Reading education is a fundamental aspect of literacy development, however, it is often times difficult to discover what truly motivates children to read. This study was created as a way of trying to further identify the motivation behind students' book preferences when given the opportunity to self-select. Several studies have been previously conducted that examine similar motivational factors, such as author, genre, and topic. This study delved deeper into the physical characteristics of books that motivate students after their reading interests have been considered. Twenty-nine fourth grade students and sixty-three eighth grade students were asked to take a brief questionnaire that discussed the physical factors that most impact their selection. Following the questionnaire, five were selected from each grade level to take part in a short interview session that was created to gain further insight into their reasons and methods for selecting books.
The results from the questionnaires were then analyzed and tallied onto a spreadsheet to look for the patterns and themes. The interview sessions were transcribed and used to support reasoning for choosing a particular factor. The majority of the fourth grade students were influenced by the front cover, while eighth grade students were found to be most influenced by the back-of-the-book summary found on books. However, the researcher concluded that the same top three factors were considered by both fourth and eighth grade students.