Start-to-finish Book vs. Series

Discuss the September 2016 Book of the Month, A Spiritual Dog: Bear by J. Wesley Porter.
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Rachaelamb1
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Re: Start-to-finish Book vs. Series

Post by Rachaelamb1 »

I think they enjoy series more. There is something about picking up a book about a familiar character and an unfamiliar plot that is exciting :)
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Jennifer Allsbrook
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Post by Jennifer Allsbrook »

bookowlie wrote:This book is a start-to-finish book about a dog's life. It covers the various things that happened to Bear over the course of his life - his adjustments after being adopted, interests and quirks, aging issues, etc. I started thinking about the popularity of children's series about a character's adventures.

Do children prefer one start-to-finish book or a series of books about the same character?
I would have to say this likely depends on the individual child and how much exposure that child has had to reading. I love to read and worked to instill that same love in my son. We read both start-to-finish books and series and I believe for him, the series style won out. Some of the series that we read, me reading to him at first and then him reading to me as his skills grew, included Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, the Deltora Quest series, Inheritance Cycle, Mistborn trilogy, Ink Heart trilogy, Pendragon series, and so many more. I must say that the time I spent each night reading to my son were some of the most precious hours of my life. He is a college freshman now and what I would give for just one more evening to sit quietly and enjoy a good book snuggled together in the recliner!
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Post by Douwe »

I am 13 years old and since i was 9 I started reading series, and since then I couldn't stop.
A book is great but a series keeps going for much longer and there is much more to enjoy. (if it's a good series)
Books like the "Bridge To Terabithia" were some of my favorite non-series books.
But as said before age and personal opinion makes a big difference!

-Douwe
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Post by DancingSouls »

In my opinion, it definitely depends on the age. I agree that focusing on one lovable character is probably better than focusing on a novel of characters for young children. Older children will grow to like a bit more characters and a bit more complex adventure or situations. In school young children start out with simpler stories and as they move up in the years the stories advance along with their skills.
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Sindhu Srinath
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Post by Sindhu Srinath »

I think either is okay as long as people are interested to read. Start-to-finish books give just as much happiness as do series books. Personally, I think that people writing series need to be more talented to keep the reader's interest. Leaving a cliffhanger at the end of the story gives an intriguing thought to await eagerly for the release of the next book.
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Post by AA1495 »

I agree that it depends on the age and preferences of the child. I have always preferred stories that end with the books.
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Post by ebeth »

Well right now my niece and nephew are at that stage where they just like the start-to-finish books. They haven't read any series yet.
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Post by lovereading2 »

I think I agree with the above commenters. It'd depend on the age of the child. And probably every child's preference is different. Both bring something different to the table. :)
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Post by Anjum »

I think one start-to-finish book would hold the child's attention longer.
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Post by Namaste23 »

I agree with everyone that it depends on the age and attention span of the child. I think this book is supposed to be aimed and younger children since it is short and to the point. I'm sure there is a lot more material since it is chronicling an entire life, so a series could be realistic.
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Post by Abi McCoy »

I think as long as the characters are engaging and the story is well-written, a series would be more ideal. When I was younger, I preferred this because more detail could be added to each story rather than having a general "start-to-finish" book. Plus it's always fun to be able to return to new adventures with familiar characters (e.g. Nancy Drew, The Magic Treehouse, etc.).
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Post by photosynthesis19 »

That's an interesting question to think about. My intuition is that it depends on the age and attention span of the audience. For very young readers, a start-to-finish book would likely suffice, especially for a bedtime story. I remember my grandparents telling me the same stories over and over again when I was in kindergarten, and I loved it. However, as children grow older, a book series might be more fitting. But at that age, many children might be unlikely to read picture books anyway.
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Post by Micheal Ukewuihe »

I believe that the interest in the book depends on if the plot is interesting and can keep their attention as long as this happens it won’t really matter if it’s a start to finish book or if it’s in a series.
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