On last Wednesday's Parent and Child page, Susan Rapp, director of the Village Reading Center, explained that your child's age and developmental stage will probably correspond to certain interests, and you can encourage her reading by selecting books that match those interests.

This week, she discusses the older reader.

Learning to Read: ages 9 and 10

Blooming readers like series books, informational books, mysteries and stories about sports. They like adventures with heroes, funny books, factual material (such as the "Guinness Book of World Records") and choose-your-own adventure books.

"Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbitt

"In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord

"Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Disgusting Sneakers" by Donald J. Sobol

"Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry

"Little House" series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

"What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin?" by Jean Fritz

"The Great Gilly Hopkins" by Katherine Paterson

"Children of the Dust Bowl" by Jerry Stanley

"V is for Victory: The American Home Front During World War II" by Sylvia Whitman

Reading to Learn: ages 11 and 12

Preteens enjoy books about boys and girls their age. They like music, mysteries, series books (such as the "Baby-sitter's Club" and the "Boxcar Children") and animal stories, especially horse stories. Many like to read about all kinds of sports, and they are beginning an interest in science fiction.

"The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander

"Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier

"Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell

"Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli