A Cross-Cultural Examination of Parents’ Book Selection & Shared Reading Practices in Spain and Israel

ABSTRACT

Research Findings: Cultural differences emerge in the home literacy environment and the nature of shared book-reading (SBR), yet the impact of culture on parents’ book selection remains unexplored, despite the centrality of the book in SBR. Parents in Spain (n = 132) and Israel (n = 123), two Western countries with different cultural patterns, reported their considerations in buying/borrowing books, support for books’ socio-emotional and structural complexity, and frequency of SBR of different genres. In both countries, the book’s summary on the back of a book was a key selection criterion. In Israel, other parents’ recommendations, sale price, and child’s choice were important when selecting books, while in Spain, educators’ recommendations ranked higher and less autonomy was given to children. Israeli parents showed stronger support for books’ socio-emotional and structural complexity. Parents in both countries favored narratives over other genres for SBR. Relations emerged between child’s sex and book genre, with greater frequency of reading e-books with boys than girls in Spain and greater frequency of informational books with boys than girls in Israel. Frequency of SBR related to support for books’ complexity in Israel more than Spain. Practice or Policy: A cross-cultural approach can help facilitate culturally-appropriate guidance to parents regarding selecting books for SBR.

The home literacy environment in which children are raised, which includes the literacy resources and literacy-related interactions, is an important factor in their literacy development (e.g., Carroll et al., 2019; Hamilton et al., 2016; Niklas et al., 2020; Sénéchal, 2006). Shared book reading (SBR), where parents read the book and discuss it with their young child, is a common literacy activity within the home literacy environment, which has been shown to relate to children’s literacy outcomes (e.g., Attig & Weinert, 2020; Lehrl et al., 2020). Talking about books also provides opportunities for parents to transfer cultural norms, values, and themes to their children (den Toonder et al., 2017; Rogoff, 2003). This fits with the view of the home literacy environment as relating to the child’s broader social and cultural context (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Gonzalez et al., 2011). Indeed, research has found cultural differences in both the home literacy environment, such as access to literacy resources, and in the nature of SBR, such as parents’ reading style (e.g., Cutler & Palkovitz, 2020; Leyva et al., 2021; Rochanavibhata & Marian, 2021). At the same time, an often-overlooked aspect of SBR is the selection of the book itself, which relates to the quality of SBR and to children’s cognitive and language outcomes (e.g., Hoffman et al., 2015; Lennox, 2013; Uluğ & Bayraktar, 2014). Limited existing research points to parents taking their children’s interest into account, focusing on the socio-emotional complexity in books, and preferring narrative books (e.g., J. Anderson et al., 2001; Robertson & Reese, 2017; Wagner, 2017; Wilkinson, 2003). To date, little if any research exists on whether or how culture may impact parents’ selections for SBR. The current study aims to expand this line of research by delving into parents’ book selection and SBR practices in Spain and Israel, which vary in cultural patterns such as birthrate, society’s approach to raising children, and religion (e.g., Chen et al., 2014; Eurydice, 2021; Scharf, 2014). Understanding differences in these practices between Western cultures can deepen our understanding of this important parent-child activity, and provide knowledge that can help in creating culturally-appropriate guidance to parents in selecting and reading books in SBR interactions.

Culture and Early Literacy Experiences

According to Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory, children develop within a series of systems with which they interact, and which interact with each other. These systems range from the microsystem, which is closest to the child and includes contexts such as family and school, through the macrosystem, which includes aspects such as the cultural context and socio-economic status (SES). In this light, the child’s home literacy environment (microsystem) interacts with the broader socio-cultural macrosystem. Supporting this, research indicates that culture can influence the home literacy environment. For example, Chiu and McBride Chang (2010) found that students with more cultural possessions and cultural communication (aspects of cultural capital) at home often had higher reading scores. In a study exploring the extent that language and culture can mediate between the home literacy environment and literacy outcomes, Inoue et al. (2020) found differential effects of parent teaching, access to literacy resources, and shared reading on children’s literacy outcomes in English, Dutch, German, and Greek-speaking samples. Similarly, a study comparing home literacy environments between families in Canada, Mexico, and Chile found that Chilean parents focused more on formal literacy activities (code-focused, such as teaching the alphabet) compared to parents in the other two countries, and Canadian parents visited the library to read children’s books significantly more than parents in the other two countries (Susperreguy et al., 2022).

