Books & Music
Apples & Honey
Ages 6 months to 2 years
Books for these youngest of listeners are the building-blocks upon which to create a lifelong love of literature. Children at this age enjoy simple pictures and concepts, often in the form of sturdy board books. Most appropriate at this stage are books with uncluttered, vivid illustrations and short, straightforward text.
Bagels & Lox
Ages 2 to 3
By this age, a foundation of interest in and love for literature is well on its way to being established. Books with eye-catching illustrations coupled with predictable language and action have great appeal for children in this age group, who also continue to enjoy concept books in which the characters and subject matter touch on the reality of their daily lives.
Challah Toast
Ages 3 to 4
Children in this age range are building and sustaining very significant connections with literature. With an increasing attention span, these youngsters are now becoming engaged by slightly longer text and more complex illustrations in stories, though still with predictable plots. Repetition is often incorporated, which encourages the listener to join in (and perhaps even memorize) as the text is being read.
Dates & Almonds
Ages 4 to 5
Stories with longer text and more sophisticated vocabulary appeal to children at this age, as they become increasingly able to layer color and texture in what they take from books. While the stories may contain elements of suspense or a difficulty to be dealt with, most still have neat resolution in happily-ever-after endings. Humor often makes an appearance in books for this age listener
Egg Matza
Ages 5 to 6
At this age, children enjoy more involved stories that may contain fantasy, providing the bricks and mortar to allow their thoughts to soar. While many children at this age are interested in magic and fantastical happenings, they are likely still drawn to realistic stories in which they encounter people, events and places that have a connection to their own life. An attraction to folktales and simple historical fiction often begins at this stage.
Falafel
Ages 6 to 7
As their attention and understanding of language rapidly expands, children at this age use the scaffolding of their rich imaginations to take flight in fantasy, tall tales, and folktales. While they may begin to read on their own, they still need and enjoy being read to -- stories they can understand from different time periods and settings but with language richer and more complex than their early reading vocabulary permits.
Gefilte Fish
Ages 7 to 8
By this stage, children have developed strong attitudes in literature and have created internal structures for determining their preferences in books. They now gravitate toward increasingly complex, “juicy” stories, with plots that may contain twists and turns as well as elements of sadness or hardships to be overcome. At this stage, simple biographies and engaging historical fiction often appeal to children’s love of facts, history and the lives of people from long ago.
Hamantaschen
Ages 8 and above
The most advanced PJ Library® listeners and readers are presented with highest-quality literature to engage and encourage meaningful discussion, perhaps in story collections or, on occasion, reference-type books combining facts with compelling stories. By this age, children have in many ways become their own literary architects, forming opinions and internalizing the books they listen to or read and developing a personal reading blueprint that will last a lifetime.