Tips on how to choose good quality books for children

By Soekanto S.A.

BOGOR, West Java (JP): Stock up on your children's books because most educators agree that one of the finest ways of showing children love is to surround them with books.

Eileen H. Colwell wrote in Children and Books (1978) that one of the most important reasons to give books to children is because they get so much enjoyment from them.

Children need happiness and books are but one of the ways to give it to them. Reading an absorbing book provides children, and most of us, an opportunity to sneak out of this "limited world" and soar to another world -- the world of imagination.

The question that many parents ask, however, is how to choose a good book for a child. Browsing through bookstores or libraries nowadays is almost the same as going to a supermarket; there's everything, but what should you choose and buy?

Most bookstores today are stocked with translated works, especially comics from Japan. One of the reasons for the glut of translated materials is because they are relatively cheap and easy to access. Indonesian publishers can easily obtain good children's books from developed countries through annual international book fairs, such as those in Frankfurt, Germany, and Bologna, Italy.

Another reason for the scarcity of local books, of course, is Indonesian writers' low output, despite a government effort to promote book writing through a program of buying and publishing local works.

Colwell's principle of enjoyment is a good rule of thumb when choosing books for children.

Another tip was given by Indonesian historian Taufik Abdullah during a recent seminar: "Reading material that is based on life experience and delivered in a fresh language, without lecturing, will give readers enjoyment."

Books should "absorb", he said.

Literary critic Riris K. Toha of the University of Indonesia's School of Letters made this clear when she spoke of her students' experience in reading.

One student recounted her experience reading an unabridged Indonesian translation of 19th-century, Hector Malot's Sans Famille, or The Wide, Wide World. The book tells of the loneliness and adventure of an orphan named Remi.

Absorbed

The student became so absorbed that she hid under her bed, reading with a flashlight, so her mother would not find her to bother her with chores.

Another recounted her experience reading Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. She said she went out to a food stall to buy candy and reread the part when the main character of the book, Laura, first tasted the sweetness of maple syrup during sugaring time.

Children need not only nutritious food, but also nutritious reading materials. In the Arco housing complex in Sawangan, Bogor, children have a local library with a collection of around 2,000 titles.

Adi, an eight-year-old boy, was sprawling on the carpet, reading the comic Asterix and laughing to himself. When asked how he felt about reading the comic, he promptly said, "Mmm...delicious."

Ari, a nine-year-old, was reading the comic Tintin and smiling about the antics of the absent-minded professor Calculus. When asked what reading was like, she said, "It's like...hmmm...eating."

Rani, a fifth grader, was reading Hilda Boswell's fairy tales. She agreed that reading was "nice", as did Dave, 15, who loved the Hardy Boys series, because the stories made him feel like he was "there, in the action".

The children's reaction should convince us that choosing books for children merits similar care and consideration as when we think up a meal for them.

Nutritious

Just as nutritious food builds up a child's body, a nutritious book builds up a child's mind. Good books not only give children an opportunity to have pleasure and fun, they also help shape their personality.

The following are some tips for parents in choosing books that will interest their children.

For the very young, parents are advised to remember several factors:

* Children love to play with sound, so give them rhymes.

Nancy Larrick, in her book, A Parent's Guide to Children's Reading (1959), pointed out that children love to play with sound. Maybe there are books about rhymes, but even if you cannot find any, make up your own simple, silly rhymes, and children will love them.

For Indonesians, the following rhyme is still popular and enjoyable:

Puk ambai-ambai,

Belalang kupu-kupu

Siang makan nasi,

Kalau malam minum susu

Encourage children to make up their own rhymes.

For English-speaking tots, there are plenty of books with rhymes, including the classic Mother Goose.

Children love repetition of sound, so silly rhymes such as "guk-guk, der-der, duk-duk, ber-ber, Adik jatuh terduduk di ember" can be fun to make up on your own.

* After rhymes come bedtime stories. What children don't like to be read to just before they fall asleep? There are many bedtime stories that can be found in bookstores.

* Choose animal stories with plenty of pictures, because these are very popular with very young children. Those with realistic pictures seem to be more appealing, and those with photographs are becoming very popular as well.

* Books on children and their world are also welcome. Most children love to read and listen to stories about themselves, other children of their age and their world.

Welcoming baby sister, sibling rivalry, waiting for daddy and mommy to come home from work...these daily experiences have been written into books and children love to read about them.

Soekanto S.A is a story teller. He has written dozens of children books.