Within the home literacy environment, SBR serves as an important informal literacy activity (e.g., Sénéchal, 2006), during which parents help their children understand the values of their society and their culture, and learn to appreciate and interact with others (e.g., Adam & Barratt-Pugh, 2020; Majid et al., 2017; Park, 2008; Tekin & Tekin, 2006). Studies demonstrate that culture relates to the nature of the SRB interaction (e.g., Caspe, 2009; Cutler & Palkovitz, 2020). For example, a study comparing SBR between low-income American and Taiwanese mothers and their 3.5-year-old children revealed that Taiwanese mothers used significantly more labeling and action-related questions, text-to-reader connections, and inferences compared to American mothers, while American mothers provided more information relating to vocabulary and language use. Further, Taiwanese mothers used the SBR as an opportunity to launch more “teaching” situations compared to American mothers (Luo et al., 2012). Additionally, in a recent study comparing mothers’ SBR with their 2-year-old toddlers in the U.S., Germany, and India, results showed that mothers in the U.S. adopted a different reading style (requesting information about the book vs. providing information about the book) than those in the other two countries, and that mothers in each country reported different goals for SBR such as learning to read, enjoyment, and bonding (Leyva et al., 2021). Similarly, a study by Rochanavibhata and Marian (2021) of SBR in the U.S. and Thailand found cultural differences in maternal narrative style, with U.S. mothers engaging in more of a story-building style (mothers use questions to include the child in co-constructing the story) and Thai mothers engaging in more of a story-teller style (mothers use fewer questions and more directives to narrate the story). The authors argue that these styles are reflective of the more individualistic culture in the U.S. compared to the more collectivist culture in Thailand (Rochanavibhata & Marian, 2021). In a study exploring SBR in a Latin-American culture, Carmiol et al. (2022) found that Costa Rican mothers also predominantly used the story-teller style.

This research reinforces the idea that parents expose their children to the literacy practices valued by their cultural community, and influence their children’s exposure to the culture and expand their knowledge through SBR, their reading style, and the books they choose for this activity (e.g., Dowdall et al., 2020; Garner & Parker, 2018). Compared to research on the nature of SBR, parents’ book selection practices have been minimally researched in general, and to the best of our knowledge, not from a cross-cultural perspective.

Parents’ Book Selection

Although it makes up a crucial element of the SBR interaction, the book itself and how parents decide on which books to include in the home and read with their children is often ignored. Of the existing research, studies on parents’ book selection reveal that parents take their children’s interest and understanding of topics into consideration when selecting books to read with their children (e.g., J. Anderson et al., 2001; Wilkinson, 2003). For example, Wagner et al. (2017) found that while parents preferred picturebooks that were more familiar and had greater cultural prominence (public acclaim, year of publication), they believed their children’s preferences related to the content of the book. Other research relating to children’s literature has highlighted important elements of quality children’s books, particularly relating to the complexity of the socio-emotional content, such as books that “invite” socioemotional discussions and whose characters and relationships are psychologically convincing, and structural complexity, such as books where there is a logical connection between events with well-rounded characters (e.g., Horning, 1997; O’Sullivan, 2004; Wagner et al., 2017). When reflecting on the importance of these different characteristics of books for SBR, parents of Israeli preschoolers showed greater support for socio-emotional complexity of books and less support for structural complexity (Aram et al., 2017). Further, books with greater complexity in these areas have been shown to relate to the nature of SBR and child literacy and socio-emotional understanding (e.g., Daniels et al., 2021; Wagner et al., 2017). Hoffman et al. (2015) highlight how more complex narratives may facilitate more scaffolded discourse that can deepen children’s understanding of emotional situations. Additionally, a study by Aram and Aviram (2009) revealed significant relations between mothers’ selecting books with greater socio-emotional and structural complexity and higher levels of children’s empathy and socioemotional adjustment.

When selecting books for SBR, parents also overwhelmingly prefer narrative books for SBR compared to other genres (e.g., Robertson & Reese, 2017; Saracho & Spodek, 2010), despite a broad variety of genres such as informational books, alphabet books, wordless picturebooks, and electronic books (e-books), and research showing various benefits to reading different genres (e.g., Bergman Deitcher et al., 2019a; Hammet et al., 2009; L. H. Price et al., 2012; Lennox, 2013). Some studies have suggested relations between selection of book genre and child’s sex, particularly relating to informational books and e-books (e.g., Mantzicopoulos & Patrick, 2010; Reich et al., 2019; Wagner, 2017). For example, J. Anderson et al. (2001) found that parents selected more informational books for boys than for girls. While there are studies showing children’s preferences for print vs. e-books and parents’ predictions of these preferences (e.g., Eutsler & Trotter, 2020; Strouse & Ganea, 2017), we did not find studies that explored whether parents take their child’s sex into account when actually selecting print vs. e-book.

Given that cultural beliefs and attitudes form an important part of the child’s broader context, and shape the home literacy environment, (e.g., Davis et al., 2016; Hassunah-Arafat et al., 2021; Shapiro et al., 2006; Vasilyeva et al., 2018), they are also likely to impact parents’ book selection. As Liu et al. (2018) note, “Literacy events are culture specific and variation in the types of HLE [home literacy environment] activities across cultural contexts are largely influenced by prevailing child-rearing beliefs and literacy models” (p. 6). The current study focused on parents’ book selection and SBR practices in Spain and Israel, two Western societies with similar gross national incomes, levels of adult education, and access to books, but with different cultural patterns that may influence parents’ book selection decisions such as birthrate, society’s approach to raising children, and religion (e.g., Chen et al., 2014; Eurydice, 2020; Scharf, 2014).

The Spanish Context

Spain’s gross national income in purchasing power parity¹ dollars was $40,980 in 2021 (Datacommons.org, 2022). Regarding education, in 2019, about 40.6% of men and 52.4% of women in the 25–34 age group had a level of training corresponding to higher education (at least a bachelor’s degree) (Instituto Nacional de Estadística de España [INE], 2020). Maternal employment rates in Spain are less than 60% (OECD Family Database, 2016).

