What books should 12-year-olds read? How should parents develop their children's reading habits? All these questions can be addressed in this article. If you want to learn about picture book for children 2022, you can also check our previous articles.

As children grow up gradually, as parents, we not only need to prepare children's clothing, children's tableware and other physical objects, but also to consider the education of children in advance. The importance of education cannot be overstated. And reading is a very important part of education. Here are five books that we have read carefully and hope they will be helpful to you.

Table of content：

• Book for 12-year-olds
• Three steps for parents to help their children develop a reading habit
• The five roles parents play

Book for 12-year-olds

The Natural History Book

Keywords: encyclopedia, science

This book is especially recommended for kids! DK is a British book publishing company whose goal is to be both visually appealing and informative, and whose brand philosophy is "For the Curious". I think that they really did it.

Imagine: bugs, snakes, mice, magnified in front of your eyes, can not be impactful. But it also happens that the pictures in the manual are really very clear and realistic, hair, texture can be seen clearly. The great thing about this book is that you can look at the pictures to see the description, the previous concepts that only stay in the text "streamlined", "flat", "four-sided mouth" . You can find a visual counterpart to all of them.

This book also helped me a lot, its catalog system allows me to distinguish the classification system of plants and animals for the first time, to have an understanding of the kingdom, phylum, order, family, genus and species. For example, most ruminants belong to the even-toed order under the phylum Mammalia, and even-toed, as the name implies, has an even number of toes.

Its biggest problem is that it's heavy, not portable, and a bit expensive - but really worth it! In addition to an encyclopedic knowledge book, you can completely put it at home as a tool book, when telling animal stories for children, I will go to the book to check.

Ein Hund Namens Money

Keywords: economy, money management

The book, which appears to be a fairy tale theme: a talking puppy teaches a 12-year-old girl about dealing with money so that she can learn to make money, manage her money, and also help her parents out of a financial crisis. The book has quite a few discussions and examples of how to build a child's view of money.

On the one hand, it wants the little girl in the book (and actually for the reader) to be clear about the idea that "the pursuit of affluence is our birthright." But on the other hand, it also teaches children that "a gentleman loves his money, and he has a right to take it". For example, I know that some families now have their children do chores and give them some monetary reward for doing so. This is a matter of opinion, but in this book, the idea is wrong, and it is said in the voice of Dog that "You live in the house yourself, and it's only right that you help with the work, so you can't ask mommy and daddy for money. Besides, mom and dad have done a lot of things for you, and they haven't asked you to pay for anything!"

In addition to financial literacy, this book is full of small, easy-to-implement ways that can positively impact our lives, and they don't just apply to money management:

• Understand exactly what you want most before you do anything, and your goals must be clear and specific, not vague.
• Visualize your dreams, make photos, draw them and look at them every day to motivate yourself.
• Write a "success diary" every day, write down what you have achieved today, what good things you have done, what are the highlights, any small details can be the content of the "success diary", so as to build confidence and explore their own abilities (a).
• People always have a lot of urgent things to do and don't have time to focus on the things that really matter, so we need to make sure that we set aside a fixed amount of time each day for the things that really matter, and stick to them regularly every day so that we don't get distracted by other things.
• When you decide to do something, it must be done within 72 hours, or you will probably not do it again.

These tips are only part of the book, and I think it's worth reading for every kid, or newbie to finance, or even for people without financial goals.

A Little History of the World

Keywords: European history

This is a very well read introductory history book. The author's goal is to make it understandable to children, so the tone and tenor are very gentle and the descriptions are easy to understand. For example, when he says how big the pyramids are, he adds that "any cathedral could fit in them", and there are further explanations everywhere so that the reader can get a better sense of what he is talking about. The author doesn't default to the fact that the reader should know everything, so he goes to great lengths to explain many things that we are "familiar with" but not always clear - not only for children, but also for newcomers to history.

As you read, you can clearly feel how knowledgeable the author is, and his quotations help you tie a lot of things together. Although it's about history, the content is not boring at all and will make you smile. For example, the primitive people are compared to the "greatest inventors ever" because they created from scratch the tools and food that human beings depend on.

What I like most is that the author genuinely sees himself as a "chronicler of history" rather than a "reviewer". He tries his best to unfold the history for us from the beginning to the end, without making subjective judgments and avoiding influencing us. In the last chapter of the book, the author records his own journey. He says : "Children too will one day grow up to be adults, so they must learn from history how easy it is for people to become 'inhuman' through sedition and intolerance."

