Five Ways to discuss fiction - Guest post by Amy Neftzger

Guest Post 1

5 Ways to Discuss Fiction With Your Children

Fiction books are a lot of fun, but stories are also a great way to explore issues with your children. If you read the same books, you can talk about the different characters. Of course, being the reader instead of the protagonist gives you perspective that the characters inside the story don’t have - but you can use that to your advantage to discuss choices and consequences. Some questions that you can use to facilitate discussions with your children. Here are a few possible topics to discuss:

1. Ask about the choices the characters made at different points within the plot.

Question to ask: Do you think that (insert characters name here) made a wise choice when s/he chose to (insert action the character took in a specific situation). For example: “Do you think that Alice made a wise choice when she drank from the bottle that said “Drink me”?

2. Discuss changes the characters made throughout the book.

Question to ask: Was (insert characters name) different at the end of the story? Or was s/he still the same? Why or why not? For example: Was Alice different after she had gone down the rabbit hole and went on her adventure?

3. Talk about the things the characters learned.

Question to ask: What do you think (insert character’s name) learned in this book? Do you think that s/he will handle things differently in the future? Example: What do you think Alice learned through her adventures in wonderland?

4. Discuss their fears.

Question to ask: What was the scariest thing in the book? Would you be afraid of that if you were in the same situation? Why/ why not?

5. Ask what part of the story they would like to live.

Question to ask: If you could live through any part of that story, what would you choose? Why? What would be so fun or interesting about it? How would life be different if we could take anything out of a book and make it real?

Fiction helps people to understand one another. If we read with our children, we can connect in ways that aren’t possible outside of books.