Spain has the second lowest birth rate in Europe, at 7.6 per 1000 inhabitants, and the average age of motherhood is 32 years old (INE, 2020). Within the European Union, the decline of marriage rate has been more intense in Spain, which has become one of the countries where there are fewer marriages per inhabitant and where people are marrying later, with an average age of 36.4 years. The average family was 2.5 people per household unit in 2019 (Eurostat, 2019).

Spain is a secular country, and the Spanish Constitution guarantees the freedom of ideology, religion, and worship of individuals and communities (Eurydice, 2020). Spanish society is pluralistic and tolerant, based on the values of the Western world. The family, in its many variants, remains central in Spain, and is based on fostering high self-esteem; direct, clear and sincere communication skills; flexible, appropriate and changeable norms; and confident, autonomous, and progressive inclusion in society (Moreno et al., 2017; Parada, 2010). Various studies have concluded that children of Spanish families that are based on affection and not imposition, and high acceptance and low severity, showed better psychosocial adjustment and higher academic achievement (Cerezo et al., 2011), and fewer behavioral problems and less substance abuse (Calafat et al., 2014; Martínez et al., 2013).

Books are very accessible in Spain, both in terms of borrowing as well as purchasing them. Nationally, there are 10 libraries on average per 100,000 inhabitants; each library houses roughly 20,000 documents, and nearly 8% of these are children’s books (Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte, 2021). Beyond books, libraries in Spain serve as cultural centers for children, offering workshops, arts and crafts opportunities, and storytelling sessions (El portal del lector, 2022). Regarding purchase, roughly 15% of total books purchased were children’s books in 2021 (Federación de Gremios de Editores de España, 2021), and the average price for children’s books in 2019 was 11 Euros (Watson, 2022).

The Israeli-Jewish Context

Israel’s gross national income in purchasing power parity dollars was $44.060 in 2021 (Datacommons.org, 2022.). About 55% of adults have a higher education diploma – at least a bachelor’s level degree (Weiss, 2019). In terms of families, only a small percentage of children live in single-parent households compared to other OECD countries (Weinreb et al., 2018). In most families (78%), both parents work (Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, 2022).

Traditional Jewish norms focus on the centrality of the family (e.g., Lavee & Katz, 2003; Oryan, 2014). Despite current international influences, the Israeli family is still a relatively stable institution, more than in most industrialized countries (Scharf, 2014). This is manifested in high marriage rates, with about 95% of the couples married, and the rest cohabiting (Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, 2022), and the high birth rate, with an average of 3.13 children, compared to the average (M = 1.68) of OECD countries (OECD Family Database, 2022). At the same time, the majority of Israeli-Jewish society holds Western, individualistic family values, such as egalitarianism among family members, and believe strongly in children’s autonomy (Beystrov, 2012; Malach-Pines & Zaidman, 2003; Samoocha, 2005). Jewish parents tend to give freedom to their children (Cohen, 2007; Dwairy & Achoui, 2006), and are less concerned with authority and boundaries (Chen et al., 2014).

In Israel, books are also very accessible via library or purchase. There are approximately 256 networks of public libraries that connect about 680 libraries (Israel Ministry of Sport & Culture, 2022). The libraries also serve as cultural centers with various activities, and encourage reading at all age levels (Israel Ministry of Sport & Culture, 2022). There are two bookstore chains throughout the country, as well as access to international online bookstores (e.g., Amazon, BookDepository). Based on an examination of the two bookstore chain’s websites, the average price of a book for young children is approximately 15 Euros.

Demographic Variables & SBR

A number of demographic variables have been associated with the quantity and quality of the home literacy environment and SBR, including child’s age, child sex, and parent education (e.g., N. J. Anderson et al., 2021; Davis et al., 2016; Noble et al., 2019; van Steensel et al., 2022). For instance, Holliman et al. (2019) found that parental education was associated with the home literacy environment and J. Price and Kalil (2019) found that frequency of SBR varied with children’s age. As such, we took these variables into consideration in our analyses.

Current Study

In light of the potential for culture to impact parents’ considerations when selecting and reading books with their preschool children, the current study examined a number of these central considerations in both Spain and Israel, which are similar in aspects such as parents’ education, purchase power and accessibility to literacy, but vary in important cultural patterns such as birth rate and child-rearing approaches. Specifically, we analyzed the importance parents assign to different criteria in selecting books, their support for socioemotional and structural complexity of books, and their frequency of reading different book genres. Thus, our research questions were:

1. What considerations do parents in Spain and Israel take into account when selecting books to read to their preschoolers?

