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FOR PARENTS · RECEPTION TO YEAR 6

Questions to ask your child about a book (without turning it into a test)

Ask one or two open questions, then listen: a chat beats a quiz. Wondering aloud (“I wonder why she did that?”) works as well as asking.

How Litsee helps: illustrated stories your child steers, written for their age (5 to 11) and read aloud if you like.

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One or two good questions beat ten. This guide gives you questions for before, during and after reading, for ages 4 to 11, explains what the “VIPERS” on your child's school sheet means, and shows a real chat about a story so you can hear how it sounds.

By the Litsee team · Last reviewed · About this guide

The short answer: one or two good questions beat ten

The DfE's advice to parents is clear on one point: “Avoid asking questions to test what your child remembers.” (DfE reading framework). The aim is a conversation about the story, not proof that your child was paying attention. A question that has no wrong answer, such as “What would you have done?”, usually gets a longer reply than one that does.

Talk matters more than the exact question. The Education Endowment Foundation's guidance on supporting learning at home notes that “Tips, support, and resources can make home activities more effective—for example, where they prompt longer and more frequent conversations during book reading.” (EEF).

Before, during and after: when to ask

  • Before: look at the cover and title together. A guess about what will happen gives your child a reason to read on.
  • During: pause at a turning point, not every page. The framework suggests chatting about the story and pictures: “Chat about the story and pictures: ‘I wonder why she did that?’”
  • After: ask what they thought, then share your own view. Children copy the way you talk about books.

Questions to ask, by age

Pick an age band for a short list to use tonight, or print it as a bookmark. Your choice is kept only in the page address; nothing is saved.

Ages 4 to 7 (Reception to Year 2)

Before reading

  • What do you think this book is about, from the cover?
  • Have we read anything like this before?

During reading

  • What do you think will happen next?
  • How do you think she feels now? How can you tell?
  • Can you find the word that rhymes with that?

After reading

  • What was your favourite bit?
  • Who would you most like to meet from the story?
  • What happened first, and then what?

What VIPERS means on the school sheet

Many primary schools send home a list of “VIPERS” questions. The six letters match the reading skills in the Standards and Testing Agency's test frameworks (KS2, KS1), and the framework sets out how many marks each skill can carry in the Year 6 test.

V: Vocabulary

Official skill (2a): “give / explain the meaning of words in context”. Carries 10–20% of Year 6 test marks.

Try asking: What does “glinted” tell you about the bottle?

I: Infer

Official skill (2d): “make inferences from the text / explain and justify inferences with evidence from the text”. Carries 16–50% of Year 6 test marks.

Try asking: How do you think Captain Kit felt when she saw the map? Why?

P: Predict

Official skill (2e): “predict what might happen from details stated and implied”. Carries up to 6% of Year 6 test marks.

Try asking: What do you think the surprise will be?

E: Explain

Official skill (2g): “identify / explain how meaning is enhanced through choice of words and phrases”. Carries up to 6% of Year 6 test marks.

Try asking: Why do you think the writer said the letters were “wobbly”?

R: Retrieve

Official skill (2b): “retrieve and record information / identify key details from fiction and non-fiction”. Carries 16–50% of Year 6 test marks.

Try asking: What three things were drawn on the map?

S: Summarise or sequence

Official skill (2c): “summarise main ideas from more than one paragraph”. Carries 2–12% of Year 6 test marks.

Try asking: Tell me what's happened so far in three sentences.

Retrieval and inference together carry the most marks, so “find it” and “why do you think” questions are the ones worth a little practice in Years 5 and 6. In Key Stage 1, many schools use S for sequence: “what happened first, and then?”

VIPERS question stems, year by year

Teachers and parents often want ready-made VIPERS questions for a particular year. These stems work with any book: fill the gap with a character, a word or an event from what your child is reading. They're our own, matched to the official skills above. Your choice is kept only in the page address; nothing is saved.

