UPDATE: We are pleased to announce that a number of new books have been added to the RRL. Look out for the 'NEW' symbol! *
Information for Parents
The following information is intended to help parents make the best use of the Recommended Reading List (RRL), and to give ideas on how to help inspire in children a lifelong love of reading.
Creating a 'Reading-Friendly' Environment at Home
- Store your child’s books within his or her reach. Create a reading corner and put some child-sized bookshelves nearby.
- Visit the local library with your child and borrow books together.
- Take an active interest in what your child is reading.
- Children learn by example. If you and other family members read and talk about books, your child will do the same.
Recommending Books
- Children should read books that match their ability and interests, which may not correspond to their age or school year. This is why the books on the RRL are listed according to difficulty rather than age. It may mean that a preschool child chooses to read longer books, while an older primary-school student is more comfortable reading picture books.
- Use the genre icons and book blurbs to help your child choose books.
Reading Aloud to Your Child
The stories you read aloud to your child are his or her first introduction to the world of books. Reading aloud is important, not only because it shows how much fun reading can be, but also for its many other benefits. These include getting a feel for the sounds and rhythms of language, helping to develop imagination and creativity, and widening a child’s experience of the world.
- Let your child choose the books he or she wants you to read. Young children enjoy having picture books read to them, particularly books that include repetition, rhythm, or rhyme, and will often want you to reread the same book many times.
- Read at a pace that allows your child to follow the story, and talk about the story and the pictures as you read.
- The ‘Read Together’ part of the RRL includes fifty books that are ideal for reading aloud, but any other books on the RRL may also be read aloud.
- Don’t stop reading to your child as soon as he or she is able to read independently. Try reading longer books a chapter at a time. Your child will enjoy listening to books that are more difficult than his or her own reading ability.
Encouraging Your Child to Become an Independent Reader
Children who are just beginning to read feel an enormous sense of achievement when they can read a whole book by themselves.
- Listen to your child read, give encouragement and help out with difficult words. Read books together, taking turns to read a sentence or a page each.
- Start with short, simple books with large print and few words on each page. The books on the RRL in Level 2A have been specifically selected to suit children taking their first steps in reading.
- As your child gains confidence, he or she will be ready to try the stories in Levels A and B, most of which are still picture books.
- In Level B the RRL introduces longer books, in which the story is told mainly through text rather than pictures and is spread over a number of chapters.
More Confident Readers
Even after your child becomes an independent reader, continue to talk about and recommend books.
- Many of the books on the RRL are part of a series or written by well-known authors of children’s books. Encourage your child to read more books in the same series or other titles by the same author.
- Use the genre icons to help your child find more books from genres he or she likes, or to encourage him or her to try a different genre.
- Don’t force your child to read, and try not to be judgmental about his or her reading choices.
- Encourage your child to read more of what he or she enjoys; above all, reading should be satisfying and fun.
* Please note that the implementation date for the revised RRL varies between regions. Both the latest edition and the 2017 edition are available on the 'Download the RRL' page.