From early language acquisition to understanding emotion and the reality of the modern world, teaching your child to appreciate books is, in many ways, offering them a lifelong gift.

Nurturing a love of literature is an endless pursuit and one that rarely ceases to stop bestowing satisfaction on those who seek out new books on a regular basis.  

There are many important life lessons to be learned throughout the pages of children’s literature, and some of the best examples have a message anyone can learn from, regardless of their age.

If you are thinking about which book your child should read next or wanted to direct them to a narrative that might teach them an important life lesson, here are some points you might want to consider. 

Coping with Loss

Dealing with loss is a prospect everyone will likely face at some point in their lives, but accounting for when that might be is a painful thought. 

Preparing kids for the reality of loss can be important for their personal development, a factor that beautiful books like Edith Kerr’s Goodbye Mog or Patrice Karst’s The Invisible String explore in earnest with profound and captivating elegance. 

Similarly, Clare Helen Welsh’s Tide is a picture book that deals with the concept of aging grandparents and the subsequent health issues (in this case, dementia) that can, at times, be incredibly distressing for loved ones. It is a charming and caring book that approaches the subject delicately but honestly.  

If you are currently in a similar position at home and you are worried about an aging loved one, you might want to check out the services as chesterfield assisted living, as this might help guide you in the best direction. 

Understanding Difference

Life is made wonderful by difference, but sometimes, understanding cultures that exist beyond a particular frame of reference can be difficult, particularly if one has had little to no interaction with them before. 

Learning to understand and accept differences is a highly valuable life lesson that children can be taught with the help of literature. 

Some wonderful books worth looking at include G My Name is Girl by Dawn Masi, Most People by Michael Leannah, and Boys Dance by John Robert Allman. 

Escaping to a World of Possibility

Perhaps one of the greatest feats that fiction writing can achieve is creating new worlds full of possibility, fantasy, and purpose.

Sometimes, escaping to these worlds is way to enhance a child’s ability to use their imagination, expand their vocabulary, and inspire their curiosity in literature. 

Learning to read is often as much about learning to seek out new stories autonomously as it understands the words on the page. Showing a child that books are there to be enjoyed and not just read as a learning exercise can help in this regard. 

Some of the most wonderful universes in children’s literature and YA include the magnificent and inimitable Edge Chronicles series by Chris Riddell and Paul Stewart, The Twits by Roald Dahl, and the Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, to name but a few.