After you've read a book together there's often a moment of collective silence. They look at you. You look at them. You know you should ask something — that's what teachers do, what books recommend, what pedagogical parents do. But what do you ask? "Was it good?" feels flat. "What did you learn?" feels like a test. "Do you want to read another?" isn't even a question about the book.
This article goes through which questions actually build reading comprehension and insight — and which only sound pedagogical but yield nothing. At Kluriko we think question quality after reading matters at least as much as the reading itself. Our learning-games train decoding; conversation trains comprehension.
The question hierarchy — four levels
Teachers often divide questions into four levels by Bloom's taxonomy (greatly simplified):
Level 1 — Recall. "What's the main character's name?" Easy. They answer without thinking.
Level 2 — Comprehension. "Why did he run away?" They have to interpret.
Level 3 — Application. "What would you have done in his place?" They put themselves in the character.
Level 4 — Reflection. "What do you think the author was trying to say?" They think abstractly.
Most parent questions live at level 1. Most teacher questions too. But it's at levels 2–4 that reading comprehension actually grows.
Seven questions that work
1. Why did X do that? Trains motivation interpretation. They have to link cause and effect.
2. How did X feel when Y happened? Trains emotion reading. Character perspective.
3. What would you have done if you were X? Trains empathy and projection. They put themselves in the situation.
4. Which part was funniest? Why? Trains reflection and the justification of an opinion.
5. What do you think happens next? (mid-series or mid-long-book) Trains prediction. They build understanding forward.
6. What book does this remind you of? Trains intertextuality. They link new texts to earlier reading.
7. What was the point, do you think? Trains thematic thinking. Hardest and best.
Seven questions you can skip
1. "Was it good?" Yes/no answer. Builds nothing.
2. "Did you learn anything?" Feels like a test. They don't answer honestly.
3. "Can you summarise it?" Teacher language. They feel pressured.
4. "What's the main character's name?" (if they just read about them) Level 1. Doesn't train thinking.
5. "Why are dinosaurs extinct?" (after a book about dinos) Factual question. That isn't reading comprehension — it's a fact-quiz.
6. "Was it fun?" Same as "was it good?" — closes the conversation.
7. "Do you want to read another now?" Not a comprehension question, just a reading prompt.
When to ask the questions
Best: during reading, at a natural pause. "Wait — why did he run off?" They're in the text right now and think best then.
Good: immediately after reading. Maximum one or two questions. Not ten.
OK: the next day. But memory begins to fade.
Worse: a week later. They don't remember.
How to avoid the test feel
- Show you're also thinking. "I think he ran because he was scared. What do you think?"
- Accept "I don't know" as an answer without comment. Carry on thinking yourself; they'll come back to it.
- Be curious, not testing. Tone is everything. "I wonder what you think..." beats "Explain now".
- One question, not three. They're tired after reading.
- Tell your own thoughts. "That part reminded me of when we went into the forest." That opens conversation without demanding an answer.
The special case: they give a short answer
You ask "Why did he run?" They say "Don't know." Many parents then press: "Think about it." Wrong tactic. They said "don't know" because they haven't built the answer yet.
Better: wait. Say nothing for 5–10 seconds. They often continue. Or say "I think... maybe he was scared? Or angry?" They take up the thread.
When questions just don't land
Some evenings they're tired. Some books are too flat for deep questions. And some evenings you're both done with a "wow, what a book!". That's OK. You don't need to ask something every time. Sometimes the reading itself is enough.
The special case: school comprehension tests
If they have a "reading comprehension test" at school it's often level-1 questions: "who", "where", "what happened". Practise this at home occasionally (not often) by returning to "who was in it?". But prioritise levels 2–4 — that's where reading becomes thinking, and that's what school tests are really trying to measure.
How Kluriko helps
Lärspel doesn't train reading comprehension directly — it trains decoding which precedes comprehension. But in Gläntan the child follows a longer story with short built-in reflection moments — "what do you think happens next?", "how do you think Mio felt?" — modelling the questions you can then ask.