VIPERS questions: Years 3 and 4

  • V: Find a word that shows … . Why do you think the writer chose it?
  • I: Why did … do that? What clue tells you?
  • P: What might happen if …? What in the story makes you think so?
  • E: How does the writer make this part exciting, sad or funny?
  • R: Find and copy the sentence that tells you … .
  • S: Sum up this chapter in three sentences.

From litsee.com/guides/questions-to-ask-about-a-book

A word of balance: the DfE's reading framework warns against organising reading lessons around the test skills (DfE reading framework). Use a stem or two to start a conversation about a book, not as a worksheet.

A worked example on a free story: The Map in the Bottle

Here is the opening of one of our free stories for ages 6–8, then three questions, a typical answer and a follow-up that keeps the chat going.

That morning, something green glinted at the edge of the water. It was a bottle, with a cork in the top.

Captain Kit pulled out the cork with her teeth. Inside was a curl of old paper, tied with string.

It was a map of their very own island! Three things were drawn on it: two palm trees, a rock pool and a little boat.

  • You: What do you think “glinted” means?

    Child: Sparkly?

    You: Yes! Why would a bottle sparkle at the edge of the sea?

  • You: Why did Captain Kit use her teeth?

    Child: Because the cork was stuck.

    You: Maybe! What else could she have used?

  • You: Which clue would you follow, and why?

    Child: The boat, because treasure's always on boats.

    You: Let's find out. Shall we choose the boat?

Notice that none of the follow-ups says “wrong”. Each one takes the child's answer and asks a little more. Read The Map in the Bottle together and choose which clue to follow.

When your child reads the words but doesn't follow the story

Reading the words and understanding them are different skills, and the national curriculum treats them separately, as word reading and comprehension (DfE national curriculum). Some children decode quickly but lose the thread.

  • Read it to them. If they follow the story when they listen, they understand stories; their reading may just need to get quicker so there's attention left for meaning.
  • Stop at the end of a page and ask them to tell you what just happened in their own words.
  • Mention it to the teacher, with an example. It helps them choose the next book.

Questions parents ask

What questions should I ask my child about a book?

One or two open questions are plenty: what they think will happen next, why a character did something, or which bit they liked best. Questions that start a chat work better than questions that test whether they remember the details.

What are VIPERS questions in reading?

VIPERS is a set of six question types many primary schools use: vocabulary, infer, predict, explain, retrieve, and summarise (or sequence for younger children). They match the reading skills tested at the end of Year 6, where retrieval and inference questions carry the most marks.

How do I help my child with reading comprehension at home?

Read together and talk about the story as you go: wonder aloud why a character did something, link it to your own family's experiences and let your child ask questions too. Keep it short, and keep at least one story a day just for fun, with no questions at all.

How many questions should I ask after reading?

Two or three at most, and sometimes none. Children tire of being quizzed, and the DfE's reading framework advises parents to avoid questions that test what their child remembers.

Sources

  1. The reading framework (Appendix 1: For parents: reading stories to children) Department for Education, July 2023, updated 22 September 2023, checked 3 November 2026
  2. Key stage 2: English reading test framework Standards and Testing Agency, 2015, for tests from 2016, checked 3 November 2026
  3. Key stage 1: English reading test framework Standards and Testing Agency, 2016, checked 3 November 2026
  4. National curriculum in England: English programmes of study (key stages 1 and 2) Department for Education, September 2013, updated 16 July 2014, checked 3 November 2026
  5. Working with Parents to Support Children's Learning (guidance report) Education Endowment Foundation, undated PDF, checked 3 November 2026

About this guide

Written by the Litsee team and checked line by line against the sources listed on this page.

The reading skills are quoted from the Standards and Testing Agency's test frameworks, and the share of marks from the KS2 framework's table of marks by skill. The questions and the worked example are our own, written for this page on one of Litsee's free stories.

Spotted something wrong or out of date? Email info@litsee.com and we will fix it. Last reviewed: .

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