2. Are there differences in the frequency of SBR in Spain and Israel and the types of books they read?

3. Does frequency of SBR relate to the consideration of books’ complexity?

Method

Participants

Participants were 255 mothers and fathers from Spain (n = 132) and Israel (n = 123) who have children between 3- and 6-years-old (M = 65 months, SD = 7.56). The majority of participants were mothers (83.2% in Spain, 82.3% in Israel) with a minority of fathers (14.5% in Spain, 17.7% in Israel) and other caregivers (2.3% in Spain). Participants were from middle SES, based on mothers’ education level, which were mostly at the Bachelor’s degree level or higher (69.2% in Spain, and 76.6% in Israel). Parents’ ages ranged from 22 to 55 (M = 38.57, SD = 5.45) with no significant differences t(243) = 1.45, p = .15) between the average age in Israel (M = 39.08) and Spain (M = 38.07). The number of children in Spanish families (M = 1.89) was significantly lower, t(229.57) = −5.781, p < .001) than in Israeli families (M = 2.48). There were no significant differences between countries in terms of children’s ages, t(183.97) = −1.39, p = .17). More than half of the parents referred to their first-born child when completing the questionnaire (59% in Spain, 54.8% in Israel).

Measures

Demographic Questionnaire

Demographic information was solicited regarding a variety of characteristics relating to parents and children. Questions referred to parent’s and child’s sex and ages, number of children in the family, marital status, and level of parental education.

Parents’ Selection of Children’s Books

Parents’ Considerations

This measure was designed in consultation with experts in children’s literature, parenting, and child development. Seven-items examined parents’ considerations when buying or borrowing children’s books. The considerations included: teachers’ recommendations, other parents’ recommendations, internet recommendations, whether the book is on sale, the cover’s appearance, the summary on the book’s back cover, and the child’s independent choice. Parents rated their agreement with each statement on a 4-point scale (1 = disagree; 2 = somewhat agree; 3 = agree; 4 = agree very much). For example: “I buy/borrow books according to teachers’ recommendations.” We also asked the parents to rank their top criterion when selecting books.

Preferences for Book Complexity

We assessed parents’ support for books’ socio-emotional and structural complexity using a questionnaire adapted from Aram and Aviram (2009). Parents were presented with 10 statements and were asked to rate their response to each statement on a 4-point scale ranging from 1 = disagree completely to 4 = agree completely. Four statements related to the complexity of books’ socio-emotional content such as varied mental-states and complex emotions like jealousy (e.g., “In a good children’s book, the characters sometimes express opposing emotions. For example, fear, anger, and happiness.”). Inter-item reliability was Cronbach’s α = .63. Six statements referred to structural complexity and focused on aspects such as an open-ended story and a plot that raises questions (e.g., “In a good children’s book, the moral of the book needs to be interpreted by the reader. That is, the reader needs to ‘read between the lines’ to draw conclusions from the text and illustrations, and understand the idea on their own”). Inter-item reliability was Cronbach’s α = .73. A higher score (after reversing scores for statements supporting simpler books) in each area demonstrated stronger support for greater complexity in children’s books in either socio-emotional content or structure.

Frequency of SBR

Title Recognition Test (TRT)

We evaluated the frequency of parent-child SBR with children at home using the indirect measure of the TRT (Stanovich & West, 1989). In each country, we assembled a list of 60 book titles (40 real and 20 invented foils). The real titles in each country were culled from titles of books advertised and sold in local bookstores and included both older, more well-known books, as well as those published in the two years prior to data collection. The titles of the foils were invented for the purposes of the measure and were checked in a database to ensure that they were not legitimate book titles. Parents were asked to mark the titles with which they were familiar. Parents received one point for each correct title, and lost two points for each incorrect answer, with a possible range of −40 to 40. Higher scores reflect more frequent SBR.

SBR of Different Genres

Parents were asked to rate their frequency of SBR of different genres on a 6-point scale, ranging from 1= never to 6 = daily. The genres included were narrative books, informational (e.g., about dinosaurs or science), serial (narrative books published in sequential installments, e.g., Enid Blyton’s The Famous Five novel series), and e-books. The question to the parent was, for example, “How often do you read informational books (e.g., about space or animals) to your child?”

Procedure

The study received the institution’s ethics committee approval. Parents were recruited primarily through a snowball method, wherein the researchers contacted several known preschool teachers who subsequently forwarded the information about the study to other families, who in turn brought in additional families. All parents signed consent forms for the study. Hebrew questionnaires were translated to English by the Hebrew-English bilingual researcherand from English into Spanish by the native language-speaking researcher. They were then discussed by all three researchers and any adjustments were made for conceptual understanding and comprehensibility. To ensure validity, the questionnaires were then back-translated from English to Hebrew and from Spanish to English by the native-speaking researchers. The questionnaires were administered in the following order: demographic questionnaire, considerations when selecting children’s books, parents’ preferences regarding books’ complexity, and parents’ SBR of different genres (TRT and frequency of reading different genres).

Data Analysis

To evaluate the first research question relating to considerations, we used multivariate General Linear Models (GLM) to assess potential intra-country differences, and t-tests to examine differences between the two countries. Given the age range of the children in the sample, we used correlations to examine whether parents’ considerations related to children’s age. We calculated and examined the percentage of parents ranking their considerations in each country. To address the second research question, we used t-tests to explore parents’ support for complexity of books’ social-emotional content and structure both intra- and inter-nationally, and correlations to explore relations with maternal education. For the third research question, we examined the TRT results in each country. Since the TRT was developed separately in each country to reflect the books in the respective country, no comparison could be made between the countries on this measure. T-tests were used to explore differences in the frequency of SBR of the different book genres both intra- and inter-nationally. Further, we ran both Pearson correlations and partial correlations to explore how book selection practices and frequency of SBR relate to support for complexity, taking into consideration maternal education and child’s sex. It should be noted that no significant correlations emerged between child’s age and parents’ considerations for buying/borrowing books, frequency of SBR (excepting a significant positive correlation between age and reading serial books), or support for books’ complexity variables. As such, we did not include this variable in further analyses.

Results

Parents’ Selection of Children’s Books

Table 1 presents parents’ references to the seven considerations that they may take into account when choosing books for their children. The results for each country are described below, as well as the comparisons between the countries.

Table 1. Parents’ considerations when selecting children’s books in Spain & Israel (N = 255).

	Spain n = 132	Israel n = 123
	M(SD)	M(SD)	t-test (df=252)
Teachers’ recommendations	3.16(0.79)	2.39(0.89)	7.33***
Parents’ recommendations	2.82(0.82)	2.81(0.76)	0.25
Internet	2.40(0.89)	2.29(0.86)	1.21
Sale	1.84(0.95)	2.39(0.94)	−4.62***
Cover attractiveness	2.25(0.98)	2.20(0.84)	0.32
Child’s choice	2.34(0.97)	2.75(0.90)	−3.33***
Back cover summary	3.45(0.40)	3.35(0.72)	1.09

Note. Parents’ considerations were ranked on a 4-point scale.

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

Considerations of Spanish Parents

An examination of Table 1 reveals that when selecting children’s books, on average, parents in Spain seem to take the summary on the book’s back cover and teachers’ recommendations into the greatest consideration, and whether or not the book is on sale the least. The GLM results indicated significant differences between the considerations, F(1, 128) = 3496.87, p < .001, partial η² = .97. Post-hoc pairwise comparisons revealed that teachers’ recommendations and summary of the book on the back cover were chosen significantly more than the other criteria (p < .01 in all cases), with no significant differences between the other criteria. Selecting books according to other parents’ recommendations was significantly higher than internet recommendations, books on sale, attractiveness of the cover, and child’s choice. Buying/borrowing books with attractive covers and child’s choice were only significantly higher than buying/borrowing books that are on sale (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Significant differences in parents' considerations when selecting books in Spain & Israel (N = 255).

Note. Numbers on top of bars reflect the comparisons, such that 1 is significantly different from 2,3,4 but not different from the other column labeled 1; 2 is significantly less than 1, and from 3 and 4, etc.

Considerations of Israeli Parents

For Israeli parents, Table 1 shows that on average, the summary on the back cover was the most frequently selected consideration, followed by other parents’ recommendations. Internet information was the least selected criterion. GLM analyses revealed significant differences between criteria amongst Israeli parents, F(1, 122) = 4221.313, p < .001, partial η² = .97). Post-hoc pairwise comparisons revealed that the summary on the book’s cover was significantly higher than all other criteria (p < .001 for all). This was followed by parents’ recommendations and child’s choice (with no significant difference between them), which were both significantly higher than teacher recommendations (p < .001), internet information (p < .001), books on sale (p < .01), and books with an attractive/funny cover (p < .001), and significantly lower than the back-cover summary (p < .001). These comparisons are depicted in Figure 1.

Differences Between Countries

As can be seen in Table 1, t-test results revealed that parents in both countries see the importance of the story’s summary on a book’s back cover and read it before buying the book (with no significant difference between countries). Spanish parents trust teachers’ recommendations significantly more than Israeli parents. Israeli parents rely on child’s choice and sale prices significantly more than do Spanish parents.

We asked parents to rank the criterion that they view as most important in selecting books to read with their preschoolers. Spanish parents most commonly ranked teachers’ recommendations (36.90%), followed by the summary on the back cover (30.82%), and other parents’ recommendations (20%). Israeli parents most commonly ranked teachers’ recommendations first (29%), followed by parents’ recommendations (27.50%) and the child’s preference (15.30).

Parents’ Preferences Regarding Books’ Complexity

T-test results showed that parents in Spain showed significantly greater support for socio-emotional complexity (M = 2.51, SD = 0.59 on a 4-point scale) than structural complexity (M = 2.08, SD = 0.52), t = 6.72, p < .001. In Israel, parents similarly supported socio-emotional complexity (M = 3.06, SD = 0.33) significantly more than structural complexity (M = 2.65, SD = 0.44), t = 8.30, p < .001.

T-tests further revealed that Israeli parents showed significantly higher levels of support for socio-emotional complexity (t = −7.96, p < .001) and structural complexity (t = −8.60, p < .001) compared to Spanish parents. At the same time, Pearson correlations revealed significant relations between the two types of complexity in both countries, such that parents who favored complexity in books’ socio-emotional content also favored structural complexity (r = .18; p < .05 for Spanish parents and r = .36; p < .01 for the Israeli parents).

We conducted Pearson correlations to examine the relations between mothers’ education and support for books’ complexity in both countries. Results revealed significant correlations between mother’s education level and socio-emotional complexity in Spain (r = .20, p < .05), and between mother’s education levels and both socio-emotional complexity (r = .21, p < .05) and structural complexity (r = .32, p < .001) in Israel.

