Children’s Self-Selection of Books : What Reasons do Children Give for Their Choices?

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to discover the reasons why children choose the books they do, and to see if there was a difference in responses among first, third, and fifth grade students. Ninety first, third, and fifth grade students participated in the task of choosing one book from several others displayed on a table. The students were asked why they chose that book. Responses were tabulated and descriptively analyzed. Results indicated familiarity with the book as the most popular reason for book choice across all three grade levels. All three grade levels had four common categories noted in the top five reasons for choosing a book. These included: familiar, animals, appearance, and humor. Out of 142 total responses given by all three grade levels, 115 came from within these five common categories: familiar, animals, appearance, sports, and humor. Only 26 responses differed among the three grade levels.