Discovering the best children's books
Choosing a good children’s book can sometimes feel like quite a challenge. There are so many stories, themes and beautiful illustrations to choose from, and what a four-year-old loves to read is very different from what excites a seven-year-old. In this blog we share practical tips for finding the right book for your child.
What to look for when choosing
- Age: Make sure the book matches your child’s age and reading level. Board books for babies and toddlers, picture books with lots of imagery for ages 3-5, read-aloud books with more text for ages 5-7, first solo-read books from age 6-7, and middle-grade novels from around age 9.
- Interests: Take into account what your child loves to read or hear about — animals, adventure, fairy tales, space, vehicles or perhaps funny stories. A child who’s mad about horses will sit longer with a horse book than with the most beautifully illustrated dinosaur picture book.
- Length and illustrations: Young children enjoy short stories with lots of colourful pictures. Older children can handle longer texts and start paying more attention to plot than to images.
- Read-aloud feel: Read one page aloud before you buy. A book with a good rhythm in the sentences is more fun to read out loud and lingers better with your child.
Categories that rarely disappoint
A few genres that tend to score well at almost any age:
- Animal stories — relatable, easy to follow empathically, often funny.
- Adventure stories — a hero who heads into the world and solves something, perfect for self-confidence building.
- Bedtime stories — calm storylines that round off the day without tension.
- Rhymes and verse — builds language feel and gets toddlers literally singing along.
A handy starting point
Looking for a broader overview of children’s book categories? Take a look at kinderboeken at startkabel.nl. You’ll find a collection of links to publishers, review sites and book sites to explore further.
Turn reading into a regular ritual
A book becomes even more fun when it returns at a fixed moment. Before bed, after dinner, or on Saturday mornings in pyjamas. Five-minute short stories are often enough for the calm you’re after. Let your child pick the book themselves — autonomy noticeably raises reading pleasure, even if they pick the same three titles over and over.
Variety helps: one adventure book, one calm picture book, one informative book (animals, space, vehicles). That way your child has multiple ways into language and stories.
And when an ordinary book no longer lands?
Between ages three and seven, a child is deep in the self-discovery phase. A story in which they themselves are the main character lands in a uniquely powerful way. A personalised children’s book — where your child is the hero living the adventure — adds a layer of recognition that “ordinary” picture books can’t offer. Not as a replacement, but as a complement to your read-aloud shelf.
With the right choice, reading becomes not just educational but a true pleasure. Happy reading!
Tip: a personalised children’s book where your child is the protagonist adds a unique layer of reading engagement — especially between 3 and 7 years. More in our complete guide to personalised children’s books.