Variety is the spice of life! We’ve all heard that. It holds true for books too.
I tend to get stuck in a rut of my favorite type of books. There is nothing wrong with reading your favorites, and listeners actually enjoy stories more when the reader enjoys them too. However, I remind myself to make a conscious effort to expose children to many types of books.
Nonfiction books often seem to get overlooked in my opinion. I think we often feel that we must read a book cover to cover and that discourages us from looking at many nonfiction books. There is no reason you have to read the whole book to get enjoyment or enrichment from it. Read sections, or even just look at the pictures. Spend an afternoon in the nonfiction section of your library and discover lovely albums of cars, horses, birds, homebuilding and more. This is an especially good activity when your audience is interested in a particular topic. A fascination with bears? Been reading lots of stories with tigers? Go pick up some nonfiction books on the subjects and let the children flip through them. Allow children the luxury of books both above and below their reading level. Even take a look at the adult nonfiction section. They often have nice field guides or coffee table books with many pictures.