Frequency of SBR

Table 2 presents the frequency of parents’ general SBR (assessed via the TRT) and the frequency of sharing different genres with their children. Based on the results of the TRT, parents in Spain and in Israel engage in SBR reasonably frequently. Since the TRT was developed separately in each country to reflect the books in the respective country, no comparison could be made between the countries on this measure.

Table 2. Frequency of SBR in Spain and Israel (N = 255).

	Spain n = 132	Israel n = 123	t-test (df =252)
Overall (TRT)	10.74(1.71)	14.1(0.74)
Different genres
Narrative	4.68(1.35)	4.82(1.29)	−0.88
Informational	3.22(1.43)	3.32(1.50)	−0.58
Serial	3.16(1.79)	2.61(1.68)	2.52
E-books	1.35(0.84)	1.39(0.88)	5.64**

Note. TRT ranged from −40 to 40; Frequency of different genres was on a 6-point scale

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p< .001.

Frequency of SBR in Spain

GLM analyses indicated significant differences between the genres in Spain, F(1, 129) = 1819.47, p < .001, partial η² = .93). Post-hoc pairwise comparisons revealed that narratives were read significantly more than the other three genres (p < .001 for all). Informational books were read significantly more than e-books with no significant difference from serial books, which were read significantly more than e-books (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Significant differences in parents’ sbr of genres in Spain & Israel (N = 255).

Note. Numbers on top of bars reflect the comparisons, such that 1 is significantly different from the other numbers; columns with the same number do not differ significantly from each other.

Correlational analyses demonstrated significant relations between the TRT and both narrative (r = .22, p < .05) and informational books (r = .33, p < .01) amongst Spanish parents. That is, parents who engage more frequently in SBR overall, report reading more narrative and informational books amongst the genres surveyed.

We also examined whether child’s sex was related to the frequency of reading the different genres in each country. Results revealed significant relations between child’s sex and frequency of reading e-books in Spain, with boys being read this genre significantly more than girls (r = −.26; p < .01).

Frequency of SBR in Israel

GLM analyses also revealed significant differences between the frequency of SBR of the genres in Israel, F(1, 123) = 1375.67, p < .001, partial η² = .92). Post-hoc pairwise comparisons indicated that narratives were read significantly more than the other three genres (p < .001 for all). Informational books were read significantly more than both e-books and serials (p < .001 for both), and serials were read significantly more than e-books (p < .001). These differences are depicted in Figure 2.

Correlational analyses demonstrated significant relations between the TRT and SBR of narrative books and serial books (r = .22, r = .15, p < .05 respectively) amongst Israeli parents. That is, parents who engage more frequently in SBR overall, report reading more narrative and serial books amongst the genres surveyed. In Israel, child’s sex related significantly with frequency of reading informational books, with parents reading these books more with boys than with girls (r = −.19; p < .01).

Comparisons in Frequency of SBR Between Countries

Comparing between the countries, t-tests indicated no significant differences between Spain and Israel in terms of frequency of reading the different genres, with the exception of reading e-books, which were read significantly more in Spain than in Israel. In both Spain and Israel there was a significant positive relationship between reading narrative books and the mothers’ level of education (Spain r = .29; p < .01; Israel r = .31; p < .01).

Frequency of SBR & Support for Complexity

We conducted partial correlations to examine relations between frequency of reading different genres with parents’ preferences for books’ complexity, controlling for mothers’ education. As can be seen in Table 3, in Spain, parents who read e-books more frequently showed less support for socio-emotional complexity, beyond maternal education. In Israel, results revealed significant relations between frequency of SBR (as measured by the TRT) and support for both types of complexity, beyond maternal education levels. That is, parents who read with their children more frequently showed greater support for both socio-emotional and structural complexity. In terms of book genres, results revealed that beyond maternal education, parents who read more e-books with their children showed less support for socio-emotional complexity and those who read more serial books with their children showed greater support for structural complexity.

Table 3. Partial correlations between frequency of reading genres with parents’ support for books’ complexity by country controlling for mothers’ education (N = 255).

	Spain (n = 132)		Israel (n = 123)
	Socio-emotional complexity	Structural complexity	Socio-emotional complexity	Structural complexity
Frequency of reading different genres
TRT	.04	.05	.20**	.21**
E-books	−.15*	.10	−.16*	−.05
Informational	.04	.06	.06	.07
Narrative	−.01	−.09	.12	.04
Serial	.03	.07	.10	.18*

Note. *p < .05; **p < .01.

Discussion

Based on Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory, cultural dimensions of the macrosystem interact with the other systems, and can thus impact the child’s microsystem, including the home literacy environment and literacy practices such as SBR. In this light, the current study aimed to learn about parents’ considerations when selecting books to read with their children, their support for books’ socio-emotional and structural complexity, their SBR of different book genres and how frequency relates to support for complexity in Spain and Israel. These are two Western societies that vary in cultural patterns that might impact book selection, such as birthrates and child-rearing beliefs and practices.

