Build an Awesome Home Library for your Child
A home library should be an ever-evolving menu of 15+ high-interest fiction and non-fiction text choices that are written at a lexile level that is comfortable for your child at that point in their development. Kids should have a cozy dedicated space to read.
A lexile level is a measurement of a text's complexity and a reader's ability, providing a common scale to match readers with appropriate texts. It is based on two factors: the difficulty of the text in terms of vocabulary and sentence structure, and the reader's comprehension ability. A higher lexile level indicates a more challenging text, while a lower level suggests a text that is easier to comprehend. Lexile levels are often noted on the back of children’s books and can roughly (not perfectly) correlate to grade levels. Not sure what level something is? Try the Lexile Analyzer tool.
For independent reading, the books should be at slightly lower levels than the child’s proficiency. Teachers call these choices “high-lows” because they are interesting to the child and don’t feel like “a lot of work” to read and enjoy.
A reading library should include many different choices that kids can leverage in different moods, or as different interests pique. Get inspired by our recommended book lists.
What types of options to include:
Short fiction (ex. Madeline, Anne of Green Gables, Nate the Great,
Short non-fiction (ex. Ripley’s Believe It or Not, magazine or news paper articles printed, biographies, memoirs, 101 Facts about Space, Would you Rather…)
Audio books
Select podcasts
Recipes
How-to instructions (ex. a book on how to make different paper airplanes)
Here’s an example home library collection for a second grade student:
Big Nate by Dav Pilkey
A Friend for Dragon by Dav Pilkey
Miss Nelson Is Missing by Harry G. Allard Jr. and James Marshall
The Best Joke Book For Kids: Illustrated Silly Jokes For Ages 3-8 by Rather McSilly
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Space by Catherine D. Hughes
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Why by Amy Shields
What Should Danny Do? (The Power to Choose Series) by Adir Levy
A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
Gorilla vs. Leopard (Animal Battles) by Nathan Sommer
Cat Ninja by Matthew Cody
Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior: From Seeds to Swords: An Unofficial Minecraft Adventure (Volume 2) by Cube Kid
Stories Podcast (a couple choices of episodes each month)
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling - paperback book with audiobook on iPad
Independent Reading Myth Busters (Research-Based)
Kids shouldn’t read books with pictures or graphic novels
FALSE! Actually this can help bridge comprehension gaps, improve motivation to keep reading and boost fluency.
Kids should keep reading a book until they finish.
FALSE! Oh no - choice in reading is powerful and important to preserve. If a book is too difficult, uninteresting or just to right for your child, let them make the decision to try something else.
It’s okay if my child refuses to try a book i think they would really like.
TRUE! Offering a menu of choices with no agenda of your own gives kids the freedom to discover what interests them and to filter out choices that are too hard or too boring,. That’s what we want them to be doing for themselves.
Parents should ask kids to explain what they read afterwards.
FALSE! Independent reading time is sacred and not a test. It is for enjoyment and for building fluency. Asking kids to summarize text is a great reading comprehension activity, but stay in your lane and avoid adding this pressure to independent reading time or risk alienating your child from reading.
Kids should not be multitasking during independent reading time.
TRUE! Keep the focus on the reading by eliminating outside noises and interruptions.
Kids should try to broaden their skills and not read a book multiple times or only read books from one series.
False - ish! Rereading text has been shown to be a powerful activity in boosting comprehension and long-term fluency. Kids can get “stuck” in a good series, but if they love it, let them stick to it. You can find adjacent books by the same author or on the same topic to offer that they may eventually choose to branch out. As long as they are reading, it’s all valuable time spent.