How do I know if a book is right for my kids?
It’s a little overwhelming to stay on top of all of the books my kids want to read. I want to encourage them to read; however, I do not want to expose them to a story-line that is violent, disturbing, filled with inappropriate relationships, and bad language.
This post is really meant for a reader who is self selecting books themselves. If you’re looking for books on how to choose a book at an appropriate level, click here. What do you do when your child asks you to request a new book from the library or purchase one from the new school book order?
You look at the titles and find yourself asking, is this book “safe” for my child to read?
I’d love a system that rates books similar to the movies: G, PG, PG-13, R, and even NC-17. While I haven’t found those types of ratings, plenty of sites have their own system.
I would like to stress that it is still important to screen reading material as much as possible. Friends and knowledgeable librarians may have different standards. Since it is nearly impossible to pre-read every single title for your voracious reader, try out the sites below and bookmark your favorite one!
Book Review Sites for ALL Kids (elementary – high school)
Books listed below contain affiliate links.
1. Common Sense Media
My personal favorite book review site is Common Sense Media. It is known for it’s movie, video games, and app reviews; however, it also includes books. You can search by book title, age, topic, parent recommended, and award winners. This is my go-to book review site!
Age Appropriate Rating System: Green, Yellow, and Red circles (like a stoplight) to let you see if this content is appropriate for your child’s age.
GREEN: Content is age appropriate for kids this age.
YELLOW: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
2. Thriving Family
Christian Book Reviews for Parents
Background: Review includes full plot summary, Christian beliefs, profanity, kissing, sex, and discussion questions.
Favorite: Books are organized alphabetically and give a very thorough overview.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it,” warns Proverbs 4:23. God’s Word recognizes how critical it is to help our young children guard their hearts, especially during the school—age years when they are developing mentally, physically and emotionally.
3. Waking Brain Cells
Background: Tasha is a librarian in Wisconsin. She reviews everything from picture books to teen novels. She only reviews books that she really enjoys. Tasha also has a great Pinterest board with boards for all of the best early, middle, and teen books of the year.
Favorite: She reviews books for Middle School and Teens.
4. Good Reads
Background: Good Reads gives you book summary, but not age appropriateness or level. You can set up an account (free), but you can also browse without an account.
Favorite: You can search for a title and see reviews. They list the popular books from the past year, see middle school books here.
5. Epic Reads
Epic Reads is a community for teen book lovers. Discover teen books, authors, and join communities to share reading interests. You can browse by genre.
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A great resource for selecting books for gifted readers is Some of My Best Friends Are Books by Judith Wynn Halstead.
A thought provoking book about a teacher who awakens the inner-reader in the 6th graders. The Reading Teacher by Donalyn Miller.
What would you recommend?
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More Helpful Resources
Pinterest Board: Books for Boys and Books for Girls
Love your list! I have checked Common Sense Media and Thriving Family many times. I like to read several reviews because every one has a slightly different take on what is appropriate at the different ages.
A few other sites I would add are Story Snoops (www.storysnoops.com), The Literate Mother (http://www.theliteratemother.org), and Sweet on Books (http://sweetonbooks.com/). Also (shameless plug!), I do thorough reviews of books on my blog. 🙂
I’m looking forward to checking out the rest of the websites on your list – thanks!
Great sites too Jennifer! I need to go back and add these too!
I have a kid lit book review blog and I might have to start rating the books with the movie rating’s at least for the tween and teen books. thanks for the post it gave me some ideas to add to my blog!
Keep me posted!! I’d love to know if you do that to your site!
it’s impossible for me to pre-read every single book my kids devour and that’s why i so appreciate sites i can trust to help me make wise choices. my favorite is whatmykidsread.com. thank you for reminding us that books are an entryway into our kids’ hearts and we need to be watchful of what we let in.
Kristal – I LOVE your statement “books are an entryway into our kids’ hearts”. So true!
What a fantastic resource, Kristen! Sharing in our local education/schools forum! Thanks!
Thanks for the great resources. I also like the reviews at this site: http://www.books4yourkids.com/
I have a friend that has a review blog. It is http://cleanteenfiction.blogspot.com
She does good thorough reviews as well as interviews and tours.
Great review sites for kids, thanks for sharing! Here’s is one more review site for kids: https:kidskud.com, reviews written by kids. It is the best site to encourage kids to explore their views.
Awesome article!
Great timing too as I was just looking for something for my niece’s birthday next week.
Keep up the great work.
Kailey at Luminous Libro is good. https://youtube.com/@LuminousLibro
Hi Kristen,
I am an author and illustrator of children’s books that I am trying to have reviewed by moms, influencers, and teachers for some feedback.
Would you be interested at all in receiving some books for a review?
You can look up my books on Amazon but I can send you a hard copy.
My name is Michele F Tokach and there are three books I am looking to have reviewed.
The Adventures of Riley and Clutch
Nicholas and Friends Try to Find Him a Pet
Lila’s Creative Quest
Thank you for your consideration.
Michele F Tokach
Hi Kristen,
I am an author and illustrator of some children’s books that I am trying to have reviewed by moms, dads, influencers, teachers and the like for some feedback.
The age range is from 1-10. There is no politics or agendas in the stories just fun lighthearted stories for kids to read or to be read to.
Would you be interested at all in receiving some books to review?
You can look up my books on Amazon but I can send you a hard copy.
My name is Michele F Tokach and there are three books I am looking to have reviewed.
“The Adventures of Riley and Clutch”
“Nicholas and Friends Try to Find Him a Pet”
“Lila’s Creative Quest”
Thank you for your consideration.
Michele F Tokach
nice post really nice