Topics I’d like to See Covered in Beginning Reader Books

Anna Taylor

Today's guest contributor, Anna Taylor, is the Head of Youth Services for Darien Library in CT. She currently serves on ALCT's Cataloging of Children's Materials Committee and is active in ALSC and YALSA.

Think about your top circulating beginning reader books. What do they have in common? Perhaps it’s a funny story about a fly, or an adventure with a sparkly fairy, or maybe a superhero who doesn’t like to wear pants. Young readers love these books. They check them out by the handfuls and read them over and over and over again. It’s amazing! Even the most reluctant of readers are drawn to these books. I don’t care what anyone else says, if a book makes a child love reading, then I’m a fan. Yes, even those books written by a daisy. 

I know. I know. Some of these books are seen as “formulaic” and not “quality” literature. Parents can see the cover and automatically ask the child to find something more “appropriate” and less “silly”. How do you meet them in the middle?

I would like to see beginning reader books that have the following things:

• Flashy cover (glitter, texture, metallic)
• Cartoon-like art throughout
• Relatable and diverse characters
• Everyday topics and issues
• No numbered series

Kids judge a book by its cover (you know you do, too) and they are much more likely to pick a mediocre book with a flashy cover than an amazing book with a basic cover. Can we mesh the two? The I Survived series does a pretty good job at this pairing: exciting cover, great historical story. Let’s read about bullying and divorce and kindness and other cultures in a Geronimo Stilton format with flashy text and color illustrations.

I want to give a beginning reader a book that I know they will not only want to read but, after they read it, will learn something about themselves. Going on adventures with animals and fairies is a blast but I want a 15 year old to come up to me with a beginning reader book and say “this book changed me” while clutching it to their chest in a hug.