by Peg Lewis

Created on: July 13, 2008   Last Updated: May 26, 2011

A gifted child often feels at home at the library, but sometimes a trip there with a parent to replenish the home book supply is not practical. Then the parent is left with the challenging task of picking books that will be appreciated. Just remember it is far better to choose for the child than for the child to be left with no books to read!

It is tempting when confronted with this challenge to take the easy way out, to grab a bunch of books on a topic favored by the child: horse books for your 10 year old female horse fanatic, another round of Harry Potter for your 12 year old son - or the other way around.

This is not the solution to the problem! Chances are they have read all the books in the library in their favorite category, often many times over.

So what can you do? Here are some tried-and-true tips for a parent entering a library and feeling unsure of what to do next:

1. Go directly to your favorite section. If you are decent sort of person, you probably favor decent books. Grab one or two of these for your child.

2. Go to a section similar to what your child favors, but not exactly that. For example, if she likes horses, get some dog books, fiction, how-to, or factual.

3. Think of what she really doesn't think she likes. For example, if she thinks science is boring, pick up two or three science books that look interesting to you, on different topics.

4. Get some books with lots of words, some with visual appeal, some serious, some silly, some too old, some too young.

5. Get plenty of books in a wide variety. Twenty or 30 is not too many, unless you have a bad back and can't carry them all! Keep a list - you don't want to rack up library fines.

When you get home, don't make a production of explaining your choices. Here are some conversations you might find yourself having, and some handy responses:

CHILD: "Mom! You know I don't like dogs! How could you get this for me?"
YOU: "Don't read it, then."

CHILD: "This looks really hard!"
YOU: "I thought so too but you're a good reader. I'm sure you can figure it out."

CHILD: "This is a baby book!"
YOU: "I know! Isn't it cute? I couldn't resist."

CHILD: "This looks really old!"
YOU: "Yeah, I read it when I was a kid. It was my favorite when I was in 5th grade!"

CHILD: "I hate science!"
YOU: "I don't know about science, but I sure thought what they had to say about sea otters was interesting. If you don't want to read it, I'll take it."

CHILD: "I wanted the next book in the series I'm reading!"
YOU: "Fine, we'll get it the next time we can go to the library. Write it down for me or we can go together - maybe next week."

CHILD: "I already read this!"
YOU: "Did you like it? I'm looking for something to read..."

CHILD: "Thanks, Mom!"
YOU: "You're welcome!"

Many great thinkers have had their minds expanded when they were left alone to discover books they would never have chosen for themselves. You can't make a mistake taking books home from the library for your child!

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