Childhood Reading is a Journey, Not a Race

By Kathie Johnson

Kathie Johnson collected many children’s books as a teacher, and in 1986 she opened in her home a children’s library, which continues to expand today. She shares her experiences to help foster a love of reading in young children—and spur their imaginations.

Among the people who use my children’s library, I have noticed something that raises a recurring concern: too often parents are not patient enough; they want to read their beloved books to their children at ages I consider too young.

I’m generally talking about wonderful books, so I understand parents’ eagerness to share them with their children as soon as they feel there will be some understanding. I don’t take issue with the quality of their choices, but rather with the timing.

So, for example, a parent may begin to read the Narnia series to a five-year-old. Now an intelligent five-year-old may be able to follow the story and even enter into it to a degree. But there are many aspects of the books that will be lost on him (e.g. the big themes, the lovely descriptions, the character formation taking place).

In addition, once a child has a book read to him, he is often allowed to see the movie. So when the child turns eight or nine and is reading at the right level for the Narnia series, and would be able to understand all the nuances of the story, he may figure that he already knows it well and see no point in bothering to read it for himself. And so he will miss out on some of the best aspects of these books.

This is my greatest concern: When children encounter great (or even just good books) at too early an age, they imagine they know them well, when actually they have only a slim idea of what the books are truly about.

Another concern is that children (and their parents), in their eagerness to get into the meatier books, too often jump over a wide variety of books that are written expressly for the younger elementary-school child. These books can be a rich source of reading pleasure, with content that speaks to the understanding and concerns of children of those ages.

I have found that children who read widely in the range of books most suited to their age gain depths of understanding as they are exposed to different times and places and people. And as they grow older, they progress naturally to longer books with more complex and mature themes.

Recommended Stories

So let me suggest some books that work well with the K-3 age range. First, some good read-alouds:

Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White, of course
Esther Averill’s books about Jenny the Cat and the Cat Club
Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach
Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chinocoteague
Richard and Florence Atwater’s Mr. Popper’s Penguins
Beverly Cleary’s Ramona series and Henry Huggins books
Some of the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Carolyn Haywood’s two series—Besty for the girls and Eddie for the boys

Then there are the books that younger children may be able to read independently:

John Peterson’s The Littles can prepare children for later reading The Borrowers
The Boxcar Children is a great first chapter-book series
Jill Barklem’s Brambly Hedge books, with their detailed illustrations, are delightful
Marguerite de Angeli has written a number of middle-level stories, mostly about Quaker children
Clyde Robert Bulla writes amost entirely for this age range, with varied time and place settings
Avi has a brief series that includes The End of the Beginning
Rumer Godden has several good books for this age, including The Fairy Doll

Wait a Year or Two or Three

I’ve just scratched the surface with these suggestions. They are mostly well-written, and will help children expand their understanding of the larger world outside their circle of family and friends. Most of these books will also make good read-alouds for those who have more than one child and want to have a “family read.”

So, next time you feel you can’t wait to read The Hobbit to your seven-year-old, consider what a special experience it is to step fully into that alternate world, and to relish the songs, the dramatic adventures, the richly descriptive passages, and the relationships between the characters.

Your seven-year-old might be especially bright, but no child of that age has the experience and brain development needed to enter into that other world quite yet. Wait a year or two or three, and in the meantime, discover all the wonderful books that are just right for now.

Please share your ideas and comments! I would love to hear what has worked well for you.

This post first appeared in Kathie Johnson’s column in the March/April 2014 issue of Touchstone Magazine.