Quick Click: The Right Story at the Right Time
What kinds of tales can your child understand and appreciate now? Follow these age-by-age guidelines.
As she grows, your child is ready for books with more sophisticated themes and content.
At age 5, children may:
- begin, with guidance, to consider underlying reasons for a character's behavior
- be better able to recognize more subtle emotions in characters (for example, disappointment, confusion, frustration, embarrassment, and panic), even though they may not have the vocabulary for them
- gradually realize that a character's actions and intentions could be contradictory
- respond to stories that show triumph over adversity
At age 6, children may:
- use their growing vocabulary to discuss characters' virtues, shortcomings, and motives, such as envy
- be attracted to stories that address accepting individual differences and showing tolerance
- appreciate that mixed emotions are possible
- read and invent stories that depict powerful emotional responses and changes in the characters
