Building a library for your child, Part 1 – How to choose

I often get asked about our home library, and more specifically, about the books we own for children. I’ve had friends and relatives who wonder how it is I go about choosing the books that I do, when there are so many books out there to choose from. It’s true – if you go on to Amazon and read through people’s “lists” of recommended reading for children, you will get such varied opinions that it’s almost overwhelming.

Where do you start if you want to give your children quality reading material? What if you are a grandparent wanting to give the gift of a quality book that will not be tossed aside after one reading (or one that won’t drive parents crazy if they have to read it 50 times)?

While there are books lists aplenty floating around out there on the Internet, I thought I would share some of our tried and true favorites in case you are one of those people who are just overwhelmed at the book choices out there. Maybe my own lists would be of some benefit to someone.

First of all, however, I want to say just a bit about how we choose the books the we purchase or check out of the library for our children.

Dan and I made the decision to be intentional about the books that we offer for our children to read from the very beginning. As you know, I have read and studied a great deal about education. One of my favorite educators, Charlotte Mason, used a word to describe reading material that is not healthy for a child – “twaddle”. You can read a very thorough definition of the word HERE. We try to avoid twaddle if at all possible, and instead, give our children books that are interesting, engaging, thought-provoking — in short –living books.

As parents, all of us agree that it’s not good for a child to eat junk food all the time. Once in a while, junk food is OK, but for the most part, we try to offer healthy food. The mind is no different. It needs “healthy” ideas that will nourish it and cause it to flourish.

Children are not that different from adults – they are merely inexperienced little people. They have ideas about things, too. If we don’t stifle them, they are very curious about the world and they often have just as profound questions as we adults do. They need to be taught (through books) in language that they can understand, but they do not need “dumbed down” ideas to ponder.

Good books give children ideas to “chew on” and they are interesting to both the child and the parent.

We have found that by severely limiting “twaddle” in our home from the start, our children have healthy appetites for quality books. If you don’t start out this way, it’s not impossible to get your children or grandchildren to read “good” books, but it’s going to be more difficult. Just think if you allowed your toddler to eat Oreos and milk for breakfast for the first 3 years of life. If you were to expect him to all of the sudden start eating scrambled eggs, whole wheat toast and fruit when he gets to elementary school age, you would have a very difficult time managing it, I think.

If you ever visit the children’s area in a public library, you probably have noticed the vast amount of twaddle and junk that is available. That’s because they only keep the books that people check out frequently, and these days the books that are the most popular are often the ones based on TV/movie characters or feature less-than-admirable sibling/parent/peer relationships that children (unfortunately) can relate to. The “classics” often find their way into the library book sales.

So, you have to be a bit more pro-active if you want to build a quality library for your child. When we started building our home library, I consulted many book recommendations from moms that I trust. Also, I tried to first check out each book from the library for myself before purchasing it. If it held my interest and the children’s, then it went onto my “Book Wish List”.

Next in the series: Part 2 – How to find quality books to build your library

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The children must enjoy the book. The ideas it holds must each make that sudden, delightful impact upon their minds, must cause that intellectual stir, which mark the inception of an idea.
-Charlotte Mason

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Related article: Choosing Books Like a Connoisseur