{"id":458,"date":"2022-11-04T23:00:19","date_gmt":"2022-11-04T23:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.scholastic.ca\/scholasticblog\/?p=458"},"modified":"2025-10-31T15:23:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T15:23:09","slug":"the-value-of-trying-the-first-book-to-find-a-series-your-child-will-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.scholastic.ca\/scholasticblog\/2022\/11\/04\/the-value-of-trying-the-first-book-to-find-a-series-your-child-will-love\/","title":{"rendered":"The Value of Trying the First Book to Find a Series Your Child Will Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Series are a sure bet for raising readers, and it all starts with Book #1.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>Originally published by Scholastic Parents on October 24, 2022<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A kids\u2019 book series is a fun and memorable way for your child to connect to reading. Surely you can recall the series that \u201craised\u201d you as a reader through childhood and into your teenage years, whether they were detective stories, fantasy, or books about friendship. Book series for kids today are still a hugely popular \u2014 and successful \u2014 way for parents to get their children hooked on reading. Once your child finds a story and characters they\u2019re interested in, they\u2019ll want to continue exploring that world and see where those characters end up.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And as a parent, you\u2019ll see your child successfully finish one book after the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen children feel successful with understanding the story, they want to read more books in the series,\u201d says Leana Malinowsky, a second-grade teacher and reading specialist in New Jersey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first book in a series can also tell you a lot about your child, including their reading progress and any developing interests. Here are three valuable reasons to give the first book in any series a try.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. You can gauge your child\u2019s literacy development.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>With the first book in any series, you\u2019ll quickly see how and why your child reads, and what they take away from the text. Engage with your child about how the book is going \u2014 ask questions like, \u201cAre you enjoying the plot?\u201d \u201cWhat do you think will happen to the characters?\u201d Questions like these stimulate your child\u2019s memory and reading comprehension. They also allow you to guide book discovery and selection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. You\u2019ll see your child\u2019s interests develop over time.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Think of book one in a series as a marker for your child\u2019s interests. If your child loves the book, they\u2019re likely to enjoy more of the series, which means they\u2019ll be reading regularly. And if you can pinpoint what your child enjoyed most about the first book \u2014 whether it\u2019s the subject, illustrations, or dialogue \u2014 you can gather similar materials or resources for further reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These do not need to be confined to fiction: You may want to introduce nonfiction or more knowledge-based learning materials at this intersection if you discover your child is drawn to science, history, or adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your child loses interest quickly in book one, ask why. Do they prefer shorter books over chapter books? What would they like to read about instead?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Series are a great means of testing out what sticks and what doesn\u2019t for your child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou could introduce them to a series you enjoyed reading as a kid, or introduce them to one that may cover a different topic than they would normally pick,\u201d suggests Kristen Pishkin, a second-grade teacher in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Your child will look forward to reading.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps the most valuable reason to try out the first book in a series is that it can lock your child in for long-term reading engagement. Teachers and literacy experts agree: Series are great for increasing reading frequency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI often share with families that if a student is given one or two books from a series and they enjoy them, this opens up the conversation for reading others in the series,\u201d says Malinowsky.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Series are a sure bet for raising readers, and it all starts with Book #1. Originally published by Scholastic Parents on October 24, 2022 A kids\u2019 book series is a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[5,6,7,38,39],"class_list":["post-458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reading-tips","tag-book-clubs","tag-book-fairs","tag-parents","tag-reading","tag-series"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Value of Trying the First Book to Find a Series Your Child Will Love | Scholastic at School Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scholastic.com\/parents\/books-and-reading\/raise-a-reader-blog\/book-series-kids-first-book.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Value of Trying the First Book to Find a Series Your Child Will Love | Scholastic at School Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Series are a sure bet for raising readers, and it all starts with Book #1. 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