Science helps children understand nature in a practical way. It helps to analyse things.Science gives reasons and proofs for everything.In this day and age of virtual reality, it’s important to keep children grounded and aware of what is real and what is not.As a parent, you try to prepare your child for the real world as best you can.Although the magical world of fairy tales will nurture a child’s imagination, it needs to be balanced with a touch of realism.Most children will know the difference between Donald and a real duck.Study finds that children prefer storybooks that are rich in causal information, suggesting such books could help to increase their motivation to read.Every parent wants to raise their children in a way that prepares them to live fulfilled, happy, productive lives.Then life's reality hits.It can be horrifying to come face to face with a stark reality when you are a small child.A real mole is a fascinating creature, but in truth, not the most attractive of animals. This is especially true if your perception of this creature is some what different.Most children may expect a mole to pop up out of the ground, cute and furry and say: "Hi little butterfly. My name is Neville. Do you want to play?"The reality of the mole being quite frightening and nothing like the expectation might subdue any child's love of nature.Children have an insatiable appetite to understand why things are the way they are, leading to their apt description as “little scientists”.A new study in Frontiers in Psychology finds that children prefer storybooks containing more causal information. The results could help parents and teachers to choose the most engaging books to increase children’s interest in reading, which is important in improving early literacy and language skills.Read more about this authorRead less about this author