Browse by real life
Children's books for the problem you are solving
Almost nobody searches for a theme. They search for a situation - the baby arrives in three weeks, school starts on Monday, the four-year-old has started saying she is scared of everything. These 7 lists are named after the situation, and every book on them carries its read-aloud time, word count and a re-read score, because a book you will read twice a day for a month is a different decision from one you will read once.
2 lists
Big feelings
Worry, anger and the feelings a preschooler cannot yet name. These get read in the middle of the situation, so length matters more than usual.
10 measured booksBooks About Anxiety for PreschoolersPicture books about worry for three to five year olds, with read-aloud times and an honest note on which ones name the feeling and which only distract from it.Browse Books About Anxiety for Preschoolers
20 measured booksPreschool Books About FeelingsBooks about feelings for three to five year olds, sorted by the emotion they actually help with - anger, jealousy, sadness - each with its read-aloud time.Browse Preschool Books About Feelings
1 list
Starting something new
School, nursery, kindergarten. Read in the fortnight before, usually more than once a day, and almost always by a parent who is more nervous than the child.
3 lists
Growing up and changing
The transitions with a before and an after - a potty, a new baby, a bigger bed.
8 measured booksPotty Training BooksPotty training books with real read-aloud times and an honest note on which survive being read twice a day for a month. Most are one to two minutes.Browse Potty Training Books
8 measured booksBooks About Being a Big Brother or Big SisterBooks about being a big brother or big sister, with read-aloud times and an honest note on which handle jealousy rather than just announcing the baby.Browse Books About Being a Big Brother or Big Sister
14 measured booksPreschool Books About FamilyPicture books about families for three to five year olds - new siblings, grandparents, separation and love - each with its read-aloud time and re-read score.Browse Preschool Books About Family
1 list
Getting through bedtime
The search that happens at 7.40pm. Read-aloud time is the whole point here, and every book on the list carries it.
Not a problem, an occasion
Books for the time of year
Halloween and Christmas used to sit in the list above, which was wrong: a parent buying a Christmas book is not solving anything. They have their own lists.
12 measured booksHalloween Books for KidsHalloween books for kids with real read-aloud times and an honest note on which ones frighten a sensitive 3 year old - and which are genuinely not scary.Browse Halloween Books for Kids
12 measured booksChristmas Books for KidsChristmas books for kids with real read-aloud times, from a one-minute board book to the full Grinch - and each one labelled secular or nativity.Browse Christmas Books for Kids
What they are obsessed with
Books for a current obsession
An interest is not a problem either - but it is a very reliable way to get a book read forty times.
