OnlineBookClub.org

I think it depends on the age of the child. Younger children who are not reading on their own yet, will not notice that sentences are repetitive and it is good for them because they can remember the story and play like they are reading along after several times of having it read to them. For older children who are reading on their own, they will get bored with the lack of a strong story line. The main boring part comes for the adult that is having to re-read the book with or to the child over and over.

From my experience, young readers like repetitive sentences in books because it helps them build confidence in their reading skills. They like it when they can read a whole book on their own with little to no help and as a result, it builds their enjoyment in reading. When they're young, they're not really bothered by whether a book has an interesting story line or not. So for me, I would buy these kind of books for my children until they've mastered the majority of the words. Afterwards, I would move on to slightly harder books until eventually, I'd look for books with an interesting story line.

I think an important part of reading comprehension is confidence. I agree with Allyseria. Younger readers may need the repetition. When comprehension is lacking, interest in reading diminishes quickly. For a certain age, repetition serves to assist with spelling and sentence structure ability, as well as comprehension. I guess it all depends on the target age group of the book. Good discussion.

I believe that at that age you want the child to be interested in reading first and that is why repetitive sentences work. In my opinion, children that age just want colorful pictures and a storyline, while interesting, would be too much for them. As they grow older, it becomes a necessity.

I’m new to this so sorry if this is done wrong haha, but I know from my experience when I was younger I found repetitive sentences paired with lots of colour and pictures to help me reading and vocabulary

PABS wrote: ↑08 Jul 2018, 19:06

DorcasToo wrote: ↑01 Jul 2018, 23:49 The traditional storyline isn't as effective as this repetitive style. A child will easily relate to a word they have seen repeatedly. Enhancing their mastery and understanding. I think this is what the author intended to achieve.

I agree. I think that the author's goal is to teach, and so the repetition is necessary. And I think children will still enjoy the book. I remember that my son loved Go, Dog. Go!, which relies heavily on repetition.

It's so great to have parents providing their input on this. So many reviewers are looking at this from their own perspective, stating that children wouldn't like a book without a plot. When I was looking at children's books yesterday, most were very simple. They were either teaching ABCs (A is for apple, b is for book), numbers and colors (1 red truck, 2 green frogs), or animals (pet the ducks feathers, cows go moo). They were all incredibly simple. No story line is required for such young readers.

Cecilia_L wrote: ↑14 Jul 2018, 15:34 Though it may not be as interesting for adults and older children, young children love repetition. They will often choose the same story over and over again--the more repetitive the better!

That's a great point. Children don't get as bored with the same thing over and over again. My nephew will watch the same show on Netflix over and over again and I used to babysit a two year old who ALWAYS wanted to watch Charlotte's Web. I don't think we ever watched anything else because she would pitch a fit.

Dahmy 10 wrote: ↑16 Jul 2018, 15:43 I don't think the child would be less interested. As far as I am concerned, we are only asking this question because we see the story from our eyes. Children are always interested in learning there is hardly a dry subject for them. There are only incomprehensible ones!

I absolutely agree with you on this. As reviewers, we end up critiquing every aspect of a story from our own point of view. We forget the simplicity with which children view things. They see things without bias and many other experiences for comparison.

Joe Hadithi wrote: ↑27 Jul 2018, 03:26 I believe that at that age you want the child to be interested in reading first and that is why repetitive sentences work. In my opinion, children that age just want colorful pictures and a storyline, while interesting, would be too much for them. As they grow older, it becomes a necessity.

There is definitely a "more" aspect to today's society. More color, more fun, more pages, etc. We forget that simplicity has value too. There are many comments about how older children would find this dull, but we should simply be looking at this book in light of the target audience.

Sarah Tariq wrote: ↑24 Jul 2018, 06:00

bookowlie wrote: ↑01 Jul 2018, 08:34 Having simple repetitive sentences in a children's book helps kids learn to read. However, it makes the story less interesting because there is either a weak plot or no plot at all. In this case, there wasn't even steps in the plot such as a character baking a cake from beginning to end. Instead, there were just a different activity shown on each page. Would the lack of a traditional plot make a child less interested or would the child love the book even more because they could master the words quicker and gain confidence?

Children need variety. If they see the same plot or see the same activity from start to end, It may create monotony for them. So I think the author did well by showing different activities of Toni it simple words.

Children really do not require variety. Cecilia pointed out that children love to read the same book over and over again. I have seen this with children and movies and tv shows. They don't mind watching the exact same 25 minute episode over and over again, even in the same day.

Roggyrus wrote: ↑18 Jul 2018, 21:16 This book has a purpose other than what adults expect in their reading pleasure. The repetitive sentences are there to appeal to the rote memory of a child. Mastery of words is one goal of the book for every child reader. In my opinion, a child should not be expected to be yet analytical as to look for a plot being configured as he reads along.

Exactly, I love the use of the word analytical here. That is exactly what everyone is expecting when they keep talking about variety, storyline, and plot. Children don't require that much complexity in their entertainment. Hence why 10 legos can entertain them for hours.

I think for children books repetition is a requirement. Plot is not very much important for them as they focus more on illustrations .

Awilson531 wrote: ↑29 Jul 2018, 12:05 I’m new to this so sorry if this is done wrong haha, but I know from my experience when I was younger I found repetitive sentences paired with lots of colour and pictures to help me reading and vocabulary

Yeah, this book is basically designed for reading and vocabulary of young kids. So it better to keep the book as simple as possible. Yes, different variation can be added with a passage of time.

Joe Hadithi wrote: ↑27 Jul 2018, 03:26 I believe that at that age you want the child to be interested in reading first and that is why repetitive sentences work. In my opinion, children that age just want colorful pictures and a storyline, while interesting, would be too much for them. As they grow older, it becomes a necessity.

I agree. I have seen many children books of this age and they focus on repetition and colorful pictures. Special Plot is not required.

sheeps44 wrote: ↑22 Jul 2018, 13:13 A repetitive sentence can add more importance to what you're trying to convey.

From children's point of view repetition is utmost necessary. But the author should use different topics in the book so that monotony created due to repetition could be ameliorated.