The idea isn’t new, and if you already have family readings I am sure you and your children discuss books you read. I would still recommend you to skim through this section though – you might find a new idea or two that you like.
My first advice to you will be this: do not make your book discussions formal, boring, and mandatory to join. If your reading time begins to look and feel like school, watch out: the children will quickly lose interest. Most book-haters I’ve met owe their sad condition to boring literature classes they had at school. So, if you see that your children do not feel like discussing the book and would rather have you continue reading, do so. Don’t push them into it.
Don’t push them into it, but you can try to trick them into it. Pause your reading in the middle of some interesting episode and pop in a question: what do you think is going to happen now? What is this character going to do? Children love guessing, so they will be happy to offer you their ideas. Ask them questions that will stir their curiosity and encourage them to do a little more than simply follow the plot – to think and analyze. If your child suggests that the character is going to fight the enemy but you know that this particular character is a coward, help the child to see it as well. Ask him or her, “Do you think he is brave enough to do that? Has he been brave before? What did he do the last time he was in danger?”
Another good time to have such discussions is when you are done reading for today and your kids beg for more (you’ll want to make sure that you stop at some plot-twisting point, leaving them anxious to know what happens next). You can say, “No, it’s getting late and we are not going to read any more tonight, but we can talk a little about this story if you want.”
Most children enjoy drawing, especially younger ones, so it’s a good idea to have them draw a picture of their favorite character from the book you are reading. When the picture is done, suggest that they add a short summary about this character. It does not have to be in-depth, but encourage your children to describe the character’s personality rather than simply state who he is. “This is John, he lives on a farm and has a dog” is a good start; but adding something like, “John is kind and honest, but he is very shy” helps the child to look a little deeper.
Older kids might enjoy leaving online book reviews at Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble websites. It gives them the sense of fulfillment, especially if they do it regularly and become established reviewers (Amazon has a special rating system that allows people to vote for reviews they like). Ask your older children whether they would like to share their opinion about the book with hundreds of other readers. Tell them that since so many people will be able to read their review when it’s posted online, it needs to be done well. Amazon discourages its members from writing meaningless, one-phrase reviews like, “This is a great book, read it!” Instead, they want you to share why you liked the book and what you learned from it. Let your children read other people’s reviews first, and offer your help in writing their own. This might turn into another book discussion.