Anonymous wrote:Board books only for the littlest babies. The colors aren’t as rich and sometimes content is omitted.

Preference for hardcover, especially if it will be read multiple times.

No.

Hardcover books are great, but board books are not just for babies. They can be really wonderful for toddlers and preschoolers because they can manhandle them a little more and the print is often larger (good for literacy as children start to learn letters and sounds). Hardcover books are great but not always well suited for little hands, and you don't want to teach your kid that books are grownup things.

And if you are buying any children's book without the expectation that it will be read "multiple times", what is happening in your house? My kid has probably 100 books and I think we have maybe one that has only been read once or twice. Most of them have been read dozens of times, if not hundreds. She has 30-40 books that live on a shelf next to her bed that get read at least once a week if not multiple times a week.

Lots of reasons to buy a variety of books in a variety of forms.

Depends on the kid. My 6 year old is reading chapter books (we read them to her), but my 4 year old is super hard on books and destroys them.

Board books only for the littlest babies. The colors aren’t as rich and sometimes content is omitted.

Preference for hardcover, especially if it will be read multiple times.

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the kid. But I would think a board book would be too baby-ish.

No they're not. There are plenty of board books that kids this age love. It's about the story, not the material.

All three. My DD likes to keep a lot of books on a shelf by her bed and looks at them (“reads” them — she has most of her books memorized) at night and when she wakes up. We only allow board books or cheap soft covers for this because she is rougher on these books and I want to encourage her interest/love of books without sacrificing $20 hardcovers.

Board books and especially soft covers are really good for traveling. Much lighter to carry, take up less space, easier for her to manipulate on her own in a car seat.

Then we buy hard covers for her bookshelf and that’s what we usually read during nightly story time. Those are the books I expect she will read even when a little older (she’s 3 now) and I want them to last, so we take more care with them.

Anonymous wrote:Used. I buy all three formats, and my four year old is fine with it.

Yes. Very much this.

Depends on the book. Princess Fancypants and her Sparkling Unicorn? Paperback. Where the Wild Things Are? Hardcover.

All 3. But my kid didn’t trash books; some do.

Used. I buy all three formats, and my four year old is fine with it.

Definitely hard cover.

Hardcover. Move to paperback when the kid moves to middle grade. But that's just us.

Depends on the kid. But I would think a board book would be too baby-ish.

Which format do you buy for your younger kids (3-5) and why?