It doesn't need to be Halloween for you and your child to go on scary adventure. How about an adventure that changes each time you read it? Your child can have a say in how the story goes with this Choose Your Own Adventure book. As the first page explains, simply "Read until you reach a choice. Turn the page of the choice you like best. If you don't like the end you reach, just start over!" There are eight different endings in this book. Each set of pages includes large, vibrantly colored ink and watercolor pictures and up to a half page of large printed words. This book makes the reader the star by using the less-common second person narrative, speaking directly to the reader with "you" statements. For example, Return to Haunted House begin with, "You stare at the computer. You've got a fully feeling. That news alert  [about a missing person] is about YOU!"

The decision points are cliff hangers, leaving readers eager to decide which story line to follow and find out what happens next. For example, on one page readers have to choose which haunted house to visit with their talking dog, an old mansion in England with 60 bedrooms, or a palace in the jungle of Thailand. Where would your child go? No matter which choices you follow, each adventure within the book requires readers to make at least two choices of which path to follow. This provides your child with more independence than they usually have when reading a story, or having it read to them. It also provides practice in decision-making and teaches that every decision has a consequence. Choosing their own adventure also provides children with practice following directions; the bottom of each page directs them to either the next page, or a specific page number.  

Emily, my five year-old niece, was afraid to read this book at first because she doesn't like scary things, but when we flipped through and peeked at some of the pictures, she got excited and had a lot of questions. I kept answering, "I don't know. We'd have to read it to find out more." She finally agreed to read it with me and said she would just make the least scary choice each time it was her turn to decide. Ultimately, we went on a few different adventures that night, and Emily was having too much fun to be scared.

 

--Audra