When buying books for your children, do you read the reviews?

[alexpolistigers]

If you buy on a site like Amazon, do you read the reviews and ratings by other customers?

If so, how important are they?

I do read some of the reviews, but I don't always let them put me off. I might read ones that say something about the intended age range of a children's book.

Yes I do.

I buy a lot and it helps me cut down.

What do you make of books that have no reviews yet, or just one 5 star review, so nothing to compare it with?

Not at all unless I'm looking for a specific book that I know the plot but not the name, and I'm not sure whether that is it or not.

I'm wary and often wait.

I tend to look at lovereading4kids

Ds & ds review for this site (they are sent pre publication copies) & it also categorises books into age etc.

If it's an author we know then probably not.

If searching for a new author then yes.

For new authors yes, but mainly to look for age guidelines....

I only read the reviews in certain circumstances. If the book is required for school I will read them to see what we can expect.

otherwise I just have a read of a few pages of the book to see what I think of it myself (if they are available).

I think it's important to get a feel for the book, and its content. There are lots of fabulous childrens' book review sites out there which are pretty reliable.

The reviews are more important for the author and from what I gather many authors with ask friends and family to review a book. I think the best thing you can do is have a look inside the book first. However a lot of books on amazon have the copyright page and blank pages after the front cover.

I published my book with the copyright on the back page so that potential buyers could have a look at the first 3 or 4 pages first.

I hope this helps.