Let your child 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!" Each set of pages includes a mixture of large, vibrantly colored ink and watercolor  or computer animated 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, Your Very Own Robot explains at the beginning, "You are one of the lucky ones who gets to own a robot." There is a even a blank left for what the robot's name is, so your child gets to name it.

No matter which choice you follow, each adventure within the book requires readers to make multiple choices of which path to follow, and which page to turn to and read what happens next. This provides your child with more independence than they usually have when reading a story. It also provides practice in decision-making and teaches that every decision has a consequence. The possible story endings range from you turning into a robot yourself, making the newspaper, or even having to eat pond scum! 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.  

My five year-old niece Emily loves picking her own adventure. She told me this was the first book she'd read about robots, and she loved it! I asked her what sort of robot she would want to have, and she replied, "One that would clean my room for me . . . and paint my nails."

 

--Audra