But the book is mainly about the history of Europe, with smaller and less rigorous sections on other regions. For example, when telling about China he introduces Confucius: "Confucius had a very positive view of man; he said that man's nature is good at the beginning." Yet this was not Confucius' claim. "At the beginning of man, nature is good" was said by Mencius. But overall, the book is flawed and you can use this little book as an introduction to history, especially European history.

How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems

Keywords: curiosity, science

It's a fun book, with an absurd but scientifically sound solution to the most common things in life. Each idea also cites professional information to prove the feasibility - really a serious "nonsense".
Do not look at this is a "bad idea" book, this book was recommended by the American popular science magazine "Scientific American", Bill Gates, etc.. Why? I personally think that this book has a great effect on broadening the reader's thinking limitations. In addition, you can learn a lot of rigorous knowledge.
Although it seems to be a "bad idea", but in the past, we are now innovative may also be a "bad idea" to try out. In the author's own words: "It's a big, weird world. Ideas that sound good can have very bad consequences; ideas that sound ridiculous may ultimately prove revolutionary."

To Kill a Mockingbird

Keywords: kindness, justice, courage

This one is a classic among classics. Just reading the title of the book, feel strange - is it a mystery? Or a detective mystery? In fact, it is neither. It is a novel set in a realistic theme.

This is a novel published in 1960, telling the story of the 1930s, but in 2022 is still sitting on the bestseller list. Set in the 19th century in a small town in the American South, the story is about race and explores the pursuit of equality, justice, empathy, upbringing, and courage at its core ...... With that said, you may be asking, "Can kids really understand these terms when they are so big and broad?"

I think it can be understood because the plot of this novel is taken from an incident that the author personally experienced when she was 5 years old, so the book is written from the perspective and tone of a 6-year-old girl - children instead may be more easily substituted into the main character's perspective, more accessible and everyday, and there are many warm and fuzzy details in the text.

I was impressed by one detail: The main character invites a poor classmate to his home for dinner, and when the classmate pours a lot of syrup on the food, the main character asks him directly "what the hell". The family's highly respected maid lectures her, saying.
"Some people don't eat like we do, but you can't point it out to their faces at the dinner table. That boy is your guest, even if he wants to eat the tablecloth, you let him be ......"
Another detail that I really liked was the following: The main character's family is abused by the town, but the father tells the main character's siblings.
"Before I can get along with others, I first have to get along with myself. There is one thing that cannot follow the principle of following the crowd, and that is - the human conscience."

These details, which may be difficult for children to understand, will always come to mind and affect me as they grow up and step into society, in the process of getting along with others and getting along with themselves. So, this book is not outdated today, and it will not be easily outdated in the future. Don't miss it because it's "old".

Three steps for parents

1. Adjust the difficulty of your child's reading at any time to enhance his or her interest.

For example, a younger child can only read some picture books, if he is allowed to read text books, he is likely to have no interest at all; if a child has reached a certain reading level, he will feel bored if he is allowed to read some younger children's books again, therefore, always adjust the difficulty of your child's reading to enhance his interest in books.

2. Create time and space for your child to read without being disturbed

Many parents always unconsciously barge into their children's space when they are concentrating on reading, making them drink water or eat fruit, or asking them what they are reading, which actually has a great impact on their children's concentration and interrupts their children's mind-flow experience. So, when our child is concentrating on a book, we try not to interrupt, and if our child doesn't share with us, we don't ask, giving our child enough time and space to immerse himself or herself in reading.

3. Not being stingy with praise and encouragement to enhance the child's sense of gain and satisfaction in reading

Often times, a child's sense of accomplishment in finishing a book comes not only from the thing itself, but also from outside affirmation. It is especially important for children to receive affirmation from their parents. In addition to verbal praise, we can also provide encouragement in action. For example, reading a book with your child at home, going on a trip with your child wearing Mommy and Me clothing, etc.

The five roles parents play

 Parents should not be overly involved in their children's reading, so what role should parents play in their children's reading, and how can they intervene to effectively guide their children's love of reading and improve their children's reading skills without limiting or interfering with their children's independent reading?

In the child's reading, parents only need to do a good job in 5 roles, you can achieve a child's lifelong reading journey.

1. Supporter: Do what you can to provide a reading environment for your child
2. Listener: Listen carefully to what your child has to share
3. Discussant: Be an equal and serious discussant
4. Answerer: take children's questions seriously and guide them to learn how to explore problems
5. Good example: the best home education is for parents to show their children