A mother recently asked about getting a chess book for her 5-year-old as a Christmas gift. Does anyone know of an age-suitable chess book for someone of such a young age? I’m thinking a picture book that explains the moves and tells a story.
I seem to remember that [u]Chess for Children; Step by Step: A New Easy Way to Learn the Game /u by GM William Lombardy was a terrific book, and included lots of “candid” photos of children playing the game. I don’t have it with me now – I gave it to my nieces.
I am a father of 5-year-old and my suggestion is to bypass the book for those holidays and instead give him/her a chess program. At five years only a few kids can read comfortably, i.e not just read but actually comprehend what they read. My son for example just started learning how to read and although he made pretty good progress, I would wait at least a year before exposing him to chess books. On the other hand he is very comfortable with a mouse and I noticed many small kids are those days. We started with Fritz and Chesster and now graduated into Fritz and Chesster 2. It is very entertaining and is a great gift.
I would get the kid a scholastic chess set with rollup board and carrying bag for Christmas. A kid might find it very cool to have a “real” set.
Then I would get the parent a copy of “Pawn and Queen and in Between” from the USCF store, and suggest the parent work through it gradually with the kid.
While I’m sure there are exceptions, I have yet to meet a kid that young who will teach himself/herself stuff out of books. They seem more hands-on at that age. Not only that, many of them can’t yet read.
IMHO, portable chess set only makes sense if you are planning to enroll the child into a chess program or a tournament. Typically if you are to teach your child chess, you already have at least one set available. If he develops interest, you buy him/her a personal set and all the cool gear, but if there is no interest why even bother.