concepts, is learning to control her body in various basic ways, and is coming to recognize some of the objects in the world. Given that most every infant-to-2-year-old shares experiences of this kind, books with themes that directly connect with these experiences will be thematically age appropriate.Thus, for the infant-to-two-years category, age appropriate themes might include colors and numbers (e.g., One Red Sun: A Counting Book, by Ezra Jack Keats), the alphabet (e.g., Dr. Seuss's ABC, by Dr. Seuss), making noise (e.g., Clap Hands by Helen Oxenbury), dogs (e.g., Follow Carl!, by Alexandra Day), potty tra
ining (e.g., Once Upon a Potty, by Alona Frankel), and bedtime (e.g., Grandfather Twilight, by Barbara Helen Berger).Children in the three-to-five-years category are learning to do more things for themselves, are continuing to gain more understanding of the how the world works, are working on mastery of their impulses and emotions, are beginning to navigate relationships with parents, siblings, and friends, and are beginning to acquire basic values. Thus, age appropriate themes might include doing things "by myself" (e.g., Hey, Little Baby!, by Nola Buck), going to the zoo (e.g., When We Went to the Zoo, by Jan Ormerod), getting angry (e.g., When Sophie Gets Angry-Really, Really Angry..., by Molly Bang), or friendship (e.g., Frog and Toad Are Friends, by Arnold Lobel).Age appropriate themes for children in the six-to-eight-years category might include relationships at school (e.g., Chrysanthemum, by Kevin Henkes), pets (e.g., Comet's Nine Lives, by Jan Brett), moral characte
r (e.g., Once a Mouse..., by Marcia Brown), and family relationships (Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, by William Steig). Age appropriate themes for children in the nine-to-twelve-years category might include friendships, conflicts between good and evil (e.g., Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J.K. Rowling), and finding one's place in the world (e.g., The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick). These lists of age-appropriate themes are just a start and should not be taken as exhaustive.Finally, while age appropriate themes will likely connect with any child in a given age or developmental category, there will also be certain themes that will appeal to the particular child you have in mind simply because of her specific interests. For example, my eight-year-old daughter has always been fascinated by all things scientific, and especially the science of living things. When she was five or so her aunt gave her a book on plant function and anatomy, and she devoured i
t. She still tells me about "stomata" and "pistils" years later! In my initial estimation, this sort of book would have been dead boring for a five-year-old (and it would be boring for many five-year-olds). But, for my little scientist, it was fascinating because she had a special interest in the theme of the book.The bottom-line is this: when choosing a book for a child, consider the themes of the book and whether they connect with the current life experiences of the child, given his age and special interests. Themes of this sort will contribute to making the book appealing to the child you are choosing for. In fact, sometimes an interesting theme alone is enough to make a book appealing to a child.In the next post in this series I will continue to discuss the particular factors that contribute to a book's subjective appeal. Specifically, I will take up the important topic of illustration quality.

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