How to choose the right book for your child (0-5 years old)

Reflections after the Outaouais Book Fair

I'm back from three wonderful days at the Outaouais Book Fair.

I feel inspired, revitalized, and privileged to have been able to interact with other authors, publishers, illustrators… and especially with you, dear parents and grandparents, who are looking for interesting and stimulating books for your children.

Throughout the meetings, certain questions came up often.
Very relevant questions, which show how much you want to make the right choices to support your child's language development and reading readiness.

So here's a small "Q&A" on a central theme:

How to choose the right book for my child?

Q1: For my 1 or 2 year old, which sound should I stimulate first?

A: All sounds can – and should – be stimulated.

When language development proceeds normally, the child's brain naturally integrates the sounds of the language they need to communicate.

It's not the first sounds of development that should be targeted in isolation, but rather the useful words in the child's daily life:

• eat

• more

• mommy

• bath

• sleepy

The brain will then organize itself to record the sounds necessary for the production of these words.

We are more specifically interested in the order of sound acquisition when a child has a language delay or pronunciation difficulties, generally after the age of 2 — and with the help of a speech-language pathologist.

Before targeting a specific sound, one must first understand the entire language development: comprehension, vocabulary, sentence structure, interaction…

Pronunciation comes next.

Q2: Which book to choose to prepare a 4 or 5 year old for reading?

At 4 or 5 years old, it is entirely possible to prepare the ground for learning to read, but without seeking to formally teach decoding.

Rather than targeting a specific sound, choose books that support pre-reading language skills:

• playing with sounds

• understanding that a sentence is made up of words

• recognizing that words are made up of small sound units

• developing phonological awareness

• enriching vocabulary

The child must understand how oral language works before moving on to written language.

Books that can support these skills

All our collections highlight a sound through several words and images. This can support phonological awareness, especially when the sound occurs frequently in the text.

Interactive books also attract many 4-5 year olds. Each double page can highlight a particular sound, while maintaining a playful and engaging aspect.

Die-cut books, meanwhile, help to stimulate:

• directionality (reading from left to right)

• sentence awareness

• understanding the meaning of a sentence

• sound awareness

These books encourage interactive reading, essential for language development.

Q3: My 5-year-old already knows how to read. How can I help them progress?

Sometimes a child can combine letters and recognize certain words at this age.

Often, they also rely on:

• context

• images

• the (often unconscious 😉) help of an adult

Formal reading instruction is an important and structured step, mainly carried out in kindergarten for 5-year-olds and in first grade.

You don't need to "get ahead."

Even when the child is skilled, accelerating decoding can sometimes be detrimental:

• risk of boredom at school

• loss of motivation

• lag with the group

We must not forget an essential element in the acquisition of reading skills: comprehension.

A child can decode words without understanding their meaning.
However, reading without understanding does not lead to the development of true reading skills.

So, what books should you favor for 4-5 year olds?

Generally, choose books that stimulate:

• phonological awareness (e.g., finding a sound in words)

• syntactic awareness (completing a sentence, playing with structure)

• less familiar vocabulary

• rhymes

• syllable manipulation

• interactive reading (flaps, holes, mechanisms)

Books you can tell, comment on, and enrich orally.

In summary: before reading, we talk

For a child under 5, the best advice I can give you is this:

Use books to create a moment of exchange, pleasure, and sharing.

Not just to decode sounds.

It's in these moments that:

• vocabulary

• comprehension

• complex sentence structures

• pre-reading and writing skills

These solid foundations will make all the difference when they enter school and are truly ready to associate letters and sounds.

Hopefully, these tips will reassure and guide you in choosing suitable books for your child.

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