Nonna's Guide to All Hallows Reading

10/1/2020

Photo by Pixaby at Pixels

Ages & stages

A good story is life saving -- check out Nonna's Guide to Reading to find out why good stories are critically important for your child's happiness and health. Books have an incredible impact on our well-being and development and the right book at the right time shapes a child's heart and mind.

Providing a child or young adult the right book at the right time requires an understanding of childhood development, as well as the individual child - parents and teachers experience first hand the "ages & stages" of childhood.

Reading with babies and toddlers is comforting -- they love the sound of a parent or caregiver's voice and the warmth of their physical presence. It also lays out a strong foundation for their social, emotional and intellectual development. While I love reading books specifically for the little ones, I want to focus this month on books for four older ages and stages of development.

This month's Children's Picture Books are chosen for children in preschool and primary grades -- children who are fascinated by animals, shapes and colors with developing vocabulary and numeracy.
Books for Emerging Readers are for children beginning to identify words, read short sentences or who may even read along with you! This is the stage in a child's life to read aloud beautiful, fun, silly or inspiring stories! The four books covered this month are chosen to foster a joy in reading.
When thinking about Middle Reader Chapter Books, think Harry Potter or Percy Jackson series. Children at this stage of development are exploring family and friendship dynamics, they are conscious of their own physical and emotional changes and are becoming aware of the world at large. It is unlikely Middle Reader Chapter Books will tackle the mature themes or subject matter found in YA novels.
While over half of the readers of Young Adult Novels are over the age of 18, the genre meets a significant need for older teens and young adults with protagonists who mirror the experiences and challenges in the readers' lives. The YA story is a coming of age story where the hero or heroine is struggling to establish their own identity and autonomy, and may be dark or serious, giving the readers an opportunity to wrestle with the hard issues examined in the genre.

You will notice there are not any books this month in the Early Reader Chapter Book category -- I hope to add these in future months.

Mondays: Children's Picture Books

Young littles may love the idea of costumes and candy, but may not be developmentally ready for the spookiness of Halloween. The do love learning about animals and plants at this age. These four books are are visually beautiful -- perfect for preschool and primary grade children!

Tuesdays: Books for Emerging Readers

Halloween is still new to elementary school-age children with lots of excitement about trick-or-treating. But many kiddos at this age experience quite a bit of fear -- the whole visual package is scary! These books treat fear as a problem to be solved.

Wednesdays: Middle Reader Chapter Books

Readers of middle chapter books love a good ghost story -- well, most of them. These four books will give the reader a frizzle of fear while exploring friendship and family.

Thursdays: Young Adult Novels

Scary and suspenseful -- nightmares, death, zombies, monsters -- these four novels are for young adults who don't mind the hero or heroine dealing with fear.

Heads up: Schusterman's Unwind is perhaps the most frightening book I have ever read. Not spooky, magic kind of fear, but omgosh this-is-not-really-happening-in-the-story kind of fear! And it is definitely one of my favorite YA novels.

May your books be many this October!
Nonna

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STORIES MATTER @ Nonna and The Boss