Parents' Guide to How to Read a Book

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Common Sense Media Review

Regan McMahon By Regan McMahon , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 4+

Dazzling look at the joy and discovery of reading.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 4+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

What's the Story?

HOW TO READ A BOOK both suggests a way to approach reading -- like, pick a comfy place to do it -- and describes what it's like once you peek inside a book. "Peel its gentle skin like you would a clementine. ... Watch a novel world unfurl right before your eyes."

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say : Not yet rated
Kids say : Not yet rated

This vibrant, dazzlingly illustrated picture book poetically captures the excitement that can come from reading a book. It shows kids digging into reading and discovering imagined worlds that transport them. Type merges onto faces, and books turn into metaphors, like one that looks like a toaster with words (instead of toast) popping out of it.

How to Read a Book is wildly imaginative as it distills the soaring feeling of reading a story and hoping it will never end. It's brilliant, fun, energized, and passionate.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the collages in How to Read a Book. How do you like the mixture of drawings, colorful letters, and text passages? Why do you think the artist put text from a book on the boy's face?

  • Why do you think the artist chose the story of Bambi to draw text and pictures from?

  • Try making your own collage. Use a combination of your own drawings and some pictures or text from a magazine or newspaper that you have permission to rip up.

  • The author writes about hoping you'll never reach the end when you're reading a book. Have you ever felt that way? What book made you feel that way?

Book Details

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What to Read Next

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