Reading at Home

Below you will find a list of suggested follow-up questions to aid parents when reading at home with little ones. The more in-depth and varied your participation, the greater will be your child’s understanding and appreciation of literature.

Character Development

1. Who is (are) the main character(s) in the story?

2. Describe the physical appearance(s) of the main character(s).

3. What are the personality traits of the main character(s)?

4. Would you choose the main character as a friend? Why or why not?

5. In what ways are you most like the main character?

6. Does the main character change in the book? Describe the change.

7. What problem or troubles did the characters have to overcome?

8. How did they solve their problems?

Setting

9. Where does the story take place?

10. When does the story occur? (present, distant past, distance future)

11. How can you tell where the story took place?

12. What is the time span of the action from the start to the finish?

13. If you were to paint a picture of the setting, what would it include?

Plot

14. Summarize in a few sentences how the plot begins.

15. What was the most exciting part of the story?

16. Did the story end the way you expected it to? Why? If not, how would you have ended the story?

17. If the book had a sequel, what do you think it would be about?

18. What do you think the story was trying to tell you?

19. How did the story make you feel?

20. Who told the story? How do you know?

21. Did the title suit the book? Why? If you could give the book a new title, what would you call it?

22. Did the book remind you of another you have read? Describe the similarities between the books.

Evaluation

23. On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate this book? Why?

24. For whom would you recommend this book?

The first time a question is asked it may need to be explained.