Follow Your Kid into Reading

Knowing their nature and letting it lead you to the right books for them

Mar 04, 2025

Does anybody else have a WHY child? I know from my nanny experience that children are hardwired to be curious, but I am not talking about the natural and beautiful instinct for a child to want to poke the bug to see what will happen, I am talking about when the WHY becomes incessant, obsessive, maybe teeters on the edge of maddening. My oldest asked me so many WHY questions (starting as soon as he could talk mind you, and he was an early and highly verbal baby) that I started tracking them and thought I might make a podcast where I would answer his unending and often fascinating questions. It turns out that podcast already exists (how cool!)

I recently refound my note from 2022 that was tracking his WHY questions. Here are some of my favorites:

The Age of Why

Why are cockroaches yucky and crunchy?
Why are we made of water?
Why do we have to be aware of animals?
What does the Sun orbit?
Why are we a right-handed family?
Why do race cars have to ride in trailers?
Where did T-Rex live and die?
Why does Uranus spin sideways?
Why is Pluto called a dwarf planet?
Was I dead or extinct?
What is being an amphibian like?
Why do you stop growing?
Why are take-off suits orange and space suits white?

I tried to justify his curious nature with adages like “all children are curious” etc etc. Even though I didn’t remember every child I nannied for being quite so…exuberant about asking questions. Now that I have two children of my own I can definitively say that some have an average amount of curiosity about the world around them (my youngest) and others wake up with an arsenal of WHY ready to lob at every. single. moment. of the day (my eldest). We cannot slip any little thing past him. He will notice, he will ask questions until we answer to his satisfaction, and he will not take some BS for an answer (trust me, we have tried).

At a family dinner over the holidays, he asked why animals were afraid of us. A well-meaning family member responded with the age-old response: “That is how God made them.” To which my five-year-old promptly responded with “Yeah, but God is a myth.” So…Awkward. This is how my kid responds to every type of evasive answer, dissatisfied until he has sniffed out some semblance of an explanation. If only I had my childhood copies of the Encylopedia Brittanica to refer him to: Go look it up!

My second, far less WHY-centered child, has a flair for the theatrical arts. If she doesn’t spend her high school days in the musical theatre department I will be shocked. As soon as she started walking, she would have moments where I could see the slip between worlds. One moment she would be toddling about in our world, exploring the things around her, and the next she would have walked (nay, strutted) into an alternate dimension where she was an ice queen. And yes, much of this early passion for the stage was developed by the one and only Ice Queen, Elsa.

She will bust out into warbling falsetto anywhere she is if the mood strikes her. Certainly at home in the living room, but she has no qualms performing in the middle of Target or at the counter in the donut shop. I only hope the other patrons want a 7 AM serenade because I definitely am not going to stop it.

Considering the different ways my children exist and walk through the world leads me to my hot lit tip of the day:

LIT TIP

Follow the nature of your child into literature. My oldest and I spent a lot more time in the non-fiction section looking for books that could answer the endless questions he wanted to have answers to. I would look for books that were informative, but also held a captivating narrative and were age and attention-span appropriate. If you have a WHY child and you haven’t discovered Gail Gibbons, you can thank me after you read her library. She has written a book about just about anything you can be curious about at a level that is perfect for younger and very inquisitive minds.

My second child loves a book with a rhythm and rhyme. Is it the musical theatre kid in her who wants to dance to the book? That requires that I sing the book to her? That delights in the rhythm and wants to jump up and dance around while I read? Baby Beluga is on repeat at bedtime lately and it isn’t quite enough if you just read the book, you have to be prepared to sing it too.

So, what kind of kid do you have? And what kind of books do they love?

FROM THE STAX

OH, NO by Candace Fleming Illustrated by Eric Rohmann

Froggie falls into a deep deep hole, ribbit oops, ribbit oops…are you singing already? You can almost perfectly sing this book to the tune of Froggie Went a Courtin’ and if you aren’t familiar, I just discovered Bob Dylan does a version, because why not? When Froggie falls into a hole, all his jungle friends try to help him out, and one by one fall in as well. When Tiger offers to help they are all in a bit of a pickle until one giant jungle animal trundles along to save the day.

We absolutely adore this book. It was probably the first book my youngest child really took ownership of, so of course we got it for her for Christmas. If she sees it she will demand it on repeat for the rest of the day, so warm up those vocal chords and get ready to sing. She also identifies part-time as a tiger, so it fits perfectly with her dancy and fierce personality.

MAGNETS PUSH, MAGNETS PULL by David A Adler Illustrated by Anna Raff

Why do some magnets attract while others repel? Why do they stick on some materials and not others? How can you make something magnetic? What are magnets used for? If you have questions about magnets (and you know we do!) this book is a great place to start for answers.

We checked this book out from the library on our last visit and it is right up my older kid’s alley. He has been learning about magnetism at school and this book has us discussing and discovering more about how magnets work, provides us with fun activities to try at home, and even has inspired us to get some teaching magnets to add to our home for furthering our scientific exploration. Be prepared for interactive experiments that are fun for the whole family.

COUNTING TO BANANAS by Carrie Tillotson Illustrated by Estrela Lourenco

Banana can’t wait to be the star of this counting book! But as the story continues and more fruits (and even non-fruits) are featured that are not him, Banana starts to go a bit…bananas (yeah, that’s the pun). There is something intrinsically funny about bananas and this counting book reinforces the absurdity of the fruit by adding a bow tie and a hilarious banana punchline. It is counting, AND it is fun!

A SMALL BLUE WHALE by Beth Ferry Illustrated by Lisa Mundorff

A little whale wants to learn how to make a friend. When a tiny pink cloud arrives, the whale believes they have found a forever friend and takes off on a cloud adventure where they run into some playful penguins, make even more friends, get stuck in a slippery situation, and find out what true friendship looks like when the penguins come to the rescue.

We have gotten this book on repeat so something is alluring about the sweet whale and his friend-finding quest that keeps my kids coming back again and again.

THE SEA SERPENT AND ME by Dashka Slater Illustrated by Catia Chien

A little girl running a bath has an unexpected visitor, who then becomes an unlikely pet. A simple and lovely story about friends and about how the true meaning of friendship is sometimes the ability to let one another go and seek a place that is best suited for us. I love how we get to see the serpent grow and get the push and pull of wanting to keep a pet that doesn’t fit in the house, and understanding that the pet needs to go to live their best lives. Depending on my mood when I read this book, you might see a little tear in my eye.

Thanks so much for being here. I hope that this newsletter helps you the next time you are at the library wondering “What will my kid enjoy reading this week?” I hope your week is full of endless questioning, strong serenades in public, and whatever else delightful nonsense your specific unique, beautiful child brings into your world.

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Thanks for being here and see you so soon! (I am past due Auntie’s Annex so get your adult pants on and come book party with me!) Happy reading y’all!