Beginning Readers’ Interest in Animal Books: An Analysis of Data Collected from the Children’s Choices Project

This article describes a reading interest study, which analyzed 330 titles selected over a ten-year period by beginning readers (Grades K-2) across the United States (U.S). [sic] for ILA's Children's Choices project. Its aim was to determine if young children's reading interests have changed since earlier studies were conducted in the US. Specifically, a team of four researchers analyzed Children's Choices books selected by 5,000 beginning readers (K-2) every year, from 2005 to 2014. This article illuminates the study's methodology, its findings, and implications for understanding the reading interests of contemporary young children. By examining and comparing the books that were selected by children as their favorites and looking for possible patterns and trends, the study found that animals (66%) was the prevailing feature. Researchers then examined and identified distinct ways in which animals are represented in the selected titles, creating a spectrum from totally human-like animal characters to animals that are true to their animal forms.