Talking About Books With Your Elementary Child

As your child grows older, especially during the 6-9 Elementary age, it is helpful to process books and stories to deepen their comprehension. Even for children who may be early readers and can dive into a book independently, it can be helpful to slow down and discuss together, so you can hear what they understand from a book and clue in to what their takeaways are.

For younger children, you can begin by talking about the characters:

“Why do you think ___ did that?”

“What kind of person is this? Kind? Funny? Mischievous?”

“How do you feel about this character?”

Genre (Fiction or nonfiction? How do you know?)

“Does this book tell a story, give facts, tell how to do something, or persuade you?”

Monitoring for unknown words (model struggle)

“What would make sense there?”

“What confused you?”

“What do you think the writer means when she says ___?”

Retelling (summarize)

“What were the most important things the writer had to say?”

“Tell about the whole story in just a few sentences.”

Making Connections

“What does this remind you of ?”

“This book reminds me of _____. Can you think why?”

“Have you read about other characters (places, problems) like this?

Analyzing Author’s Craft

“What did you notice about how the writer told the story?”

“What was the writer’s purpose in telling the story?”

“What did the writer do to keep you interested?”

Inferring (thinking what the author means but has not stated)

“What were the writer’s feelings about the topic?”

“Why do you think ___ did that?”

“What does this book say to you?”

“What lesson does the main character learn?”

“How do you feel about this character?”

“That’s what (character) said. What did she really mean?”

Character Analysis (Recognizing Character Traits and Understanding Character Motivation)

“Why do you think the character is acting the way he is?”

“What does the character find important? What does that tell you about the character?”

“How else could ___ have acted?”

“What inner/outer strengths does the character draw upon to meet her challenges/goals?”

“How are the character’s inner feelings shown through her decisions?”

“What is the world like to the people in this story?”

“Were the characters or events portrayed in unexpected ways?”