by Kristina Manusu

Created on: October 29, 2007

In today's society we now understand the importance of reading to our children. Hospitals often send parents home with a brand new book to read to their brand new baby. Reading to your child, even as a baby, helps them to understand sound, rhythm as well as words and ideas. It also instills in them a love and appreciation of books from day one, and helps with bonding between a parent and child.

With normal children we would have no problems in going to the library or bookstore and picking out a book for our child. But, with gifted children, we have to carefully consider what they read. Gifted children are not satisfied with books for their age group, and desire more changeling and interesting books to feed their intelligent minds.

There are several issues to consider when choosing a book for gifted children, such as reading level, age appropriateness, fiction versus non-fiction and finally specific intelligence the child displays and so, what type of book they would like.

It is difficult at first to decide what books to buy for your gifted child, but when in doubt, pick books aimed at older children. Start with books for children a year or two older than what they are and gradually increase the age level after seeing how your child likes the book. If the books are still to easy for your child, get a book for even older children. Children will appreciate the language level of books for older children and will read more if these more advanced books are presented to them.

Gifted children begin reading independently at an earlier age than other children, so as parents we have to be careful what they read. While younger children may find picture books about cats sitting on the mat non stimulating, books dealing with preteen or teen issues, such as body image and sexuality, violence and family problems will be completely inappropriate. While your child may be gifted, they are not mature enough to understand and accurately process these issues. Children will not be able to relate to these issues, and most likely will not find them interesting. If it is possible, read the book first to determine whether it is appropiate for your child. Pick books that are aimed at older children, but that don't dwell on personal issues.

It may be surprising to discover that gifted children actually prefer non-fiction to fiction books. While fiction books cater to their imagination, non-fiction books appeal to their desire for knowledge. Gifted children love facts and information and discovering

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