Parents’ Considerations When Selecting Books

Our results showed that when selecting books to buy/borrow for SBR with their preschool children, parents in both Spain and Israel greatly considered the summary on the back cover of the book. This finding adds to existing research showing that the content of the book is an important criterion for parents when selecting books for SBR (e.g., J. Anderson et al., 2001; Tekin & Tekin, 2006). Beyond the books’ summary, in both Spain and Israel, parents greatly considered the recommendations of others. Parents in Spain preferred to take the recommendations of teachers, followed by parents’ recommendations, whereas parents in Israel preferred the recommendations of other parents, followed by child’s choice. Spain has one of the lowest childbearing rates in Europe, and children generally begin school from early on with both parents often working out of the home. As experts in early childhood education, teachers usually have adequate knowledge about the cognitive, linguistic, and socio-emotional development expected of children in this age group. It may be that parents in Spain consider teachers to be more of an authority than other parents. Israeli families generally include multiple children, and the experience gained from having several children may favor less consultation with experts, and greater reliance on other parents. In addition, there are extensive networks of parent groups in Israel via digital platforms, which facilitate discussion amongst parents (e.g., Chen et al., 2014; Davidson & Turin, 2021).

When asking parents to rank their most important consideration, some differences emerged compared to the scaling of the various considerations. Both Spanish and Israeli parents ranked teachers’ recommendations as highest (with more Spanish than Israeli parents). This may reflect differences in the methodology of responding to the questionnaire versus asking parents to rank the order.

Another criterion where significant differences emerged between the countries was in the purchase of discounted books, with Israeli families including this criterion more than Spanish families. This would seem to fit with the larger family size in Israel, where it may be more necessary to control the expenditure per child. Additionally, there are only two major bookstore chains in Israel, leading to a lack of competition on pricing, and reasonably high prices for books (Einhorn, 2020).

Finally, we found important differences in how parents in both countries considered their children’s opinions in selecting books, with Israeli parents taking this consideration into greater account than Spanish parents. Israeli-Jewish parents tend to be somewhat permissive, give children freedom and autonomy, and rely frequently on their children’s opinions (Cohen, 2007; Dwairy & Achoui, 2006), which seems to account for considering their children’s opinions in selecting books. At the same time, Spain is considered to value egalitarianism as opposed to hierarchy as a culture (Garcia et al., 2021), which would suggest that these parents would also take their children’s opinions into account. It is possible that the study’s findings may be due more to individual differences in beliefs (e.g., McGillicuddy‐DeLisi, 1982), rather than cultural trends in the two contexts.

Parents in both countries showed significantly greater support for socio-emotional complexity than structural complexity. Previous research shows that children’s books often include language relating to characters’ emotions and mental states (e.g., Aram et al., 2017; Dyer et al., 2000; Farkas et al., 2020), and SBR provides an opportunity to discuss social-emotional issues and to promote children’s social-emotional development (e.g., Schapira & Aram, 2020, 2021; Sun, 2019). Emotion expression and talk surrounding emotions is common in both the Spanish and Israeli Jewish contexts (e.g., Arar & Oplatka, 2018; Aznar & Tenenbaum, 2013). Parents’ support for socio-emotional complexity may reflect an awareness that reading children’s books together can serve as an effective context for discussing social-emotional issues.

Parents in both countries supported structural complexity in books less than socio-emotional complexity. This is in line with a study by Aram et al., (2017), which also found that parents’ supported structural complexity less than socio-emotional complexity. At the same time, experts and researchers in child development and child literature note the importance of structural complexity in high-quality children’s books and that structural complexity can promote discourse surrounding the book between adults and children (e.g., Hoffman et al., 2015; Schickedanz & Collins, 2012; Sierschynski et al., 2014). Parents may be more focused on reading simpler books to children as part of a bedtime routine, or may be less aware of how structural elements can impact the quality of children’s books. It may be beneficial for parents in both countries to be guided toward selecting more structurally complex books to utilize these interactions to their fullest potential.

The characteristics of complexity are not mutually exclusive, and may (though not necessarily) co-occur in children’s books in both cultural contexts. Correlational findings indicated that parents who more strongly supported socio-emotional complexity also supported structural complexity. This is also similar to findings in the study by Aram et al., (2017), and may reflect a general tendency in parents’ attention to various characteristics of what they consider a “good book.” That is, parents who are more inclined to support characteristics of complexity in one area, similarly support them in another area. The correlations between the complexity types were low in Spain than in Israel, where they were closer to moderate, echoing the overall support for both types of complexity being higher in Israel than Spain. This is somewhat surprising given that parents in Spain reported relying more frequently on teachers’ recommendations for books, and we would assume that teachers would more strongly support greater complexity in books in line with researchers and experts in children’s literature (Bergman Deitcher et al., 2019b)). However, more information is needed to verify such as an assumption and gain greater insight into the book selection process in each country.

