4 Ways to Check the Content of a Book for Your Kids

With so many books getting published, there is no shortage of options for young readers, no matter their preferences. For many parents, though, it’s stressful to parse through all the books their kids are reading or interested in reading. Your kids may have vastly different reading interests than you did as a child, making your childhood favorites not quite right for them. Plus, if you have a voracious reader, they’re likely FLYING through books faster than you can recommend or even read along with them. For many parents who are particular about what their kids are reading, the question is how to check a book’s content for kids.

In this post, I’ll share four ways to check if a book includes content that you’d rather your kids not be reading. It goes without saying, though, that you can only “control” what your own kids are reading — and only for so long. It’s far more sustainable to help your kids choose books that are in harmony with their values so that as they get older, they can filter options on their own.

How to check a book’s content for your kids

Here are some ways to screen a book’s content before your kids read:

1. Pre-read the book

This is the best way to be sure that a book is free from problematic content. It’s hands-on; you can check for yourself and then decide whether or not you’d like your kids to read it. Unfortunately, it’s not always feasible. Reading is time-consuming, and not many parents enjoy reading kids’ books.

I suggest two ways to work around this. The first is to try audiobooks. They’re less time-consuming than reading physical books and can be a good way to get through books while completing your daily physical tasks like working out, household chores, and even puzzles. Another option is to ask other bookish parents who share values similar to yours and who read more kids’ books than you do for their feedback about a book’s content.

Pros

You’ll know exactly what your kids are reading
Reading everything your kids read gives you opportunities to discuss with them

Cons

You’re limited by your ability and desire to read all the books your kids want to read before they read them
If you’re slow about pre-reading, you’ll probably discourage your kids from reading what they want

2. Look up the book on Reading Middle Grade

After over five years of running this blog, we have an extensive collection of middle grade and young adult book reviews — especially realistic fiction. I try to review a mix of frontlist and backlist titles and post a new book review every month. Here’s a peek at what the Content Notes section in my reviews looks like:

From my review of The Shape of Lost Things by Sarah Everett

If you’d like to keep up with new releases for your voracious reader, consider joining my Patreon community. On Patreon, I share a list of new releases with detailed content notes every single month, helping you figure out the best fit for your kids.

Pros

I write all the reviews on Reading Middle Grade 🙂
All my reviews include what I enjoyed and what I didn’t like
I always include content notes about violence, language, diversity, and more
I read popular and not-so-popular books, looking for books that will appeal to tweens

Cons

I’m a one-woman squad, so there are only so many books I can read and review
I’m partial to realistic fiction, so you won’t find many fantasy book reviews

3. Check Common Sense Media

One of my favorite ways to find out about a book or movie’s content, especially when with regard to profanity or sexual content, is Common Sense Media. It’s a website that provides age-based reviews of books, movies, podcasts, games, and more to families who need them. Here’s an example of what Common Sense Media reviews look like:

Common Sense Media review of Impossible Creatures

In their reviews, they highlight everything from violence to language, diversity, and educational value, with ratings for the intensity of each criterion. Besides just flagging content, you’ll also see short reviews about the quality of each piece of media and some reviews by Common Sense Media members (parents and kids), so you get additional opinions.

Pros

Extremely detailed reviews covering all potential areas of concern
Reviews of a wide range of media, including books, movies, podcasts, and more
Often include crowd-sourced reviews from other parents and kids
Educators get one free year of access

Cons

You only get three free reviews a month; unlimited reviews cost $3.99/month or $39.99/year.
There are different reviewers for each book or media, so it can be hard to get reviews from one source whose opinions you trust.
Common Sense Media focuses on all the “high profile media,” so fantastic, under-the-radar books may not be reviewed there.

4. Read Amazon Reviews

For children’s books, I much prefer Amazon reviewers to Goodreads. Goodreads tends to serve adult reviewers without much thought to what kids actually enjoy (I wrote about my thoughts on Goodreads reviewers here). People on Amazon often talk about what their kids really thought about the book — which is so helpful! Here are three simple but potentially helpful reviews.

In my experience, the three and two-star reviews tend to be useful if you’re looking to learn more about potential content issues. One-star reviews can also be helpful but are often unnecessarily scathing and rude. Regardless, these less-than-glowy reviews on Amazon tend to highlight whether there’s excessive profanity, rude kids, and other common issues that may bother some readers.

Pros

Usually includes several reviews from kids’ perspective
Negative reviews can be enlightening for content issues
Free to view

Cons

Strangers’ reviews aren’t always trustworthy
Only popular books have a substantial number of reviews
Many reviews lack objectivity, highlighting only negative or positive areas

💡Tip: Google Reviews feels pretty similar to Amazon reviews, so that can be another way to discover potential content issues. You can find Google reviews on the right side of the screen on the results page when you Google a book’s title. Of course, this is typically available for older, popular titles.

Get Matched to the Right Books for Your Kids

Figuring out which books your kids should read next can be a lot for busy parents. What if you could send in all your criteria and have someone who gets kids and books recommend the best choices for YOU? That’s what I do with Book Matchmaking!

A la Carte Book Matchmaking Consultation

$20

I love sharing my middle grade book knowledge with readers and have plenty of free book lists on Reading Middle Grade, my website. However, parents, teachers, researchers, authors looking for comp titles, and librarians sometimes need more personalized recommendations — not just a link to a book list. If that sounds like you, this Book Matchmaking service is for you! After over five years of reading middle grade literature and more than 1000 middle grade books under my belt, I like to think of myself as a walking middle grade book database. If there’s a book available on a subject, I’ve encountered it at least once. I recommend books beyond the “classics” everyone else recommends because I stay current with what’s new in publishing (see my Instagram page) and can find a book to match any reader’s needs (even those who “hate to read.” After payment, you’ll receive a link to a Google Forms page where you can share more information about your request with me, and I’ll be in touch within 3-5 business days with at least three customized book recommendations (up to 10, depending on what’s available on the topic/theme). My Book Matchmaking service is a perk of my Patreon community. You can join for as low as $10/month and gain access to unlimited Book Matchmaking requests.