SBR Frequency & Genres

Overall, in line with other Western countries and supporting previous research, parents in both Spain and Israel engage in SBR with their children relatively frequently, and focus primarily on narrative genres (e.g., Robertson & Reese, 2017; Saracho & Spodek, 2010). This is despite the evidence that there are many benefits to reading from different genres with young children (e.g., Bergman Deitcher et al., 2019a Aydin et al., 2021; Bergman Deitcher et al., 2022). Parents in both countries may benefit from greater encouragement to include other genres in their reading repertoire. There were no significant differences in the frequency of reading the different genres between the countries, with the exception of e-books, which were read significantly more in Spain than in Israel. While previous research in Israel has shown that reading e-books can promote children’s early literacy (e.g., Korat et al., 2014), e-books are produced less (perhaps because Hebrew is spoken almost solely in Israel) and not widely available in Israel (Bus et al., 2019), likely impacting the frequency of reading these books.

We found that relations emerged between child’s sex and book genre, with greater frequency of reading e-books with boys than girls in Spain and greater frequency of informational books with boys than girls in Israel. To date, research on child sex and book genre has yielded mixed results. In terms of children’s preferences. For example, Mohr (2006) found that a higher percentage of first grade boys expressed a preference for informational books, while Chapman et al. (2007) did not find sex-based preferences. Mantzicopoulos and Patrick (2010) found that both boys and girls were interested in science-related informational books, but that boys were more likely to have greater access to these books. Informational books are often perceived as “boy books” (Bergman Deitcher et al., 2019a), and our findings seem to reflect this perception as reflected in SBR practices in Israel. Whether or not this is actually parents’ perceptions, children’s preferences, cultural influence or something else requires further research. Although there is an increase in availability of children’s e-books globally, parents still prefer that their children read print books (Kucirkova & Littleton, 2016; López-Escribano et al., 2021; Scholastic, 2019). We were unable to locate studies examining differences in e-book reading based on sex, and encourage future research to delve into the intersection of culture, genre, and child sex.

Book Selection & SBR Practices

Parents support for books’ complexity reflects an understanding of children’s literature and has been shown to relate to children’s vocabulary and socio-emotional adjustment (Aram & Aviram, 2009). Beyond maternal education, results showed that parents who read more e-books showed less support for socio-emotional complexity in both countries. Research has highlighted the variety of quality in e-books, and the need for more high-quality applications geared toward fostering children’s language and literacy development, including storybook apps (e.g., Bus et al., 2019; Neumann & Neumann, 2017). Yet, these kinds of digital applications can be costly (McClure et al., 2017; Parette et al., 2015). Parents may be focusing on integrating more modern digital platforms into their reading repertoires, while focusing less on aspects of the book that can be easier to evaluate in a print book.

We found that reading serial books was significantly related to support for books’ structural complexity. Studies show that parents are sensitive to their children’s development when selecting books to read to them (Aram et al., 2017). Those who are reading somewhat more “advanced” books like serial books may also be more cognizant of the importance of more complex structural elements in books (e.g., characters’ development, characters’ different feelings), however, more research is needed to explain these trends.

Limitations & Future Research

The current study has a number of limitations that should be taken into account for future work. The sample was primarily highly educated. While mothers’ education was controlled in some of the analyses, examining parents’ book selection processes should be examined across families from a variety of SES backgrounds, especially in light of research showing variation in SBR by SES. Additionally, the study relied on questionnaires for data collection, yet more qualitative methods such as interviews could be used to gain greater insight into how parents select books for SBR. This may improve the understanding of how socio-cultural aspects such as child-rearing practices, age of starting preschool, etc. relate to book selection practices for SBR. Importantly, frequency of SBR was measured using both direct measures and indirect via the TRT. While Frijters et al. (2000) argued that both direct and indirect measures together are superior to one or the other, the TRT may be seen as more inferential and reflecting parents’ knowledge of book titles rather than shared reading practices. As such, results based on this measure should be interpreted with caution. Lastly, exploring the differences between Western countries could be expanded to provide more of a cross-cultural perspective.

Notably, although we situated this study within a theoretical framework that addresses culture, there are many other theories focusing on how to understand culture and how to consider it within cross-cultural studies (e.g., Paez & González, 2000).

Future research can evaluate parents’ beliefs and values within other theoretical approaches to culture. Further, it is possible that we are overstating the influence of culture compared to individual differences in beliefs (e.g., McGillicuddy‐DeLisi, 1982). More research is needed to tease apart these elements and how they relate to parents’ book selection decisions.

Conclusions & Implications

One of the primary ways that young children learn about and acquire important skills relating to their culture is by engaging in activities with and talking to adults Vygotsky’s (1978). SBR can thus significantly influence children’s understanding of the world, societal and cultural values, and how to interact with others, while the selection of books to read with their children may be influenced by these values. The differences between Spain and Israel at various social and cultural levels seem to relate to differences in how parents select books to share with their children. As there is evidence that SBR relates to children’s literacy skills and social adjustment, using an increased understanding of how parents make these choices can facilitate the support given to parents in selecting books that can enhance SBR interactions. Further, it is important that parents receive guidance in selecting high-quality books in line with experts in the field and expanding their reading repertoire to include books of varying genres and higher complexity.

Ethical Statement

Ethics approval was obtained and all ethical procedures were followed, including obtaining consent forms from participants.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Purchasing power parity is an index that equalizes the various currencies, eliminating differences in price levels in countries (UNESCO, 2022).